Secret Couture: Unseen Heirlooms Of India

Secret Couture: Unseen Heirlooms Of India
To mark 25 years of the enduring bi-annual Sarees Of India exhibition, Delhi Crafts Council excavates resplendent, heirloom saris from unseen personal collections that will go on display. A TVOF exclusive.

Finding a single sentiment, an emotion, a “feeling” to describe the complex multiplicity of narratives that an inherited sari evokes is at the heart of this story. 

Its mind (of the story that is) is more like a closet, organised to some extent–so let’s pick its brains first. 

Sarees of India, an enduring exhibition of woven saris representing handloom traditions of the country, completes 25 years in 2024. To mark the milestone, Delhi Crafts Council (DCC), that remains an annual high point on Delhi’s watch and buy calendar, decided to dig the roots and grow the shoots of the tree they once planted. The working committee of DCC wanted to move the needle and take the conversation back to where it all began. 

‘Heirloom Sarees: The Glory of India’s Woven Heritage’ is a selection of exceptional, never-seen before, privately owned handloom saris, curated, catalogued and archived by DCC. It will be showcased at the India International Centre (see details below). 

Kanjeevarams, Paithanis, Banarasis, Ikats and incredibly beautiful-complex weaves defined by a language of their own (each specified in the captions with the sari images below), speak of India’s cultural economy. With motifs, patterning, yarn, weft and warp grammar that only the Indian artisan is capable of creating, they speak to inheritance in handloom traditions. Also of the people who created, valued and visibilised them for the rest of the world. Not just wearers, connoisseurs and historians but also the makers. The saris thus speak of cultural relationships between weavers and wearers. These ideas reside in the samaan (honours) that DCC recognises artisan-karigars-craftspeople and artists with, every year. Visibly the work can be seen and bought in the DCC founded Kamala store. 

Some of the heirloom saris that will be displayed belong to DCC members; others are on loan from sari collectors, who have held them as jewels with feelings stuffed into narrative pots jostling with beguiling family stories. Love and lust, weddings and closures, birth, life and passing, men and women, mothers and others, then and now—in the way only saris can bind human lives. 

The collection—that will have around forty pieces–speaks in all languages of the country, bringing out generational histories associated with weaving skills. The sari, whether you wear it or not, evokes homing instincts in us as a people. It may be time to come home with this collection. 

A selected representation of saris from the upcoming exhibition.

Single Ikat, Odisha. A bridal sari with yellow, green, white and black motifs in weft Ikat technique. The body has elephant and lotus motifs with a floral creeper in the centre. The border has peacocks facing each other placed on two sides of flowers. The pallu has extra weft stripes with floral ikat motifs.

L- Kanjeevaram, Tamil Nadu. Gold checks on the body with eight petalled floral designs in each check, the silk border has golden borders with paisley and floral patterns. The pallu is elaborately woven in gold thread and displays rows of elephants, horses, peacocks and paisley on either side of a central geometric border. R- Paithani, Maharashtra. Silk handloom sari with handwoven Asavali zari pallu, the intersection of the pallu and body has elaborate paisley motifs, a bada buta and small floral butis. The border is woven in traditional narali design.

Banaras Brocade, Uttar Pradesh. Gold zari yarn woven with mulberry silk. The brocade body is adorned with all-over phulia butis (floral motifs), the corner (konia)has a paisley woven with a meenakari design and the border has a pink motra with a twill weave, followed by a raw mango creeper and jhalar design. The pallu is checked in a chaudani pattern.
L- Kanjeevaram,Tamil Nadu. With a heavily ornamented gold pallu and purple check, the sari employs the Korvai weaving technique. The elaborate pallu is woven with motifs like elephants, flowers, paisleys and temple designs. R- Paithani, Maharashtra. The silk body has a zari pallu which is ornamented with a floral creeper. A border, called chatai runs along the length of the sari. Paithani is unique as the patterns are added using silk on a zari base.

Banner(L-R): Patola, Gujarat. A double ikat (both warp and weft are tie dyed) sari showcases complex designs – groups of heart shaped leaves, central flowers and white star motifs on the body. Flowers and serrated leaves are seen on the borders. 
South silk sari, Tamil Nadu. A heavy black silk body with a tissue pallu. Its borders are adorned with fine patterns woven in zari.

Product Styling: Anupriya Roy, Kanupriya Lal
Production: Unnati Saini