Banarasi silk saree – A Journey Through History & Origin

 

Banarasi Silk traces its roots to the Mughal era, when Persian motifs merged with local Varanasi weaves. Royal courts and temples alike embraced these opulent brocades—floral jaals, paisley butis, and elaborate borders crafted from pure zari. Over the centuries, artisans refined techniques: weaving on pit looms, inserting zari threads by hand, and using jacquard mechanisms to create complex patterns.

A pure banarasi silk saree is defined by its mulberry-silk foundation and real gold/silver-coated zari. At Vandana Sarees, our weavers follow these exacting methods: preparing warp threads on pit looms, using punched jacquard cards for motif precision, and hand-twisting zari bobbins (kita) for uniform tension. Each saree can take anywhere from two weeks (lighter tanchoi variants) to two months (dense jaal work) to complete.

Banarasi Silk Saree