"Colors of Culture: A Journey into the Artistry of Paithani Weaving"

 Time for your morning savouries’ I heard my mother call me from her kitchen precincts as the sun started perching up in the skies. What would be today's delicacies for breakfast: the sunshine yellow poha that father uses as inspiration for his yellow hued dyes, the saffron reddish yellow hue of the misal, which I also see in the threads that loom large in the looms, or the brilliant green of the kotmeal? Coriander leaves—that would be the body of the next saree coming up, I wondered! There is a touch of colour and inspiration everywhere.

I quickly gulped through my morning meal, wondering if I would be late for the assembly at my school. I rushed to pack my tiffin box hurriedly and then prepared myself to go to school.

In the midst of the sunshine, suddenly, from nowhere, specks of clouds started flooding the western sky. I wondered whether it would rain today. My mother screamed aloud to me, It will rain. You better hurry up and move to your school. I nodded and trudged the beaten earthen paths to my school for the day.

As I tread the beaten earthen paths to my school, I hear the chatters of the popat's, oh, the parrots, the singing of the peacock trying to welcome rain, the fertile red alluvial earth. This, I told myself, was the source of many inspirations for what the sarees churning up in the looms comprise of. There are multiple variants and options of the sarees that are available and woven, including Pophali (yellow), Aboli (pinkish-peach), Orphankhi (bluish-green), Mirani (black and red combination), Firozi (pastel red and green), and Vangi (aubergine). This color palette is used by craftsmen to create a wide variety of straightforward yet gorgeous nature-inspired designs.

To draw attention to the border and the pallu, the body is typically ornamented with buttis.

The most well-known designs feature the Muniya (a type of parrot), Akruti (squarish almond-shaped blossoms), Mor (peacock), Ajanta lotus, musical instruments such as the tabla, shehnai, and sambal, Koyari (mango), and most significantly, the border designs of Narali (coconut) and Pankha (fan-shaped).

There are many names assigned to the motifs that distinguish each from the other. The names are colloquial and are commonly used in our Maharashtrian dialects, though from region to region there is quite a natural variation in dialects with influences from our neighboring states. A few such common names one may come across are like Bangdi Mor, where mor is the peacock and bangadi is the bangle. Bangdi mor, thus, refers to a peacock that is shaped like or wears a bangle. The motif is woven onto the pallu, and occasionally there is a single dancing peacock in the pattern. The design of the saris made with this motif makes them highly pricey.

Lotus brocade: Kamal or Rajkamal cha motif on the pallu and usually woven on the border that contains lotus; generally, a total of 7-8 colors make up the lotus design. But there are exceptions to the rule, and there are no stipulated numbers that need to be there; however, the more incorporation of motifs and designs there is, the more sought-after and expensive the saree will be, leaving aside the weaving time.

A very common term is Munia brocade. Munia means parrot symbolic, hence the name of this brocade. Both the border and the pallu have weavings of parrots. Parrot designs these days are viral and a rage, as much as the Pichwai-inspired motifs, but these parrots, or popats, are constantly green like leaves. The tota-maina name for parrots is used in silks also.

Interestingly, other than nature-inspired motifs, there are geometric-patterned saris, which are less expensive than floral-patterned ones. The most expensive one is the intricately made Bangadi Mor, which features four peacocks and a lotus theme. Each one with an intricate pattern takes anything from six months to two years to weave.