Walk through the weaving quarters of Varanasi and you will hear them before you see them — the steady clack, clack of handlooms behind half-open doors. Banaras has been associated with fine cloth for a very long time; early Pali texts already speak of Banarasi fabric.
How brocade is born
Silk brocade weaving is thought to have flourished in Banaras from the 17th century, when skilled silk weavers migrated from Gujarat, and it reached great refinement under Mughal patronage. A design is first drawn on graph paper (naqsha), then translated into punched jacquard cards that lift the right threads. The weaver, often working at a pit loom set into the floor, passes the zari or coloured silk weft to build each motif.
Kadhua: the slow, prized way
In the kadhua technique, every motif is woven separately by hand with its own extra thread, so the back stays neat and the pattern is deeply set into the cloth. In the faster fekua method, the extra threads run across the width and the floats are cut away afterwards. A single intricate sari can take anywhere from about two weeks to several months.
A language of motifs
Look for kalga and bel (paisley and creeper), butidar (scattered small motifs), jangla (an all-over vine) and shikargah (hunting scenes). In 2009, “Banaras Brocades and Sarees” received a GI tag covering Varanasi and neighbouring districts, helping protect handloom weavers from imitations.
Explore Banarasi and festive suits →
Cover photo: Jorge Royan, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0