Blog Post

Kancheepuram, the silk city as well as the temple city of Tamil Nadu, is about 70 km away from Chennai. The major variety of fabric manufactured in Kancheepuram is Silk Saree. The traditional Kancheepuram saree is woven in a throw shuttle pit loom by using adai technique. It is carried with the help of two weavers for making a solid border (Korvai) and petni technique for making contrast pallu. The sarees are woven the traditional designs inspired by the sculptures of temples in the town. Kancheepuram silk saree is the traditional wedding dress of the bride.

The speciality of Kancheepuram silk saree is the contrast border with the Korvai technique and contrast pallu with the Petni technique. The contrast border is woven using three shuttles, two shuttles for both side borders and one shuttle for the body of the saree. Contrast Pallu is woven using the Petni technique. After weaving of body of the saree, a separate warp as that of border colour is joined with the ground old warp by weaving both the warp about one inch. Then the ground warp is cut-off and fringes of the new and old warp are neatly trimmed. Solid colour Pallu is then woven by using a single shuttle. Nowadays Kancheepuram silk sarees are woven using two to three jacquards, each one for border, body and pallu with or without Korvai technique also.

Kanchipuram silk sarees were initially a nine-yard weave but over the years the more practical six-yard weave was included too. The original gold and silver zari is also now replaced by a cost-effective metal or copper zari that manages to hold on to the sheen of the texture while reducing the cost. However, if you want an original you need to ensure that the zari work is not artificial.

Had a very pleasant shopping experience and very much appreciate their customer service.Happy with the purchased sarees.

- Amudha

Kanchipuram silk sarees were initially a nine-yard weave but over the years the more practical six-yard weave was included too. The original gold and silver zari is also now replaced by a cost-effective metal or copper zari that manages to hold on to the sheen of the texture while reducing the cost. However, if you want an original you need to ensure that the zari work is not artificial.

The saree are woven from pure mulberry silk thread. The pure mulberry silk and the Zari used in the making of Kanchipuram saris come from South India. To weave a Kanchipuram sari three shuttles are used. While the weaver works on the right side, his aide works on the left side shuttle. The border color and design are usually quite different from the body. . If the mundhi (the hanging end of the sari) has to be woven in a different shade, it is first separately woven and then delicately joined to the Saree.

Kanchipuram sarees have been recognized as a Geographical Indication by the government since 2006. This can be considered as a mark of authenticity and has helped improve the sales of Kanjeevaram silk sarees. As of now, there are about 5,000 families involved in the production and there are 15 silk and cotton yard industries and 60 dyeing units in the region to aid the production process.

A Tamil film titled Kanchivaram was also made in 2008, on the weavers, which helped get their problems into mainstream media focus. Last year, the government introduced a policy to promote the e-marketing of local handlooms. Thirteen e-commerce entities have partnered with the Office of the Development Commissioner (Handlooms) to market handloom products from the weavers themselves. What this means is that now when you go online to buy a Kanchipuram saree, chances are the fabric is coming directly from the weaver, allowing them to make a decent profit.