Paithani Sarees: Maharashtrian Heritage in Six Yards

A must have in every Maharashtrian Bride-to-be’s wedding trousseau, a legacy to be passed on from a mother to a daughter, a state heritage and an august patron of the society, Maharashtrian Paithani sari is in the true sense,the pride of the nation. Famous creation of weavers from Paithan, Maharashtra, Paithani saree collections is exclusively hand woven sarees that are characterized by distinguished oblique square designed borders and the plethora of designs with colorful thread and solid gold pallus. An array of traditional euphoric colors like magenta, green, lavender, royal blue, and red, the wedding saree collections of Paithani are weaved in fine silk with real zari motifs and stand for their exemplary quality and class. These silk sarees from Maharastra that were patronized by the Peshwas and the Nizams in the past carry the same glory as coveted wedding sarees of Maharastra.

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Ingredients that go into making wedding saree collections of Paithani: A range of traditional paithani sarees are made either in silk or cotton where depending on the price range, the zari work differs. The bridal Paithani saree is woven with filature silk in the warp and sidlaghatta or charakha silk in the weft. These wedding paithani sarees while were woven in pure gold threads earlier, have now moved to silver zari in today’s times. A generous use of this pure silver zari is generally seen all over the bridal Paithani saree including broad borders, bold motifs and opulent pallus.

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Colors used in Paithani silk sarees for Wedding:

Celebrating the festivities of the occasion, Paithani wedding silk saree comes in a variety of bold and beautiful colors with an even more dominating color on the border and pallu that form a beautiful contrast. It also uses the ancient technique of tapestry where multiple threads of different colors and mixed to create kaleidoscopic colors on the body of the saree.

Some of the popular colors that appear on this pure silk sarees from Maharashtra are: Peach Pink called aboli in native language as it derives its name from Cross andra flower, blue called Neeligunji, Purple called Vangi deriving its name from aubergine, Green-blue blend called orphankhi, Combination of White-red and pale green called Firozi, Combination of black and red called Mirani, black white blend called Gujri, Pale pink is called Motia, Combination of red-pink and green blend is called Pasila, Pophali is Yellow, Green, and red combination is Samprus, Pure white is called Sankirodak. There are many darker shades of red, green, blue and yellow that as popular.

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Traditional motifs used in Wedding Paithani Sarees:

The traditional motifs of Wedding Paithani sarees are very intricate and opulent and inspired by Ajanta caves and the Buddhist paintings. Some of the motifs that can been seen on these sarees are: The lotus flower called kamal, beautiful swans called hans, Ashraffi, the flowering vines called Asawali, the bangadi peacock motif means the peacock motif in bangle, peacock motif meaning mor, the totha-maina motif, muniya meaning parrot, panja is a geometrical flower like motif, a geometrical design is called muthada. The most commonly used zari bhutis over the body of a paithani saree are circles, stars, kalas, ruiphool, kuyri,
pakhhli and chandrakor.