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What is A Saree?
A saree is a outer garment worn chiefly by women of India,Pakistan consisting of a length of lightweight cloth,with one end wrapped about the waist to form a skirt,and the other draped over the shoulder or covering the head.
The word sari is derived from sanskrit word 'saadi' meaning a strip of cloth.The habit of wearing or creating a cloth datesback to the origin of the culture in India.
The color and texture of the sarees are given much importance in Hinduism.Different colors and designs have specific meaning and religious value.The red saree worn by bride during wedding represents valor,fertility and long life.White color is considered pure and worn on good occasions.Black is bad omen,is avoided and colors like green and blue are worn on any normal occasion.Yellow and orange are meant for ascetic people.
Fabric
Indian sari is equally popular not only in different parts of India, but worldwide as well. In past times saris were woven of silk or cotton.The rich could afford finely woven silk
sarees that according to folklore could be passed through a finger ring.In modern times saris are increasingly woven on mechanical looms and made up of artificial fibres such as polyester,nylon or rayon.Every region of India has a distinct sari of its own very much influenced by their particular culture.
How sarees are made:
The Saris are made of various kinds of threads which a weaver weaves together on his handloom. Then the Sari is taken out of the loom and ready to be sold.
Weaving a sari can take from few months to a few years.Even today the most exclusive Saris are the ones that are handwoven.Saris are woven on hand looms in the houses of weavers.
A sari is like a canvas for a weaver where he weaves the events that go on in his life. The Saris often reflect the period in which they were woven, through the motifs used in them.
Printed Saris can be made of Hand block printing, roller printing, Tie & dye, Batik or by Kalamkari The Saris printed by hand block or screen are more prized than the ones printed in mills.There are many regional styles of embroidery in India. Each of these embroideries have names like Kantha, Chikankari, Parsi, which are all done in different ways.
As you can see in this photo a man is sitting in the middle of this Piano-look- a- like hand loom.This one is much modernized and intricate. This will take him an estimated 45 days to complete one 6 yard Saree.It needs lots of skill,training,patience for a weaver to complete a saree. If he messes up with one line or strand of silk he has to undo that line again.The process of weaving is complicated and it is done with experience and the knowledge of the previous generations. Strands of string-like silk is woven in a row parallel to each other. It all comes together by the roller near where his hands are and he has to use his hands to get the strands together. The weaver has to work meticulously to create the art of work he desires.
The white strings shown here form part of the web of cords necessary to manipulate each individual thread of design silk. Ultimately, the white strings enable the weaver to integrate certain designs into the body of the saree. The green strings below are the silk threads that form the actual body of the saree. Located at the far ends of the contraption are finer white cords that manipulate another set of design threads. These white cords enable the weaver to form the intricate border design seen on all fancy silk sarees.
Many modern, mass-produced sarees make use of synthetic materials that are woven into patterns by machine. These materials have the convenience of not needing to be ironed, but overall, they are less fine in craftsmanship than artisan sarees. While the demand for sarees made by hand has decreased in recent years in India, an increase in global demand is creating a new specialty market in hand-woven sarees for export.
Different varieties of sarees from different regions of India
Western India
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| paithani |
1. Paithani Sarees from Maharashtra
It is made from very fine silk and is considered as one of richest sari of Maharashtra.It is featured by borders of a oblique square design and pallu with a peacock design.
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Lugade Sarees from Maharashtra
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| Lugade sarees |
Lugade is a nine yard Maratha sari. It has two lengthwise borders called kanth or kinar and also has two breadthwise borders called padar in which one is more decorated than the other.
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| Bandhini |
3
.Bandhani Sarees from Gujarat
The term bandhini is derived from the sanskrit word 'bandha' means to 'tie',it requires skill to create this saree.Making this saree involves dyeing a fabric which then tied tightly with a thread at several points, thus producing a variety of pattern.
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| kota |
4.Kota Doria sarees from Rajasthan
These sarees are made from kota region of Rajasthan . Sarees are made up of pure cotton and silk have square like patterns known as khats on them.The chequered weave of kota sari is very popular in Rajasthan.
Central India
Madhyapradesh
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| chanderi |
5. Chanderi sarees are woven from Guna district of Madhyapradesh.Sarees are made with mix of silk threads with fine cotton threads ,resulting in intricate golden borders and jewel like bhuttis.Different colours were introduced only 50 yrs back, till then only white saris were woven and dyed in saffron to give characterestic golden hue colour.
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| Maheshwari |
6.Maheshwari sarees:Lines play a vital role in these sarees design,again a mix of gold and cotton threads are used for weaving.The weaving is intricate, with geometric designs with no motiffs on the body of sarees.vertical stripes and large checks are woven to shape up the pattern.The ideas for the motiff have been derived from the temple carvings and the palace carvings of the near by palace situated on the bank of Narmada.
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| Kosa silk |
7.Kosa silk sarees:The silk sarees are named after the type of embroidery stitches used on the silk saree.On the excellent quality of the Chattisgarh silk sarees these embroidery is done. Some of the embroidery stitches are as old as 150 yrs,and commonly used one is Marabhai which is a form of hand embroidery.Kosa and Ahimsa are the other widely used stitches.
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| Tussar silk |
8.Tussar silk sarees.The saree has a distinctive golden haze,and lightweight.The saree is from Madhyapradesh on these sarees a combination of threadwork and bagh printing is used.
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| vafta sarees |
9.
Vafta sarees.In this angelic blend of silk and cotton threads are used.The sarees are soft and comfy.The light colour in the background gives a golden haze,and shine to the material.These sarees are very finely printed in subdued colours, using traditional blocking.
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| Benaras silk |
10.
Benares silk sarees.These sarees are produced in Varanasi city in India.They are the one of the richest sarees produced in India and is the most in demand for weddings.The sarees has a elaborate brocaded ornament style associated with its primarily persian design.
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| Banhatti sarees |
11.Banhatti sarees from Karnataka:Banhatti of karnataka produces lowcast sarees called Banhatti which are daily wear sarees of state.These have simple,plain or checked grounds with large golden threadwork borders and pallu stripes.
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| Ikat sarees |
12.Ikat sarees:The sarees have metallic shining finish and heavy gauge silk with bright yarn dyed patterning.Locally produced silk fibre is used to weave these saree.The heavy threadwork borders and pallus add to the overall effect of geometric ikat patterning
.
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| Tant sarees |
14.Tant sarees:Weaving of Tant is famous and an age old crafting of Westbengal .Tant sarees are woven from cotton threads and distinguished by its lightness and transparency.The craftsman deftly weave the cotton to thread which is then woven to saree.Different motiffs including floral element,solar element and recently even modern designs are used.Sarees comes with colourful design and borders are made thicker because it is subjected to tear easily.It is the most comfortable saree for India's hot and humid climate.
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| Murshidabad sarees |
14.Murshidabad sarees:These sarees are from Bengal.These sarees are fine,lustrous, with delicate bengal tribal style prints.The sarees are machine loomed which has china silk like finish but it is more textured one.
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| Baluchari sarees |
15.Baluchari sarees:These saree have a detailed figure of animals,architectural scenes are depicted on these sarees.The classic Baluchari sarees has scenes from the religious epics of India.Wide borders feature repeat motiffs from the pallu.often densely woven vignettes arranged in sections across cloth
SAREES FROM SOUTH INDIA
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| Pochampally saree |
16.Pochampally sarees from Andrapradesh:The uniqueness of this material lies in the tranfer of design and colouring onto threads first and then weave them together.This weave is popularly known as tie and dye weave.The fabric is cotton or silk together.The dyes used are natural colours and different shades are created by blending them.
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| Venkatagiri |
17.Venkatagiri sarees.These sarees are famous for their unique zari designs and fine weaving.The sarees are lightweighted and designs ranging from dots,parrots, leaves and simple geometric patterns.venkatagiri sarees are very unique from other saree types produced from Andrapradesh because in these sarees they use the jindanni design imported from Bangladesh.
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| Mangalgiri |
18.Mangalagiri sarees:These are unique sarees with a heavy zari border and simple mono stripped pallu of solid or stripped zari thread.The colors chosen are very vibrant,with small checks that shine and glimmer with rich zari.These sarees are finely woven with crisp finish.
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| Narayanpet saree |
19.Narayanapet sarees:This saree belongs to everyday wear.It has vibrant tribal style made up of cotton threads.
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| kancheepuram sarees |
20.Kancheevaram sarees:The sarees are traditionally made by the weavers from Kancheepuram,located in Tamil nadu.These are naturally woven and are considered to be the highest quality among silk saree types.They are heavy silk and gold cloth are considered to be special and are worn on occassions and festivities only.The special feature of kancheepuram sarees are body and border colours are different and the pallu is woven in different shade and woven separetly and delicately attached to the saree.The themes and motiffs are suns,moons,chariot,swans,peacock,and many such motiffs are woven.The other common motiffs are mallinagu ,temple,and thandavalam .
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| chettinad |
21.Chettinad sarees:The sari named after a smll town in southern Tamilnadu.The weavers create traditional designs on chettinad cotton and silk sarees in contemporary colour.
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| mysore silk |
22.Mysore silk sarees from karnataka The mysore crepe is thin,opaque crepe with fine supplementary zari borders. In recent times the traditional weavers are weaving this type of sarees with different designs including floral and abstract designs.
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| IIkal sarees |
23.llkal sarees:This saree is from Karnataka and these
are made up of cotton,or a mixture of cotton and silk or in pure
silk.The peculiar characterestic of the saree is joining the body warp
with the Pallu warp which is locally called tope teni, which is used
only in Ilkal. Ilkal saree use a form of embroidery called as
kasuti..The sarees are usually 9yards in length and pallu of the Ilkal
saree carries designs of temple towers.The pallu is usually made up of
red silk with white patterns.
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| Balaramapuram sarees |
24.Balaramapuram sarees from kerala:These sarees are very unique in their creation.The cotton threads used for weaving could be created only in Balaramapuram which has apt climate for this type of weaving..The sarees are very soft and durable.The style of these sarees are very simple and classic.Method followed is they are woven in undyed cotton,with very simple borders and sometimes geometrical bhutties woven in the body to match the border colour.
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Jewels worn with sarees
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| diamond stud |
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| diamond necklace |
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| pearl necklace |
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| Jhumkas |
Like sarees, India has the longest continuous legacy of Jewellery making anywhere in the world,with a history of over 5000 yrs.
Depending upon the culture and times ,jewels are considered as a status symbol for its material,properties,its patterns or for meaningful symbols.Jewels are made from wide range of materials like gemstones,precious metals ,beads and shells .Here are some of the accessories normally worn along with the saree, are rings,necklaces,earrings and bracelets or bangles.
Different ways of wearing a saree in India
Saris are worn in different ways all over the India but the most common style is for the sari is to be wrapped around the waist with one end, then draped over the shoulder baring the midriff.There are more than 80 recorded ways to wear a sari.However the sari can be draped in several different styles, though some styles do require a sari of a particular length or form.
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| BENGALI |
Bengali style:The sari is draped around the body without pleats,and the pallu is left loose,by hanging over the left shoulder often with a bunch of keys attached to it.
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| GUJARATI |
Gujarati style: It is distinct as a dfferent style as she wears a sari with neatly pleated pallu brought in front over the right shoulder with one end tucked around the waist to the left.
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| MAHARASHTRIAN |
Maharashtrian Style:A nineyard sari called the nowwadi is the traditional style very similar, to the men's dhoti.The pleats of the sari are placed between the legs and tucked in the center back.Fisher women in the coastal regions of Maharashtra still wear nowwadi and its worn without the help of petticoat.
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| DRAVIDIAN |
Dravidian style:This style has pinkossu or pleated rosette at the waist.One more typical style followed by Iyengar or Brahmin ladies is Madisar.
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| KODAGU |
Kodagu style:This style is confined to the ladies hailing from the kodagu district in karnataka .In this style the pleats are created in the rear instead of the front.The loose end of the sari is draped back to front over the right shoulder and is pinned to the rest of the sari.
Gobbe seera:Style found in Malnad and central region of karnataka.It is worn with 18 molas saree with three ,four rounds at he waist and a knot after crisscrossing over shoulder.
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| MALAYALI |
Malayali style:The two piece saree or Mundum neryathum worn in kerala uaually made up of unbleached cotton and decorated with gold or coloured stripes and or border.
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| GOAN AND GOND STYLE |
Goan style:The people who are migrated use this way of draping a saree this type is worn by creating by tying a knot in the fabric below the shoulders and strip pf cloth which crossed the left shoulder was fasten back.
Later in the previous century,due to the influence of British people saris came to include petticoat and blouse.Although more modernized many Hindu still wear saris for rituals and on special occasions.However the Sarees have maintained its traditional value and these drape have crossed all frontiers of religion and geographical locations to dress woman in a style that is absolutely Indian. Improved with a variety of patterns, fabrics, and designs Sarees still hold a high place in Indian women's heart.
reference:www.wikipedia.com
