Banarasi Saree

The Banarasi saree is a finely woven fabric, with rich brocades in gold and silver zari, including fine designs and engravings. A relatively heavy and opulent affair, the Banarasi silk saree is part of every bride’s trousseau and a must-have finery fabric for weddings and exclusive occasions in many Indian homes.

In an awesome display of grandeur, the Banarasi saree has always been exclusive and captivating. Very many traditional silks are available in different pockets across the country, but the Banarasi Saree has always held out on its own as a unique fabric of traditional excellence. Finely woven, with rich brocades in gold or silver zari that includes fine designs and engravings, the relatively heavy and opulent affair is part of every bride’s trousseau and a must-have finery fabric for weddings and exclusive occasions in many Indian homes.

A royal weave since Mughal times, it is believed that migrant workers from other states settled in Banaras and carried out the weaving of such fabrics as a decent means to livelihood. Since then it has developed into a major cottage industry that has close to twelve lakh workers involved in different facets in the making of the ‘Banarasi’ saree.

The specialty of the Banarasi silk saree lies in its use of zari or rich gold and silver coloured thread work on motifs and brocades. The influence of Mughal designs is evident from the awesome floral and leafy motifs known as ‘kalga’ and ‘bel’ and outer border designs of upright leaves known as ‘Jhallar’.

In addition the heavy gold work on the brocades, the compact weaving of the basic fabric, the small detailing, metallic visual effects, the mesh pattern and the intricate embroidery work are all contributive towards making the Banarasi saree, a rich traditional offering; a pride of the nation.

The Banarasi saree acquires a royal feel from the brocades that share a part of this heirloom fabric. In earlier times the brocade was adorned by precious and semi-precious stones, but today they have been replaced by sequins and beading to give that exquisite look, unless it is a customized order.

Using the special ‘Jacquard’ arrangement, the Banarasi brocade, is woven through the special technique involving the weaving of a supplementary weft that is not part of the main weave of warp and weft. The idea is to make it seem that the pattern which comes from the supplementary weft is actually woven within the main weave.

It could take anywhere from a fortnight to a month, based on the exquisiteness of the designs, the intricacies within the weave and the fine adornments that accompany the saree. Subsequently this determines the Banarsi saree price that could be anywhere from a few thousands to a lakh of rupees.

Four to five centuries have passed and this tradition of fine weaving has neither dimmed nor lost lustre. In fact the Banarasi Silk Sarees have continued to remain as exceptional and finely sought as before. Over the years additions and introductions within the weave have never seemed out of place. Despite being woven in traditional style, the fusion elements have seamlessly merged to become a part of its rich and dazzling heritage.

While both sarees appear grand and royal, there is a distinctive difference. The Banarasi saree relies heavily on silver and gold thread brocade work whereas the Kanjeevaram saree depends more on color and combinations with plenty of accessories thrown in.

It is recognized universally that the heavier the zari threads, more the superiority. The count of genuine Banarasi silk sarees lies in the region of 5000 and above with each zari thread chain about 115 cm. extended. Also the reverse side of the sarees would show up with floating warp and weft threads because of the nature of weaving.

In order to counter the unfair gains made by ‘non-Banarasi’ clusters that took advantage of using the name ‘Banarasi’ for their fabrics and selling at a cheaper price, without adhering to the stringent quality standards that were followed by the ethnic weavers, the traditional groups of six clusters in and around Benaras, applied for and received the Geographical Indication label and legal rights in 2009, for the exclusive use of the name ‘Banarasi’ for their offerings. This stemmed the rot created by the spurious goods trade and drastically improved the situation to cause exports to flourish once again.

The traditional weavers spread over the six districts of Gorakhpur, Chandauli, Bhadohi, Jaunpur, Azamgarh and Banaras itself, have the rights and protection for sole use of the label ‘Banarasi ’ for their handloom weaves. It is a traditional craft of centuries since the Mughal times and there are more than a lakh families involved with different facets in the making of the Banarasi saree.

The Banarasi saree is made in clusters in and around Varanasi so there is no dearth of shops within the city and other important places in the state as well as the rest of India. However the costly silk varieties could be limited to important cities and towns of Uttar Pradesh. In the rest of India all the metros, big cities and towns too would be having Banarasi sarees to sell in big shops.

There are plenty of websites that sell Banarasi sarees online but one cannot be assured that you are buying genuine Banarasi sarees or sarees worth the price that you are paying for. Hence it is always better to ask people who have had an online shopping experience for costly sarees especially the heavy silks or check the websites thoroughly before coming to a decision to place an order.

With four decades of association with textiles since 1980, especially in Handloom fabrics, Unnati Silks has earned a reputation of being a trusted website for women’s apparel – sarees, salwar kameez, kurtas, kurtis, Indo western apparel and fabrics. With different payment options, attractive pricing in wholesale and retail, free shipping in India, reputed couriers and after sales service, Unnati Silks has managed to serve customers over 65 countries overseas too.

The Banarasi collection at Unnati Silks is both varied and vast.

Designer Banarasi Silk Sarees with fusion varieties have always kept the market interested. Banarasi Sicos are with mesmeric patterns and enchanting patch borders with eye-catching motifs in mesmerizing colors. The stunning Banarasi Jamdhani Katan silk saree with a lot of Jamdhani work and attractive bootis has tremendous appeal.

Banarasi Patola silks and Banarasi Georgette sarees beautifully adorned with elegant mango bootis, the brocaded Banrasi Crepe silk saree, the Banarasi Tussar silks and the Supernets in Neon, the Banarasi Organza silks decorated with eye-filling bootis and rich borders in zari, and the Banarasi Georgette silks as well as the designer variety in jacquard art silk put together make an awesome “Banarasi” draw - a vivid and enchanting ensemble of the Banarasi variety under the same roof.

The Banarasi georgette sarees look amazing with blouses having a golden border or blouses in contrasting colour and heavy work. The look is royal and heavy. Full Sleeves or elbow length ones with lovely embroidery, or the net sarees with net sleeves are preferred combinations by many women.

Dry cleaning is the best option recommended for costly sarees which have a lot of accessory work. However for those who would like to clean it themselves, you have to take some time over it. Putting the saree in plain water with a mild detergent leaving it in for a few minutes before lightly brushing would clean it nicely. Since the pallu has a lot of special work on it, it has to be done carefully.

Red is a very popular colour for the Banarasi silk and is generally preferred as bridal wear for morning weddings whereas the less light shades are preferred by brides for weddings after sunset. These Banarasi pure silk sarees also come in bright colors like peach, cream, powder blue, pastel shades, lime or mint green, light pink which are best for daytime occasions.

This is a lengthy subject that cannot be described in words. It is best learnt through demo videos on You Tube. We suggest some channels like:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An_IGeE9rHY on how to wear the Banarasi saree in different styles
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmSFN8x_QQ0 for wearing it in Lehenga style
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Aym-vJhYhQ for wearing as in Bengali wedding style.

But as you know it is not limited to this and there are plenty of videos by different styling experts who have provided their demo videos for the manner in which the Banarasi saree can be draped.