Indian Textiles – Paithani Sari

Vintage photograph of a Marathi woman wearing Paithani

Paithani is a variety of sari, named after the Paithan region in Maharashtra a state in India, where they are woven by hand. Yeola is another center for weaving Paithani in Maharashtra. Made from very fine silk, it is considered as one of the richest saris in Maharashtra. Paithani evolved from a cotton base to a silk base. Silk was used in weft designs and in the borders, whereas cotton was used in the body of the fabric. Present day Paithani has no trace of cotton.

The art is said to be more than 2000 years old, developed in the then splendid city of Pratishthan ruled by the legendary Satavahanas In the far past it had been an international trade centre for silk and zari. Paithan was the capital of the Satavahanas dynasty (200 B.C.) and used to export cotton and silks to the Roman Empire. This technique of tapestry is one of the most ancient methods of creating Paithani with weaving in a multiple weft threads of different colours. Later accounts suggest in the 18th century the silk was imported from China.

The Marathas extended their patronage to this textile activities . The Peshwas in the 18th century had a special love for paithani textiles and it is believed that Madhavrao Peshwa even asked for the supply of asavali dupattas( stoles) in red, green, saffron, pomegranate and pink colours.

Traditional Gold Zari Paithani with turquoise body

In the days of Peshwas, the borders and the pallu were made of pure gold mixed with copper to give it strength. The combination was spun into a fine wire called the zari. In recent times, zari is made of silver, coated with gold plating. The borders are created with interlocked weft technique either with coloured silk or zari. In the border woven with a zari, ground coloured silk patterns are added as supplementary weft inlay against the zari usually in the form of flower or a creeping vine.
Even if a very good weaver has woven the main body, a master weaver is needed for the intricate inlay border paths. The borders and the pallu are woven in zari regardless of the colour of the sari.

Weaving techniques
Paithani saris are silks in which there is no extra weft forming figures. The figuring weave was obtained by a plain tapestry technique. There are three techniques of weaving.

Threading of the loom

Split tapestry weave – the simplest weave where two weft threads are woven up to adjacent warp threads and then reversed. The warp threads are then cut and retied to a different colour.

Weaving the body of the sari

Interlocking method – two wefts are interlocked with each other where the colour change is required. The figuring weft is made of a number of coloured threads, weaving plain with warp threads and interlocked on either side with the grounds weft threads are invariably gold threads which interlock with the figure weft threads, thus forming the figure. This system of interlocking weaves, known as kadiyal, is done so that there are no extra floats on the back of the motif thus making the design nearly reversible.

Weaving in colourful patterns

Dobe-tailing method – two threads go around the same warp, one above the other, creating a dobe-tailing or tooth-comb effect. Weaving could take between 18 to 24 months, depending upon the complexity of the design. Today there are many weavers who are working for the revival of this treasured weave.

Gold thread Paithani sari

Classification by Weaving
• Kadiyal border sari (Warp and weft of the border are of the same color, body has different colors for warp and weft)

Body different colour from border, with flower pot design.

• Kad/Ekdhoti (Single shuttle used for weaving of weft and colors of warp yarn different from that of weft yarn)

Geometric Pattern on Pallu with Honeycomb pattern for border

Classification by Color
• Kalichandrakala (Black sari with red border)
• Raghu (Parrot green sari)
• Shirodak (Pure white sari)

Classification by Motif
• Bangadi Mor (Peacock in a bangle or in a bangle shape, woven in pallu)

Intricate peacock and vine flower pattern. Multicolour with gradual fading of colours

• Munia brocade (Parrots woven on the pallu as well as in border)

Parrot or Munia pattern on sari, along with peacock and flower pot

• Lotus brocade (Lotus motifs used in pallu and maybe border) Since the Patithan region is quite close to the Ajanta caves, one can find the influence of the Buddhist paintings in the motifs used on the Paithani sarees.

Lotus pattern in gold

Lotus and Swan pattern on pally with and unusual plain border

Unusual kuiri (mango) motif integrated with peacocks. Body of the sari has gold peacock boti.

A contemporary mix in Paithani style. the body is a jackard pattern resembling banarasi style integrated with Paithani style pallu.

Photography courtesy for weaving technique and information IDC IIT Bombay.

Other Posts in this series:
Indian Textiles: The Sari
https://playcreatelearn.wordpress.com/2012/08/14/indian-textiles-the-sari/

Indian Textiles: Cotton Sari

https://playcreatelearn.wordpress.com/2012/07/28/indian-textiles-cotton-sari/

Indian Textiles: History

https://playcreatelearn.wordpress.com/2012/07/24/indian-textiles-part-1/