A staple clothing item in the wardrobe of Indian women
ever since the Indus valley civilisation, saree is something which has never
got out of fashion. Sari is considered as a symbol of grace in the Indian
subcontinent.
Be it any occasion from a festival to a wedding; women
have traditionally worn sarees made up of handloom. The sarees are mostly manufactured
with cotton, silk, ikkat, block-print, embroidery and tie-dye textiles. In
south India silk is familiar with the name of pattu, thus giving the name of
Kanchi pattu sarees to Kanchipuram silk sarees.
These sarees are manufactured in Kanchipuram region of
Tamil Nadu. The area has 5000 families involved in the production of sari with
25 silk and cotton yarn industries. In popular culture, the life and struggles
of Kanchi silk weavers are depicted in the film Kanchivaram released in 2008.
The Kanchi pattu sarees are woven from pure mulberry
silk thread. This thread comes from south India, and the zari comes from
Gujarat. It is seen in these sarees that body colour and design is entirely
different from the rest of the saree. If the saree is woven with a contrasting
colour pallu, then it is separately created and then joined with the rest of
the saree. A distinctive feature of every genuine Kanchi Pattu saree is body and border are fabricated individually
and then joined together later.
The soft silk
sarees of Kanchipuram have a design which is contrasted by their wide
contrast borders. Temple borders, checks, stripes and floral are traditional
designs of these sarees. Nature and historical artwork inspire the unique
design of these sarees. Pictures of Raja Ravi Varma painting and Mahabharata
are present in Kanchipuram silk sarees.
Jyothisareemandir is an online platform for purchasing
pattu sarees. They specialise in
Indian wedding wear and craftsmanship with contemporary themes. To buy new silk
sarees, visit Jyothisareemandir.com.