Banaras besides being a holy place also has the distinction of being a world famous center of hand-made textiles. The ancient traditions of weaving is more preserved in Banaras than anywhere else. The main products are Zari and brocades.

Brocades are textiles woven with warp & weft threads of different colors and often of different materials . The brocades are woven in silk with profuse use of metal threads in ‘pallars’ (endpieces) and the field of the sari.

The weavers are mainly Muslim and are known as ‘karigars’ which means ‘artist’. The brocades are woven in workshops known as ‘karkhanas’.

The zari thread known as ‘kalabuttum’, consists of finely drawn gold, silver or base metal threads wound round as silk thread. Silk traditionally came from Bengal, Central Asia and Italy but now it comes from either Malda, in Bengal or from Kashmir or Japan.

In Banaras the chief varieties of silk used are –

• Jandhuri

• Banaks

• Mukta

• Sandal

These textiles have been woven by teams of weavers and assistants using traditional naksha dran looms. Traditionally the design of the brocade was done on paper first. Then the naksha bandha rendered the design onto cotton threads on a naksha, or ceiling mounted thread device.

The nakshabands of Varanasi were so skilled that they tied the designs for the weavers of other brocading centers such as Surat in Gujarat and Chanderi in MP. Now designs used are inspired by folk art of Assam, Bengal, Gujarat, and adaptation of Mughal, Rajasthani and Pahari paintings.

Kimkhabs, one of the best known Varanasi brocades, have more Zari work visible than Silk. They were very popular in the Mughal court. They were woven with coarse but durable silk called Mukta. It is heavy enough to take brocading with gold and silver thread. These heavy Kimkhabs were designed for furnishings rather than clothes. Other Zari brocade types were Potthan, and batt-hana or batta. They are of silk showing through Amru brocades have no Zari and are woven entirely in Silk.

Tanchoi brocades have multiple warp and supplementary weft threads fabric. Abramamn (flowing water) has a distinct transparency and delicately woven supplementary thread patters printed. Tarbana, has a fine silk warp but a weft of Zari threads that give the brocade a metallic sheen.

The deep red ,golden zari saris are popular with nearly all Indian brides. The design motifs of these brocades are intricate floral and foliage patterns, kalga and bel, and in sari pallars and dupattas a string of upright leaves called jhalar.
 

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