As we all know, Saree is the national dress for Indian Women and most women choose them for their timeless elegance and grace. Women of all religions and social-status love wearing sarees. Banarasi Sarees are one of the popular varieties of sarees, it's legacy so rich and unmatched. These drapes are popular mainly for the vibrant palette, complex motifs, and sheen that it exudes. Among its beautiful classification, Banarasi Georgette is as popular as other Banarasi Silk Saree, Banarasi Organza Saree, and Banarasi Tussar Weaving Saree, Tanchoi silk Saree.
Heritage of Banarasi Georgette sarees
The ancient city Varanasi also known as Kashi, Banaras commonly, is a home for many skilled weavers. It produces one of the finest and authentic Banarasi Silk sarees with heavy brocade detailing for weddings and other festivities. Among them, Banarasi georgette saree is one such kind that is equally popular as Banarasi silk saree. Georgette fabric is a light weighted fabric, marginally opaque than chiffon with a dull and matte finish, made of crepe yarn using tightly twisted yarns creates a slight crinkle effect. Georgettes are most of the women's favourite fabric for its translucent and light weighted characteristic. Along with exuding immense femineity and charm, georgette sarees are easy to drape and maintain.
Initially, it was Akbar, a Mughal emperor, who was to establish Banarasi weaving and, in no time, the craft flourished and gained popularity under his rule. The King adored the skill so much that he not only used them for clothing but also had his palaces draped and decorated in Banarasi brocade silk. Around this time, the brocade and zari work took new heights and created new opportunities and environments for the weavers from Gujarat to migrate and settle in the town Kashi, this has helped the city to flourish as a textile capital of the region. Although, with the changing trend the design process saw new motifs and patterns to match the people taste and preferences.
Banarasi georgette sarees are the most loved sarees for their translucent body and glistening brocade border and pallu on a vivid base. They are mostly preferred drapes for evening occasions or parties. It takes about 15 to 30 days to complete the weaving of the Banarasi georgette saree depending upon the complexity of the design and patterns. About three weavers sit together to weave the Banarasi georgette saree, i.e., one weaves the saree, the second one handles the revolving rings and, the third person assists in border designing.
Characteristics of Banarasi georgette sarees:
- The georgette fabric has an opaque effect.
- They are lightweight on the skin and breathable and super fluid.
- They come with a crinkled appearance due to their tightly twisted yarns used in the weaving process, which naturally looks beautiful.
- The georgette fabric holds dye of any colour evenly, as a reason, it is dyed into all bright hues and, they don’t fade out.
- The lightness of the fabric assures a flawless drape by enhancing your body silhouette with elegance.
Techniques followed in the design process
Mughals to be thanked for bringing us with brocade art, they are elements related to the royal palaces their decorated walls and gardens. Foliate, Jhallar, Kalga and bel, animal and birds, paisleys are the mostly seen motifs. Buttidar, Flora and fauna are the common motifs used on the Banarasi sarees. Firstly, the artisans create a couple of rough designs and decide their colour concepts on the graph sheet and then selects the final design and transfers them on the perforated cards. Then, the perforated cards are knitted to the loom which is paddled systematically to ensure the craftsman picks up the right colour and patterns.
What is the design inspirational sources for Banarasi georgette sarees?
It was during the Mughal period, the fame and recognition for Banarasi silk sarees reached their pinnacle. The designs are mainly Mughal and Persian style displaying floral, foliage, vines and botanical motifs inspired by the architecture and surroundings of respective lifestyles. Later the motifs changed and saw a new set of motifs of animals, birds, floral, fruit, human figures, and geometric and abstract patterns. There are mainly two kinds of weaving techniques- Phekwa, where the zari is stretched from left to right to create the pattern, and the zari is left under the textile to cut it later. Another technique is Kadwa in which each motif is weaved individually, this technique is a tedious one, looks clean at the back as the front, thus fetches more price. Yet, there is another kind of weaving style called ‘Jamdani ‘, in which the designs are arrange by hands without using any mechanism. Jamdani technique works around cotton only and is performed on traditional pit looms.
As to the concern of colour palette, the Banarasi Georgette sarees are dyed into bright and vivacious hues that were popular among the aristocratic families. These hues bestow one with a rich, charming and royal appeal. The gold and silver zari threads on these fluid drapes add immense glory to their appearance. Often shapes like almond, moon, paisley, floral jaal, leaf vines are repeated across the drape etched using gold or silver zari that stands out distinctively on the base fabric.
Today, Banarasi georgette saree is an essential piece in every Indian women wardrobe, especially part of wedding trousseau collection. The Banarasi georgette sarees with an eye-catching brocade weaving bestows your celebrations with a royal appeal. For all the celebrations to come, we at Samyakk offer you with handpicked fine Banarasi georgette saree collections directly from the artisans to make you experience the authentic Banarasi sarees. We have sarees that are both traditional and sarees with modern touch that seizes all the attention anywhere you step-in. We along with online shop have a retail store located in Richmond Road, Bangalore showcasing same products so that you don’t miss any of it. If you are living outside India, we also provide free shipping service with safe payment modes including debit card, credit card, net banking, UPI, and PayPal for locations across the globe. We are click away for you witness some authentic and gorgeous designer ethnic clothing.
