Costumes and Textiles of U.P
Banarasi Sarees
Banarasi sarees are world famous for their royal look and rich feel. This saree is a
combination of style, beautiful craftwork and good quality. 'Banarasi Saree' is
considered to be the Indian 'SUN' in the world of fashion and has been a subject of
great inspiration and appreciation world-wide. It was in the Mughal era Baranasi
saree came into popularity and got fashion currency. Today, this Indian fashion sari
has witnessed a continuous growth in demand in both Indian and
Internationalmarkets.
Fabric
There are mainly four varieties of Benarasi saree available today. They are
Pure silk (katan)
Organza (kora) with zari and silk
Georgette
Shattir

Design
The Banarasi silk saree is popular for its rich and intricate weave
and zari work. Banarasi Sarees have designs with original gold
and silver thread. Some of the designs on the body of a banaresi
sarees are as follows:
Benarasi sarees often depict scenes of villages, fairs, flowers,
dancing monkeys and clouds. Traditional designs remain the
base appeal for Benarasi sarees.
There are also temple and mosque designs. They come up in all
shades.
Most brocades usually have designs that exhibit Mughal patterns
such as intricate intertwining floral and foliate motifs, kalga and
bel.

A distinct feature found along the inner, and sometimes outer, edge of borders
in this saree is a narrow fringe like pattern that often looks like a string of
upright leaves called jhallr.
The pallus of these sarees have elaborate pure gold and silver designs
densely woven with gold and multicolor thread which lend the saree its
elegance.
Its major attraction lies in colorful dying of silk fabric.
The brocade that is used in producing these sarees are Amru silk brocades
which are world famous. Jamvar, Navrangi (nine colors), Jamdani etc. are
other brocade types from the range of Banarasi sarees.
Owing to its beautiful designs and colors, a banarasi silk sari always has come
to occupy a special place among buyers, throughout the world. The people
with rich taste love the beauty and intricate design of the Banarasi sarees as
these are very elegant and gorgeous.

TECHNIQUE & EQUIPMENT
Traditionally, the weaving was
done with Naksha draw looms;
now jacquard equipment is used.
Before proceeding with weaving, the
design is drawn out, on paper by a
special category of crafts persons
called naqshaband. This design
is then woven on a small wooden frame.

Though the zari figured silks of Banaras are called brocades, 'technically,
they can be classified as both brocades (fabrics with discontinuous
supplementary weft patterning) and lampas, figured silks (figured silks with
at least two warps and/or two wefts). Supplementary thread designs,
including dense border patterns, are almost always woven as discontinuous
supplementary-weft with the highly decorated end-piece usually ending
abruptly in a piece of unembellished cloth, (15 to 50 cm)

It is first twisted (called 'silk throwing')
after which the threads undergo reeling
and checking for uniformity and
roundness.
When the yarn has been processed, it is
bleached and "degummed", as raw silk
has a gum-like substance (sericin) in its
composition.
This has to be removed in order to bring
out the sheen and softness and to
enable penetration of the dye.
The task has to be done with great care
as the fibers can weaken or get
damaged. The silk is boiled in soap
water for a certain duration and then
sent for dying.

 At the weaving loom, three people
work.
 One weaves, the other works at
the revolving ring to create lacchis
(rolled bundles).
 At this juncture, another
important process is initiated. This is
designing the motifs.
 There are several traditional
artists in Varanasi who, though not
formally trained in designing, create
wonderful designs for saris.

Banaras is the main center where the
‘naqshaband’ (designer) tradition
prevails.
To create Naksha patta (design boards)
the artist first draws on graph paper with
color concepts.
The most popular motifs are drawn from
nature.
Designs are associated with legends and
symbolism.
The skill and imagination of
nakshabandha plays a prominent part in
making of designs.
Traditional Banaras brocades can be
broadly classified as follows:

 ZARI BROCADES: In which the patterning is in zari or gold/silver thread.
 The Kincab/Kimkhab is a heavy gilt brocade, in which more zari work
than underlying silk visible. The zari comprises more than 50 per cent of
the surface. Often used as yardage in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries, these are popular wedding saris nowadays.
 The bafta/ pot-than / baft-hana are lighter in gilt brocades than the Kimkhab,
and more of the underlying silk is visible. The zari comprises less than 50 per
cent of the surface.

CLASSIFICATION OF BROCADES

Kinkhwab was originally an elegant, heavy silk fabric with a floral or figured
pattern known most for its butis and jals woven with silk as the warp and tilla as
the weft, produced in China and Japan. Tilla in the earlier times was known as
kasab. It was a combination of silver and tamba (copper) which was coated with
a veneer of gold and silver
Kinkhwabs have also been known as ‘Kimkhabs’, ‘Kamkhwabs’, ‘Kincobs’, ‘Zar-
baft’ (Gold Woven), zartari, zarkashi, mushaiar.
Kam means little or scarcely. Khwab means a dream and it’s said that even with
such a name ‘Its beauty, splendor and elegance can be hardly dreamt of’.
Kinkhwabs are heavy fabrics or several layers of warp threads with an elaborate
all-over pattern of extra weft, which may be of silk, gold and / or silver threads or
combinations. There may be three to seven layers of warp threads. (Tipara
means three layers and Chaupara means four layers to Satpara meaning seven
layers).

The Kinkhab saris are woven on silk. Golden and silver threads are used in such
cases. This is one of the major products of the large zari industry in Gujarat.
Silk materials of dark colors such as purple and bright red are generally preferred
for Kinkhabi work. Different shades of green are also preferred for Kinkhabi
weaving. The Gujarat region is considered to be the most important place for
brocade works in the country of India.

Kinkhwabs today are typically ornate, jacquard-woven fabrics. The pattern is
usually emphasized by contrasting surfaces and colours and appears on the
face of the fabric, which is distinguished easily from the back. Uses include
apparel, draperies, upholstery and other decorative purposes.
Kin means golden in Chinese. Its specialty is in profusely using the gold and
silver thread in a manner that sometimes leaves the silk background hardly
visible.

Kimkhab [Butidar,Minadaar]
floral design, detailed picked
out in colored silk thread,
Outline black, ground dark pink
Banaras 1850 AD.
Kimkhab with rosettes in gold
And ultramarine ground;
Banaras 1850 AD.

Some of the very exquisite weaves are accomplished with only gold threads,
and without using silk. Designs are created with gold embellishments on a
silver background. Such a style of using gold and silver threads together is
locally called ganga-jamuna (after the two most sacred rivers in India, the
Ganga and the Jamuna) or sometimes rupa-sona. The famous tissue sari of
Varanasi is unbelievably delicate, combining the use of gold and silver
metallic threads

Tanchois Sarees
Tanchoi sarees are another famous type of sarees of
North India. Like the banarasi sarees, these sarees are
also produced by Varanasi weavers. These sarees are
not heavy like Banarasi sarees but can be worn for all
types of occasion.
Fabric in Tanchois Saree
Employing a technique similar to that of brocade,
weavers of Benaras make sarees using colorful extra
weft silk yarn for their unique patterns covering the satin
ground. This variety is known as Tanchoi. Tanchoi
weaving is based on the weaving technique brought from
China by three brothers, called Choi (tan-three, Choi-
brothers). The tanchoi weavers wove silk saris and
yardage, which was mostly used by the Parsi community
initially. Today, tanchoi fabric has remarkable fame in
India and the world over.

Design
Tanchoi saree resembles a fine miniature. In tanchoi sarees, the designs
are alway floral with interspersing of birds. Figures of flying birds, paired
cocks amidst floral sprays are worked on them. The usual ground is bright
blue, purple, green or red with areas patterned in tabby weave.
Sometimes the pallu is done more solidly with peacocks, baskets or bunches of
flowers or hunting scenes. Tanchoi silk sarees are also in dazzling floral,
geometrical and paisley designs. The weavers also use tone-on-tone colors as
well as multiple color combinations in jacquard weaving.
Tanchoi from Gujarat creates an extra weft layer to produce the effect of
embossing on silk. There are also combination of brocaded gold butis and
borders in a background of self patterned tanchoi. Some tanchoi sarees have a
rich gold border and two gold bands on the pallav. The more exclusive ones
have gold checks with lotus roundels all over which are known as butis.

AMRU BROCADES:
In these brocades, the supplementary weft patterning is in silk and not in zari. A
traditional Amru brocade is the Tanchoi. The Tanchoi 'is a …densely patterned,
heavy fabric…with no floats on the reverse - the "unused" threads are woven into
the "foundation" at the back. Traditionally, the face of the fabric has a satin
weave ground (warp threads) with small patterns made by the weft threads
repeated over the entire surface' (Lynton: p. 56).
It is believed that in the last half of the nineteenth century, three Parsi brothers by
the name of Choi learnt the technique of weaving these brocades in China and
introduced it in Surat (Gujarat in western India). A descendant of the brothers
continued to makes Tanchoi in Bombay till the 1950s but was forced out of
business by the less expensive versions of the Varanasi weavers. [tan = three;
tan Chhoi = three Choi]

TANCHOI – Tanchoi was brought to India from China by the three (tan) Choi
brothers (hence the name) who settled in Surat initially to weave the fabric with
a different technique-a combination of Indian and Chinese style. The colors are
subtle, the drape is light and the intricate work with extra floats which are
blended into the fabric gives it an embroidered look based on the satin weaving
style.
In Varanasi, where a large production of such saris/fabrics still flourishes, one
interpretation of the term is tan-chhai, evoking ‘a pattern which covers the field
or the body’.
Despite these ambiguities, the term refers to a medium weight fabric of satin
silk, woven with several continuous wefts that are carried together at the back
but individually pattern the face. Occasionally, select details of the pattern may
also be brocaded with discontinuous supplementary weft of silk.

Flame –patterned Gyasar
The weavers of Varanasi have
supplied the Tibetan market with
heavy patterned silks for ceremonial
costumes, ritual offerings and as
covers and backing cloths for ritual
objects.
Woven in width of about 28 inches, a
satin woven ‘Gyasar’ yardage was
boldly patterned in metal thread and
colored silk with Buddhist symbols and
floral imagery of Mongol aspect
In this Gyasar silk, a traditional flame
motif similar to the scrolling Chinese t’
chi or cloud patterns a rich red ground.

ABRAWANS: Muslin Silk/Organza Base: In the third variety, the ground material
is a transparent muslin silk or organza, with a zari and/or silk thread patterning.
So this can be a zari brocade or an Amru. The amount of zari visible can also
vary, and can cover more or less than 50 per cent of the base material.
A sub-category is the 'cut-work brocade‘ or ‘Jamdani’ in which the 'transparent
silk fabric has supplementary-weft patterning woven in heavier, thicker fibers
than the ground. Each motif is not separately woven in by hand as a
discontinuous weft; instead the 'threads extend the entire width of the fabric,
leaving floats at the back that are cut away by hand after weaving‘
Another sub-category is the tarbana (woven water) in which the weft threads of
the ground are zari, not silk, thus creating a metallic sheen. 'Several other
weights and shades of supplementary-weft zari are used to create the
patterning,' creating an extremely rich textile.

Silk Brocade from Banaras
Zari Brocade, Early 20th Century
Silver and gold
brocade woven with
green, light blue and
red silk, 1775-1825
Red-Green Brocade

Brocade Saris of Uttar Pradesh>Jamdani
Madanpura and Alaipura, two localities of Varanasi, have a distinctive style of
weaving. Madanpura weaves traditional designs and is known for its
sophisticated use of colors and textures and concentration on light transparent
materials.
The most outstanding examples are Jamdani, organza, tissue saris or
dupattas with konia or kairi, the stylized mango pattern at each of the corners;
and a big circular pattern called chand, moon-shaped, in the center, with
diagonal creepers, ari jhari, or dotted butis. Literary references and travellers
mention that turbans for the Mughal emperors and other native rulers were
woven at Varanasi.

Jamdanis of Tanda
The word "Jamdani" comes from the Persian word 'jama', means cloth and
'dana', which means grain or buti or diapering. Jamdani therefore could mean
diapered cloth. It is probable that Muslims introduced jamdani weaving and the
industry was their monopoly for a long time.
• Traditional Jamdani of Uttar Pradesh
• Transparent white cotton muslin
• Discontinuous supplementary weft motifs woven in heavier cotton
threads
• White on white Jamdani with unbleached grey warp and bleached
weft
• Floral, bird and animal motifs