Kanchipuram sari

What is Kanchipuram sari?

The Kanchipuram sari is a silk sari from the Kanchipuram area of Tamil Nadu, in south India, and it is also known as the Kanjeevaram sari. Mulberry silk is what it is woven from, and the gold thread called zari used in it is sourced within South India too. In Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, most women wear it for weddings and other big occasions. Saris woven with silk and gold together are the heavy ones, and they are kept for special days. What you notice first is a border that rarely matches the body, and the decorated hanging end, the mundhi.

Where does Kanchipuram sari come from?

Kanchipuram, the town that gives the sari its name, lies in Tamil Nadu. A geographical indication was sought for it by the state government in 2005, and recognition from the central government followed in 2005 and 2006. The trade around the town is sizeable. A count taken in 2008 put the households living off sari work at about 5,000, and found twenty-five businesses handling silk and cotton yarn plus sixty dyeing units in the area. The Tamil film Kanchivaram, released in 2008, follows the hard lives of the town's silk weavers.

How is Kanchipuram sari made?

Only mulberry silk thread goes into the weave, and the zari, the metallic thread, comes from South India. Three shuttles work at once: one weaver sits at the right side of the loom while an aide handles the left-hand shuttle. Border and body are woven as two separate pieces and then locked together. The joint is made to hold, so the border stays in place even if the cloth gives way, and that is what sets a Kanchipuram sari apart from others. When the mundhi needs a different shade, it is woven on its own first and then joined on, with a zigzag line often marking where body and mundhi meet.

Colours, motifs and borders

The border usually differs from the rest of the sari and is wide. Temple borders are traditional, along with checks, stripes and floral buttas. Weavers took ideas from South Indian temple sculpture and scripture, and from natural things such as leaves, birds and animals. Some saris have a heavily worked mundhi carrying scenes from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, or images after the painter Raja Ravi Varma. Cost moves with the fineness of the work, the colours, the pattern, and how much zari is used.

When Kanchipuram sari is worn

In Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, most women wear the Kanchipuram sari as bridal and special occasion dress. The heaviest examples, woven with silk and gold together, are treated as special and come out for festivities. This is not everyday cloth. Some are far more elaborate than others, and the intricacy of the work, the colours, the pattern and the zari are what separate them.

Styles of Kanchipuram sari

The sari allows a lot of room for variation. Colours, patterns, the density of the work and the amount of zari all change from piece to piece, and the cost follows. A border in a different colour or design from the body is the norm rather than the exception, and the mundhi may be woven in its own shade and joined to the rest. The interlocked joint between the separately woven border and body is the mark of a genuine Kanchipuram sari; cloth without it is something else.

What Kanchipuram sari means

The sari takes its name from the town, and its geographical indication is official recognition of that link. Work in the trade supports a large population: a count in 2008 found about 5,000 families involved, with yarn businesses and dyeing units nearby. The Tamil film Kanchivaram, released in 2008, shows the hard lives of the town's silk weavers.

Questions people ask about Kanchipuram sari

Good reading and sources

• Weaving through threads of Kancheepuram's historyThe Hindu, Article

• Kanchipuram silk sari on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data