Chanderi Sarees

The Chanderi Fabric is known for the centuries for its transparency, Buttis and sheer textur

Arts & Crafts

Chanderi is renowned for its most exquisite product: the gossamer thin Chanderi sari that has been woven here for centuries. The greater part of the town’s population is part of the weaver community and work at producing the Chanderi fabric known for its traditional motifs and fragile pastel colours.Over the years Chanderi saris have undergone many changes. The handspun yarn, which gave the fabric its gossamer quality, has been replaced by imported silk in the warp and by mill-made cotton thread or unboiled silk in the weft.The latter makes for more sheen but reduces durability as the rough silk cuts through the warp easily. This substitution has led to deterioration in the quality. Apart from weaving, traditional crafts include bamboo weaving, stone cutting and pottery. Bamboo weaving and bidi (an indigenous version of the cigarette made by rolling tobacco into a dry leaf and tying it with a thread) making are the major occupations of Chanderi after weaving.

Chanderi Products

Chanderi in central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh is known for originating a specific handloom textile known by its place of origin. Chanderi fabric has been woven since many centuries by a group of weaver communities and is widely known for producing high quality sarees. Beside sarees, chanderi weavers now also produce various textile items such as fabric for ladies suits, running fabric, tops, stools, home furnishing items such as table cover, runner, napkin, cushion cover and curtains.Chanderi cloths are available in silk, cotton and silk-cotton blend. Embroidery work is done as part of weaving giving tenacity to the embroidery that is unique to chanderi fabrics. Chanderi weavers are using cotton threads of 100 count and china silk of 20 / 22 denier where as the border of the fabric is weaved by 2 / 100 count thread. Textiles are woven in single ply , two plies, three plies and in stripes.Chanderi fabric is considered good for summers. It is light weight and a single saree could weigh as low as 175 grams. Sarees are available at a price range of INR 350 to INR 20,000+. Costly sarees spot real “jaree” work (original gold / silver woven border) Chanderi sarees are also available in Baag printing – a conventional vegetable fast dye.

Chanderi weaving

Chanderi weaving has created some of India’s most elegant saris, shimmering gossamer-light cotton fabrics that are ideal as summer wear. Traditionally woven with pure, handspun cotton yarn, Chanderi saris were patronised extensively by royalty, since their fragile lightness, pastel hues and intricacy of motifs was unparalleled. Their motifs are inspired by nature and by the stunning temples of Chanderi town, Madhya Pradesh, where this weaving style is practiced. Chanderi weaves today are produced using three raw materials: cotton, silk thread, and zari, or gold thread. None of there materials are available locally, and need to be imported from other Indian states, as well as from China, Japan, and Korea. Chanderi is primarily a weavers town, located near the river Betwa in Guna district of Madhya Pradesh. According to official estimates, over sixty per cent of its population of 30,000, manufactures or trades in this fabric.

Chanderi producers

In royal Chanderi, the locality of weavers, women rule and men are their slaves... (Local saying in Chanderi) Chanderi saris are usually woven by women, and while some argue that this has empowered the women of Chanderi, others point out that this very fact has also kept them traditionally cloistered in their homes. As with most Indian handlooms and handicrafts, the skills of Chanderi weaving have also been passed down through generations in weaver families. Traditionally, Chanderi weavers were mostly Muslim, while Hindus traded in the fabric. Weaving was and is carried out on traditional looms like pit looms, dobby, and jacquard looms.

Characteristics

Chanderi fabrics are known for their sheer texture, light weight and a glossy transparency that sets them apart from textiles produced en masse in factories. Traditionally, the fabric was woven using very fine hand spun yarn, which accounted for its delicate texture. Soft pastel shades characterize most Chanderi saris. Unlike the more flamboyant Kanjivaram saris of South India, or the Paithani saris of the West, most Chanderi saris display a remarkably subtle balance between the colours used on the body, and those on the borders. However, timeless combinations of bright colour borders on an off white base, or red on black, also exist. Interestingly, colour was introduced to Chanderi saris only fifty years ago. Until then, all Chanderi saris were woven in the natural white of cotton, and were then washed in saffron to give them their characteristic golden hue and fragrance. Some weavers also used natural dyes made from flowers, but usually on the woven product, not yarn. Today, Chanderi weavers prefer fast-acting chemical dyes. Traditionally, the quality of the gold thread used distinguished Chanderi saris from cheaper imitations. Most Chanderis have a rich gold border and two lines of gold on the pallu. Some have gold checks or little motifs (known as Butis) all over. Two unique methods are used to embellish Chanderi weaves – Minakari (inlay in the motifs) and Addedar Patela (jeweled cutwork) Unlike the geometrical motifs of Maheshwari weaves, Chanderi motifs are usually drawn from the earth and sky. Swans (hamsa), gold coins (asharfi), trees, fruits, flowers and heavenly bodies, all found their way into the idiom of motifs in Chanderi.