Banarasi Sari#

Banarasi sari
A Banarasi saree is a saree made in Varanasi, a city which is also called Benares or Banaras.
The sarees are among the finest sarees in India and are known for their gold and
silver brocade or zari, fine silk and opulent embroidery. The sarees are made of finely
woven silk and are decorated with intricate design, and, because of these engravings, are
relatively heavy.
Their special characteristics are Mughal inspired designs such as intricate intertwining floral and
foliate motifs, kalga and bel, a string of upright leaves called jhallar at the outer, edge of border
is a characteristic of these sarees. Other features are gold work, compact weaving, figures with
small details, metallic visual effects, pallus, jal (a net like pattern), and mina work.[1]
The sarees are often part of an Indian bride's trousseau.
Depending on the intricacy of its designs and patterns, a saree can take from 15 days to a month
and sometimes up to six months to complete. Banarasi sarees are mostly worn by Indian women
on important occasions such as when attending a wedding and are expected to be
complemented by the woman's best jewelry.
History
A traditional Banarasi saree with gold brocade
Ralph Fitch (1583–91) describes Banaras as a thriving sector of the cotton textile

industry. The earliest mention of the brocade and Zaritextiles of Banaras is found in the
19th century. With the migration of silk weavers from Gujarat during the famine of 1603,
it is likely that silk brocade weaving started in Banaras in the seventeenth century and
developed in excellence during the 18th and 19th century. During the Mughal period,
around 14th century, weaving of brocades with intricate designs using gold and silver
threads became the specialty of Banaras.[4][5]
The traditional Banarasi saree is done with lot of hard work and skillful work using the
silk.[6] The saree making is a cottage industry for about 1.2 million people associated
directly or indirectly with the hand loom silk industry of the region around Varanasi
encompassing Gorakhpur, Chandauli, Bhadohi, Jaunpur and Azamgarh districts
Geographical indication
Silk handlooms, Varanasi
Over the years, the Banarasi silk handloom industry has been incurring huge losses
because of competition from mechanised units producing the Baranasi silk sarees at a
faster rate and at cheaper cost, another source of competition has been sarees made of
cheaper synthetic alternatives to silk.[8]
In 2009, after two years of wait, weaver associations in Uttar Pradesh,
secured Geographical Indication (GI) rights for the ‘Banaras Brocades and Sarees’. GI is
an intellectual property right, which identifies a good as originating in a certain region
where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the product is essentially
attributable to its geographical origin.
As per the GI certificate, Banarasi products fall under four classes (23–26), namely silk
brocades, textile goods, silk saree, dress material and silk embroidery. Most importantly
this means that no saree or brocade made outside the six identified districts of Uttar
Pradesh, that is Varanasi, Mirzapur, Chandauli, Bhadohi, Jaunpur and Azamgarh
districts, can be legally sold under the name of Banaras saree and brocade. Prior to this,
in July 2007, nine organisations, Banaras Bunkar Samiti, Human Welfare Association
(HWA), joint director industries (eastern zone), director of handlooms and textiles Uttar
Pradesh Handloom Fabrics Marketing Cooperative Federation, Eastern UP Exporters
Association (EUPEA), Banarasi Vastra Udyog Sangh, Banaras Hath Kargha Vikas
Samiti and Adarsh Silk Bunkar Sahkari Samiti, had applied to the Chennai-
based Geographical Indication Registry of Government of India, in a move that was
supported by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Varieties
There are four main varieties of Banarasi saree, which includes pure silk (Katan),
Organza (Kora) with Zari and silk; Georgette, and Shattir, and according to design
process, they are divided into categories like, Jangla, Tanchoi, Vaskat, Cutwork, Tissue
and Butidar
Environmental concern
Since a large number of silk dyeing units in the trade use chemical dyes, which cause
pollution in the Ganges River, a move is on to shift to natural dyes. A research team
from the Indian Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University (IIT-BHU) used the
technique of solvent extraction and enzymatic extraction to develop natural colours from
plants, flowers and fruits including accaccia, butia (palash),
madder, marigold and pomegranate (anar).
Threat to traditional Sari weavers
The increasingly errant and erratic electric power supply, which leads to the electric
powered looms sitting idle for greater parts of the day, has made it difficult for the
weavers to complete the saris in short time; consequently their earnings are affected.
Also, increasing quantities of look-alike Banarasi sarees are flooding the market. These
saris are mass-produced in China on massive looms and therefore retail at very low
prices.

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Banarasi sari

A traditional Banarasi saree with gold brocade

Ralph Fitch (1583–91) describes Banaras as a thriving sector of the cotton textile

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