"Paithani Sarees: Unraveling the Timeless Elegance of Maharashtra's Heritage Weave"
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Today I thought of talking to you about the textile I have been born with, and ever since I have seen the daylight of my life. Most of you must be wondering why I have been writing about so many textiles other than the one I belong to, but honestly, no write-ups are completely understandable unless one gets into the ethos of Indian textiles and garments that have been a part of my heritage for hundreds of years. Interestingly, there is an absolutely misnomer about Paithani sarees even 25 years ago and even today, where the design intervention and Powerloom copies have taken over this heritage weave, which traces back its heritage and lineage seething in history and culture.
This is a small introduction to the world of this renowned textile, which the entire world knows as Paithani (from Maharashtra).
To my best knowledge, very few times my mother and my mother-in-law and their likes—what I mean is a large diaspora of my relatives—have 100% agreed on something, especially when I am the topic of their discussion on this heritage textile. The first such agreement that both of them had was about which sarees one should wear for any wedding or likewise function. I am an ardent fan of silk, silk weaves, tutsar, and reshim and prefer woven detailed designs and embroidery over zari imbibes. So back then, convincing the ladies in my family to wear a heavy zari saree, such as Kanjeevaram or Banarasi brocade, was a challenge in front of others. To be honest, I could persuade them to wear silk weaves easily. However, all ladies strongly believed that they needed (rather than "must") wear something matching what a bride typically should be wearing.
All the ladies gently cajoled me, or rather negotiated with me, saying I get to choose other sarees (one for pre-wedding and one for wedding ceremony) as long as I give my approval for “Paithani” for the wedding reception. That is how I was first introduced to this timeless beauty. It took me over a decade to appreciate the astonishing design and pride of owning a graceful Paithani saree.
While researching for this blog in the past week, I continued chatting with my mother and my mother-in-law over the phone and sharing unique motifs and various Paithani saree images with them over WhatsApp. I am sure both of them are now fully convinced that they have passed down the woven love and care for Paithani to their daughter to pass on to their granddaughter one day.
Paithani is one such fabric that cannot be matched with any other fabric of its kind.
Making a Paithani involves only manual techniques, and no mechanical means are resorted to to weave such wonderful creations. The Paithani saris are still made in the traditional way, and it takes one day to set up the silk threads on the loom.
The key noticeable traits of ‘Paithani’ sarees are the manually created ‘borders’ and the ‘pallu’ that is decorated with golden ‘zari’.
The most interesting part about the Paithani handloom is that both sides of the saree look exactly the same. Yes, even the border and pallu. In fact, this feature is the telltale sign of a handloom Paithani.
There are three types of silk threads used:
Charkha: This is widely used. It is cheap, dull, and uneven.
Ciddle-Gatta: fine-quality silk, thin shear, shiny, smooth, and even.
China silk is very expensive to use.
Each Paithani is woven to a standard size of 6 1/4 yards, which also includes a 1/4-yard blouse piece. One Paithani consumes about 500–575 grams of silk and 200–25 grams of zari.
A finished Paithani, depending on its type, may weigh between 600 and 750 gm.
The width of the border ranges from 7 to 9 inches. Borders are named after the motifs used in them or the name of the village where they originate from, e.g., Asavalikath Narlikath, Pankhakath, and Paithanikath. The pallu is either a single pallu of 28” or a double pallu of 40” width.
The traditional Paithani saree used to be limited to 2 to 3 dark magenta and blue colors with different designs. However, today Paithani is available in almost 30 to 40 colors with different traditional and modified weavings in Pallu and Border. Intricate designs on the pallu and border are a specialty of Paithani sarees.
The borders are created with the interlocked weft technique, either with colored silk or zari.
In the border woven with a zari, ground-colored silk patterns are added as supplementary weft inlay against the zari, usually in the form of a flower or a creeping vine.
The very delicate colors of the Paithani silk saris give it a unique touch.
In the days of Peshwas, the borders and the pallu were made of pure gold mixed with copper to give them strength. The proportion was 1 kg of gold to 1 kg of copper. The borders and the pallu are woven in zari, regardless of the color of the sari. The back and face of the sari are very similar, as it is woven using the tapestry method.
The time taken to create a completely handwoven Paithani can range from anything between two months and two years, depending on the intricate pallu and the border design details.
Passed on from one generation to the next like precious jewels, these heirloom sarees can cost anywhere from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 2.5 lakhs.
Common designs: small motifs like circles, stars, kuyri, rui phool, kalas pakhhli, chandrakor, and clusters of three leaves were very common for the body of the sari.
You can also find motifs of musical instruments like tabla, shehnai, sambal, and tanpura on Paithani sarees. On the borders, you will usually see narali (coconut) and pankha (fan shape) motifs or barwa patterns (12 strands of a ladder; 3 strands on each side).
Butti: The specialty is that the design being woven is done without the assistance of a mechanical contrivance like the jacquard or jaal on a frame loom. It uses multiple buttis or “tillis(little designs) or spindles to weave in the design. Butti is most commonly used.
The added sense of greater beauty and aesthetics in the motifs in these sarees is:
‘kamal’ (lotus flower), ‘hansa’ (swan), 'asharfi’ or paisa (coin), 'Aasavali’ (flowering vine), ‘Bangadi mor’ (peacock inside a bangle), 'rui phool’ (cotton flower), circles, stars, and clusters of leaves, 'Akruti (geometric design), tara (star), mor (peacock), popat (parrot), kuyri (mango), pankha (hand fan), kalas pakli (petal), Ajanta kamal (lotus), chandrakor (moon),‘Panja’ (a flower in a geometrical shape), Muthada’ (a geometrical shape), narali (coconut) and so on.
Many of these innovative motifs and designs are found on the border and pallu in different sizes and patterns.
The very delicate colors of the Paithani silk saris give it a unique touch.
In the days of Peshwas, the borders and the pallu were made of pure gold mixed with copper to give them strength. The proportion was 1 kg of gold to 1 kg of copper. The borders and the pallu are woven in zari, regardless of the color of the sari. The back and face of the sari are very similar, as it is woven using the tapestry method.
The time taken to create a completely handwoven Paithani can range from anything between two months and two years, depending on the intricate pallu and the border design details.
Passed on from one generation to the next like precious jewels, these heirloom sarees can cost anywhere from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 2.5 lakhs.
Common designs: small motifs like circles, stars, kuyri, rui phool, kalas pakhhli, chandrakor, and clusters of three leaves were very common for the body of the sari.
You can also find motifs of musical instruments like tabla, shehnai, sambal, and tanpura on Paithani sarees. On the borders, you will usually see narali (coconut) and pankha (fan shape) motifs or barwa patterns (12 strands of a ladder; 3 strands on each side).