The Anniversary Saree

For our anniversary this year I wore one of my most favourite weaves – a Kanchi silk. This was a saree that I had bought in Oct 2019 during the Cooptex festive weaves event in Delhi. Read about the event in my blogpost Reunions 2019.

This stunning coffee coloured saree has the plus sign all over the body of the saree and a Ganga-Jamuna border, which basically means the borders are of two different colours. I am hugely partial to the Kancheepuram Silk Sarees. My dream is to wear a Kanchi silk everyday of the year and I hope I get a chance to do that some year. The Kanchi silk saree is an all weather wear because its natural silk. I prefer cottons in hot and humid weather conditions, so I wear my Silk sarees for six months of the year.

I excerpted the following information from the Cooptex FB page about this Kancheepuram Plus Silk saree –

“Kancheepuram Plus Silk Saree – Why the word Plus (+) ?

Plus is the symbol used for bringing two positive things together, both numerically and figuratively. 

Mr. R. Manickam, 49 and his wife Mrs. R. Indira, 44 of Kancheepuram have been weaving with the ‘Adai technique’ for the past 28 years. This technique requires two weavers to get the solid contrast border in both the sides. 

This very old technique is followed only by a handful of weavers these days. It is commonly called Double Side Korvai in Weaving Parlance. Korvai is the system of interlocking the main portion of the saree with borders. While Manickam would throw the shuttle from right side, Indira would do it from right side. Result of which comes the beautiful Korvai Kanjivarams. 

The couple are famous for the Plus Design Saree. One of them would weave the Pallu, while the other would lift the design to get the strong Pallu. It takes them 10 days to weave the saree. 

Co-optex, along with Manickam and Indira, carries immense pride in showcasing these extremely beautiful sarees with Ganga Jamuna Border. It is their togetherness and love for each other that gives us these sarees. Their lives stand as a testimony to how we can feel a sense of purpose and joy in whatever we do if we do it with love.”

My stone string is from Desh Maheshwari, Noida and no surprises there I guess :).

Am so glad that I got introduced to the world of Handlooms and re-introduced to Cooptex. It lets me drape art and heritage everyday.

A special thanks to Thiru. Manickam for weaving this masterpiece. I love it and will wear it many times over many years. Wishing that his life be blessed with a lot of positive pluses and best wishes for his sarees to sell far and wide.

Thanks also to you, Venkatesh Narasimhan, MD Cooptex, for rejuvenating handlooms through Cooptex. Our pockets are lighter but our hearts are full of “pluses”. What one man can do !

#IWearHandloom