What ever may be the century we are living in and what ever may be the present fashion trend , when it comes to traditional appearance , women prefer to choose the saree, especially in India.

Sarees play a major role in festivals, marriages and functions in India. Saree business is one of the most flourishing sectors in present India. There are special designers who design sarees according to the taste of their clients. There are some specially designed sarees at various places in India which are famous all over the world.

Here are some of the famous sarees that emerged in South India and are famous for their work.

Have a look at them…

Kancheepuram:

The town of Kancheepuram in Tamilnadu , which is popularly known as The Silk City is mainly based on the people weaving silk sarees.The weavers are believed to have settled at least 400 years back and have stamped an opinion across the globe as the producers of excellent silk sarees in the country. No wedding in India is said to be complete without the wearing of Kancheepuram silk clothes. The Kancheeepuram silk sarees are supposed to be the best among all the silks in the world. The silk capital is said to have more than 20,000 looms where weavers work in each loom and nearly 4-5 lakhs of silk sarees are produced every year and shipped to different parts of the world.

These sarees are made from a heavy silk material. It is quite expensive for the fact of its fineness and it weighs more than any other silk sari. The quality of sari is graded based on how heavy the saree is. The silk thread before it gets into the saree is dipped in rice water and sun dried. They are hand woven and the silk yarn is dyed with interleaved designs made with Zari. This is done by twisting a silk thread with a thin silver wire and then moved smoothly with pure gold. Selecting a Kancheepuram saree is quite challenging for apart from the vibrant colours, it is also available in different eye catching designs and varieties.

 Kalamkari or qalamkari

This is a type of hand-painted or block-printed cotton textile, produced in parts of India . Its name is derived from the words qalam (pen) and kari (craftmanship), meaning drawing with a pen. Only natural dyes are used in kalamkari and it involves several steps.There are two distinctive styles of kalamkari art in India – the Srikalahasti style and the Machilipatnam style.

 The Srikalahasti style of kalamkari, wherein the “kalam” or pen is used for free hand drawing of the subject and filling in the colors, is entirely hand worked. This style flowered around temples and their patronage and so had an almost religious identity – scrolls, temple hangings, chariot banners and the like, depicted deities and scenes taken from the Hindu epics – Ramayana, Mahabarata, Puranas and the mythological classics. This style owes its present status to Kamaladevi Chattopadhayay who popularized the art as the first Chairperson of the All India Handicrafts Board.

The Machilipatnam Kalamkari craft made at Pedana near by Machilipatnam in Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh, evolved with patronage of the Mughals and the Golconda sultanate.

Pochampally Saree 

This is a saree made in Bhoodan Pochampally, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district, Telangana State, India. They have traditional geometric patterns in Ikat style of dyeing. The intricate geometric designs find their way into sarees and dress materials. The Indian government’s official air carrier, Air India, has its cabin crew wear specially designed pochampally silk sarees.

Telangana is one of the ancient Ikat weaving centers in India, along with Gujarat and neighboring Odisha. Locally, Pochampally Ikat is known as Pogudubandhu, Chitki and Buddabhashi in Telangana where it is produced, in other parts of India it is popularly known as Pochampally, named after one of the village where it is produced. It has its own unique character of design, different from other Ikat producing areas in India. Today, most of weaving takes place in Pochampally village where there are over five thousand looms producing this textile. It has found place in UNESCO tentative list of world heritage sites as part of “iconic saree weaving clusters of India”.

Dharmavaram sarees

These are the textiles woven by hand with mulberry silk and zari. They are made in Dharmavaram of Anantapur district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It was registered as one of the geographical indication from Andhra Pradesh by Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999.

By 19th century, silk handloom industry emerged as the main occupation. Paintings on the roof wall of Lepakshi temple and Latha Mandapam depicts the designs of Dharmavaram saris.

The production of the Dharmavaram saris includes different stages which includes

• Raw materials– pure Mulberry silk in yarn form or raw silk, zari threads of red, green, silver and gold, acid dyes, soap and soda for degumming, water
• Quality of silk– cocoons are boiled in steam to obtain yarn and Denier silk and undergoes twisting and formation of warp and weft.
• Degumming of silk purification– process involves boiling of yarn with soda ash and soap to remove natural gums.
• Plying of Yarn– Plying of yarn is done to create a balanced yarn which is done for both sari and pavadas.
• Dyeing– usage of acid dyes for shades from rainbow colors, plied yarn absorbs dye in hot water, the entire process involves certain aspects like liquor ratio, temperature, chemicals in dye, PH Kuttu Dharmavaram sari weaving involves Tie and dye method
• Drying– after the above process, the yarn is dried indoor on bamboo sticks.

Pre-loom process

• Winding of hank yarn into warp and weft– charka, shift bamboo and bobbin are used to form warp. While, the weft is made with help of a pirn.
• Street sizing– the warp extension, spraying of rice conjee ensures suitable weaving followed by drying.
• Weaving process– it involves Warp and Weft method of weaving and sometimes replaced by Jacquard weaving and Dobby. Usage of only pitlooms for weaving and no powerlooms and petni technique.
• Cutting and folding– designing and cutting per the goods demand for marketing take place

The saris are worn in winter or cold conditions, for functions, and are mostly used by dancers of Bharath Natyam and Kuchipudi.

Gadwal sari

This is a handcrafted woven sari style in Gadwal of Jogulamba Gadwal district in the Indian state of Telangana. It was registered as one of the geographical indication from Telangana by Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999. They are most notable for the Zari on the saris. The sari consists of cotton body with silk pallu which is also given a new name as Sico saris. The weave is so light that the saree can be packed in a matchbox. These sari features a fine cotton field which is weaved separately and later interlocked with borders and pallu made out of pure silk. This art of back-breaking or interlock weft technique is known as kupadam.