Varieties of Indian Sari

Every region of India has developed its own unique sari style, which differs in terms of fabric and weaving style. The reservoir of sari is simply superb encompassing embroidered sari, classy silk saree and special bridal designer sarees. The exclusive range of Indian Saris includes:

Paithani style

Paithani is a variety of sari, named after the Paithan region in Maharashtra state where they are woven by hand. Made from very fine silk, it is considered as one of the richest saris in Maharashtra.
Paithani is characterised by borders of an oblique square design, and a pallu with a peacock design. Plain as well as spotted designs are available. Among other varieties, single colored and kaleidoscope-colored designs are also popular. The kaleidoscopic effect is achieved by using one color for weaving lengthwise and another for weaving widthwise.

Specialty of Paithani sari
A pattan (Paithani) is a gold and silk sari. In the revival of Paithani weaving, the production was oriented towards export requirements, while saris were produced only for sophisticated buyers. 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. There was a time when silk was imported from China. Now Yeola and Paithan buy silk from Bangalore.

Technical details
Paithani is a sari made of silk and zari. It is a plain weave, with weft figuring designs done on principles of tapestry. Traditionally, Paithan had a coloured, cotton muslin field that often contains considerable supplementary zari patterning. Although in 19th century, silk fields were also woven.

Materials used
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: Very expensive to use.

This raw silk is cleansed with caustic soda, dyed in the requisite shades, the threads carefully separated. Khari ( True / Real ) zari costs about Rs. 1800 for 250 grams.
Golden threads are obtained from Surat, the quality being 1200 yard (1080 meters) per tola (11.664 grams). Gold threads are used in double and one of the finest varieties so much so that the closely woven surface looks like a mirror. The texture of the fabric is fairly compact with about 160 ends and 170 picks per inch (2.6 cm).
Zari is the metallic yarn, made of pure silver. Originally, zari was manufactured in Yeola; Surat now being another zari-producing center. Initially, zari used in making Paithani was drawn from pure gold. However, silver is the affordable substitute today.

Material assembly
20-22 denier-organized silk is used in warp, while twofold ply, very lightly twisted 30-32 silk is used for weft. The warp yarn cost Rs. 1600-1800 per kg whereas weft yarn costs Rs. 1300-1600 per kg. A single sari may weigh from 1.45 kg or more depending upon the weight of the silk and zari used. The warp is usually made in the peg or drums warping process and is tied in ball form at the back of loom. It is usually made for 2 pieces of sari and is about 11.5 meters in length. While coloured silk is mostly used in figure work, the solid border have extra weft figuring threads. The weft for borders and body being different, three shuttle weaving is adopted, two for border and one for plain body. The border therefore appears as separately woven and then stitched to the body of the sari. Some times a separate pallu warp is twisted on the body. The end piece has fine silk. Warp threads are only of zari forming a golden ground upon which angular, brightly coloured silk designs are woven in the interlocked weft, producing a tapestry effect.

Types of Paithani
Paithani can be classified by three criteria: motifs, weaving, and colours.

Classification

Bangadi Mor - the word bangadi means bangle and mor means peacock. So bangadi mor means a peacock in a bangle or in a bangle shape. The motif is woven onto the pallu, the design sometimes having a single dancing peacock. The saris using this motif are very expensive because of the design.
Munia brocade - The word munia means parrot. Parrots are woven on the pallu as well as in border. Parrots are always in leaf green colour. The parrots in silk are also called tota-maina.
Lotus brocade - lotus motifs are used in pallu and sometimes on the border. The lotus motif consists of 7-8 colours.

Classification by weaving:
Kadiyal border sari - the word kadiyal means interlocking. The warp and the weft of the border are of the same colour while the body has different colours for warp and weft.
Kad/Ekdhoti - a single shuttle is used for weaving of weft. The colours of the warp yarn is different from that of the weft yarn. It has a narali border and simple buttis like paisa, watana, etc. Kad is also a form of lungi and is used by male Maharashtrians.

· Classification by colour:
Kalichandrakala - pure black sari with red border.
Raghu - parrot green coloured sari.
Shirodak - pure white sari.