Tussar
A wild silk with a coarse, dry texture and a natural golden to beige colour, woven in eastern and central India.
Also: tasar, tasar silk, kosa, kosa silk
Tussar, also written tasar, is made from the cocoons of Antheraea silkworms that live on trees such as arjun, asan and sal in the forests of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Bihar and West Bengal. The thread is coarser and less even than mulberry silk, and the cloth is dry to the touch, with a soft matte shine and a natural colour from pale gold to deep beige. It is often called kosa in Chhattisgarh. Bhagalpur in Bihar is well known for tussar sarees. Tussar is light, takes dye and hand painting well, and is worn in warm weather.