Eastern Region

The saree or sari represents Indian culture in its correct form. This ancient garment embodies the woman's personality, who is graceful and elite. The saree works wonders for your personality as it can be draped in different styles that vary in color, print, design, texture, fabric, and many other elements. 

A) Eastern Region

States: Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Sikkim, West Bengal

1. Baavanbuti of Bihar

• Fabric material – Cotton, silk.
• Craft – Hand-woven using extra weft to create the motifs
• Themes – The saree is named after the fifty-two motifs, or baavan buti, running through their main body. Motifs include Buddhist iconographies such as the peepal, the bull, the lotus, the stupa,the deer and the elephant.

                                   

                                         Figure 1: Baavanbuti saree

2. Bhagalpuri of Bihar

• Fabric material – Silk (Bhagalpuri silk or Tussar silk).
• Craft – Hand-woven.
• Themes – The mellow golden hued appearance is its characteristic feature. Symbolic motifs are woven, embroidered, or printed all over the saree.

                          

                                Figure 2: Bhagalpuri tussar silk saree

3. Madhubani of Bihar

• Fabric material – Cotton, silk, cotton-silk blends.
• Craft – Hand-painting characterized by line drawings and tribal motifs accompanied with bright earthy tones and contrasting patterns.
• Themes – The themes of Madhubani paintings usually revolve around scenes from the royal court, social events like weddings, festivals and even the picturesque landscape of the place.

                            

                                    Figure 3: Madhubani painted saree

4. Applique of West Bengal

Fabric material – Cotton khesh, cotton-silk blend

• Craft – Applique work is done on handwoven sarees
• Themes – The applique motifs inspired by nature commonly depict flowers, leaves, fish, butterflies,
•  and birds. The patches also include geometrical shapes such as squares, triangles, and circles. Some motifs are based on festivals like Durga puja, Diwali, and musical traditions like Baul.

                                    

                                              Figure 4: Applique work

5. Baluchari of West Bengal

• Fabric material – Silk.
• Craft – Hand-woven with meticulously planned arrangement of warp and wefts to depict minute details.
• Themes – Elaborate motifs are woven on the border and palloo that depict scenes from religious epics and courtly ceremonies. There are three types of baluchari based on the thread used in weaving the motifs.

i. Resham baluchari: resham threads in a single colour

ii. Swarnachuri baluchari: gold or silver coloured threads (often with meenakari work in another colour) 

iii. Meenakari baluchari: threads in two or more colours with meenakari work

       

Figure 5: Resham baluchari saree       Figure 6: Swarnachuri baluchari saree

                                   

                                  Figure 7: Meenakari baluchari saree

6. Batik of West Bengal

• Fabric material – Cotton, silk, cotton-silk blend.
• Craft – A resist-dyeing technique, where in designs are made of wax with a spouted tool called a canting, or by printing the resist with a copper stamp called a cap. The cloth is then dyed and wax is removed with boiling water.
• Themes – Patterns include traditionally inspired motifs representing folk scenes and deities, nature elements such as birds, flowers, bees, leaves, and complex geometrical designs on a variety of colours.

                         

                                Figure 8: Batik printed silk saree

 7. Garad of West Bengal

• Fabric material – Silk.
• Craft – Hand-woven in a close weave to give a fine texture.
• Themes – The saree is characterised by a plain red border on a white or off-white silk body.
• Small floral or paisley motifs may be woven along the border or in the body of the saree.

                               

                                            Figure 9:Garad saree

8. Jamdani of West Bengal

• Fabric material – Cotton.
• Craft – Hand-woven a discontinuous weft technique. Jamdani weaving is touted as the most advanced hand weaving technique in the world.
•  Themes – Geometric patterns and floral designs in colourful hues are woven in patterns such as “butidar” (dispersed motif on body), the “tercha” (diagonally striped florals), or “jhalar” (a network of floral motifs).
•  Varieties – Based on the jamdani weave, the varieties are:
• i. Shantipur jamdani: soft texture/ weave
• ii. Dhaniakhali jamdani: tighter weave, bright hues with dark border
• iii. Tangail jamdani: traditional border, minimal design
• iv. Dhakai jamdani: colourful motifs, elaborate designs, semi-stiff weave

   

        Figure 10: Shantipur jamdani             Figure 11: Dhaniakhali jamdani

                                

                                       Figure 12: Tangail jamdani 

       

 Fig 13: Dhakai jamdani with colour threads  Fig 14: Dhakai jamdani with zari work

9. Kantha of West Bengal

•  Fabric material – Cotton, silk.
• Craft – Embroidery with running stitches.
• Themes – The motifs illustrate Hindu myths and rituals, scenes from everyday life, archaic figures of humans, animals and birds.

                           

                                  Figure 15: Kantha stitch on tussar silk

10. Khesh of West Bengal

• Fabric material – Cotton.
• Craft – Hand-woven using thin strips cut from old sarees as weft.
• Themes – The variation in the colour of the weft yarn along the saree gives it a unique visual effect.

                      

                                      Figure 16: Khesh cotton saree

11. Tant of West Bengal

• Fabric material – Cotton.
• Craft – Hand-woven.
• Themes – The woven borders have elaborate traditional designs such as Anspar (fish scales),
• Rajmahal (big and small diamonds), Benkiterch (zig-zag lines), Chandmala (circular motifs), Bhomra (honeycomb pattern), Nilambari (indigo coloured), Ganga-Jamuna (multi-coloured), Brindabanimor (peacocks), Kalka (paisley), flowers, human figures, checks and stripes.
• Varieties –
• i.Shantipuri: Loom-embroidered sheer textiles with intricate motifs and colourful palloos. The border is of a contrasting colour and palloo is made of alternating thick and thin stripes along with fine Jalchuri lines adjoining them at the border.
• ii.Dhonekhali: Sarees are in pastel shades with minimal motifs and mostly featuring striped patterns/ ‘khejur chori’ lines.
• iii. Tangail: The borders/ edge are made using silky and shiny threads. These sarees are known for spaced out motifs and dotted designs.
• iv. Fulia: These sarees have intricate designs and vibrant colours.
• v. Begumpuri: Characterised by loosely woven coarse structure with a smooth feel, these sarees come in deep, bright colours.

   

     Fig 17: Shantipur cotton saree       Fig 18: Dhonekhali saree (Khejur chori lines)

 

              Figure 19: Tangail saree                         Figure 20: Fulia handloom

                         

                                  Figure 21: Begumpuri cotton saree

12. Bomkai/ Sonepuri of Odisha

• Fabric material – Cotton, silk.
• Craft – Hand-woven using both weft and warp techniques. The palloo is developed using extra-weft and the tie-dyed warp is processed for the borders.
• Themes – The palloo has intricate threadwork, with temple spire patterns (Ikat tie-dye) on the border.The designs are inspired from nature and tribal art. These include karela (bitter gourd), the atasi flower,the kanthi phul (small flower), macchi (fly), rui macchi (carp-fish), koincha (tortoise), padma (lotus),mayura (peacock), and charai (bird)

                             

                                Figure 22:Ghicha silk bomkai saree

13. Dolabedi of Odisha

• Fabric material – Silk.
• Craft – Hand-woven using extra-weft technique.
• Themes – The patterns represent the vibrancy of the festival ‘Dola purnima’ or ‘Holi’. The motifs have deep symbolism, based on the ‘Dola utsav’ and inspired from nature. For e.g. the palloo has designs of turtles, parrots and Dola (chariots).

      

Fig 23: Dolabedi saree with parrots motif Fig 24: Dolabedi saree with chariot motif

14. Dongria of Odisha

• Fabric material – Coarse organic cotton.
• Craft – Hand-woven by Dongria Kondh tribe.
• Themes – Triangular and temple motifs are woven in the border and palloo. Triangles represent Niyamgiri Hills- the home of the primitive tribal group of Dongria Kondh.

                             

                                          Figure 25: Dongria saree

15. Khandua (also called Kataki or Maniabandi) of Odisha

• Fabric material – Silk.
• Craft – Tie-dye Ikat and hand-woven.
• Themes – The sarees have a glossy appearance with temple borders and consists of vibrant designs inspired by nature. The common motifs include star, temple, conch, rudrakshya, fish,chakra, lotus, swan, peacock, parrot, deer, elephant, horse, lion etc.

                                                                 

                                       Figure 26: Khandua silk saree

16. Kotpad of Odisha

• Fabric material – Organic cotton.
• Craft – Hand-woven by the Mirgan community tribe. It is unbleached and naturally dyed.Interestingly, five shades of red and coffee colour can be made from the same dye source.Ash from kitchen and cow dung is used for preparation of the yarns which gives it a unique smell.
• Themes – Distinctive motifs of fish, birds, cow, flowers are woven in the saree. A vibrant red dyed border with temple design is common.

                              

                              Figure 27: Kotpad organic cotton saree

17. Pattachitra painted of Odisha

• Fabric material – Cotton, silk, cotton-silk blend.
• Craft – Hand-painted using natural dyes derived from fruits and vegetables.
• Themes – The paintings depict mythological characters and stories, religious stories and folklore.Some of the popular themes are Radha-Krishna, Mahabharat, Ramayana, Lord Jagannath, Dasavatar,etc. Floral borders are drawn around the painting.

                                

                                   Figure 28: Pattachitra painted saree

18. Sambalpuri and Berhampuri Ikat of Odisha

• Fabric material – Cotton, silk.
• Craft – Ikat tie-dye and hand-woven.
• Themes – Sambalpuri Ikats are double ikats and can be recognized by hazy borders and circular, feather-like patterns which are achieved through several dye baths. Motifs of shankha (shell), chakra (wheel), phula (flower), rudraksha, birds and temple spires are incorporated. Berhampuri Pata are heavy silk sarees with narrow borders, generally woven without any intricate motifs. The traditional temple pattern is called the 'phoda Kumbha".
• Varieties – Based on the design, the range of sambalpuri ikat saress include Pasapalli, Bichitrapuri,Bapta.

1.  Pasapalli: checkerboard design
2.  Bichitrapuri: a band of ikat work lines are sandwiched between two big chequered blocks of pasapalli
3. Bapta: combination of cotton and silk with use of golden thread

              

Fig 29: Sambalpuri ikat saree with chakra motif   Fig 30: Bichitrapuri ikat saree

 

        Figure 31: Pasapalli silk saree              Figure 32: Cotton/Silk bapta saree

                                 

                                         Figure 33: Berhampuri patta

19. Santali Phuta of Odisha

• Fabric material – Cotton.
• Craft – Hand-woven by the Santal people.
• Themes – The distinctive design is the checks on the body and stripes on the palloo. The motifs are inspired by the surrounding nature. In the phuta kacha, the motifs are woven in a vertically symmetric pattern such that it can be worn in both the ways. The stripes are narrow in width. The jhala saree is asymmetric with heavily embellished floral motifs and grids on the palloo. The stripes are broader than that in phuta kacha.

    

Fig 34: Santhali phuta saree (phuta kacha)     Fig 35: Santhali jhala saree

20. Suta Luga of Odisha

• Fabric material – Cotton.
• Craft – Hand-woven using single cotton or non-mercerized cotton.
• Themes – The body is chequered with ikat motifs on the border and palloo.

                                    

                                      Figure 36: Suta Luga saree

B. North-Eastern India

States: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura

1. Assam silk of Assam

• Fabric material – Muga silk, mulberry silk.
• Craft – Hand-woven.
• Themes – Borders are woven as strips, cut, and then stitched.

   

        Figure 37: Muga silk saree                       Figure 38: Mulberry silk saree

2. Gari diya of Assam

• Fabric material – Cotton and silk.
• Craft – Cross-weave of silk and cotton with missing checks.
• Themes – The concept of missing weave is to create a negative space by removing intermittent warp and weft yarns. This gives the saree an airy and fluffy feel. The patter is typically checks with traditional motifs like gaach (tree), kingkhap woven with extra-weft.

                               

                                    Figure 39: Gari diya kesa part saree

3. Mishing work of Assam

• Fabric material – Cotton.
• Craft – Hand-woven by Mishing tribe.
• Themes – The weavers draw inspiration from their conscious lifestyle and oneness with nature. Flowers, birds, diamonds, geometric patterns, stripes are woven in the saree.

                                  

                                              Figure 40: Mishing saree

4. Moirang Phee of Manipur

• Fabric material – Cotton silk.
• Craft – Hand-woven by Meitei clans.
• Themes – Intricate extra weft motifs and the distinct temple border designs. The graduating canine tooth-like structures along the border are called Yarongphi.

                              

                                        Figure 41: Moirang Phee saree

5. Sarees inspired by traditional weaves of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura.

• Fabric material – Silk, silk-cotton blend.
• Themes – Motifs and design elements are borrowed from the Mushaiks of Arunachal Pradesh,Dhara/Jainsen and Eking of Meghalaya, Mizo Puan of Mizoram, Naga shawls of Nagaland, Rinai Risa of Tripura.