It was in 2016 that I discovered Dec 21st is celebrated as World Saree Day. Never knew such a day even existed ! I had also discovered “handlooms” in 2016. Till then, I wore sarees every day as I am a saree addict, but didn’t know anything about our rich weaving tradition and even less about handlooms.
I would frequent Kumaran Silks in Chennai (the 5 storeyed one, not any other) and buy all my sarees mostly from there. I would only ask if the Kanchipuram “pattu” (silk) saree was pure silk and not mixed with polyester as I can’t stand the polyester mixed fabric. As far as handloom was concerned, I believed that cottons were handloom 🙄.
As soon as I discovered true handloom and our weaving heritage, I have taken remedial measures to slowly change my entire saree collection into handwoven. I still love some of my crepes and chiffons from Satya Paul and some non-handwoven sarees that have memories attached to it, but I haven’t bought a single non-handloom saree since 2016. I have found several handloom sarees in my earlier collection too – I just didn’t know them before 2016.
For the 2020 World Saree Day, I wore an all time favourite Kanchi Silk saree. Krishnan bought this at Nalli’s, M G Road, Bangalore in 2007. I always wear this to flag off winters ! This time I wore it sometime in November and then Winters took time to show up. Wore it again yesterday. It is a handwoven Kanchi Silk with checks all over. The following pictures are from 2015 when we visited Himachal Pradesh as part of our ShikshaDaan Yatra. I just wanted to remember my most favourite place on Earth, where coincidentally I wore my favourite saree.
The neckpiece has been put together by Nisha (Adorjo). Do read my 2016 post on World Saree Day – Dec 21st.
#IBuyHandloom #SupportOurWeavers
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