Narayanpet Saree

This is a saree from the town of Narayanpet in Andhra Pradesh (now Telengana), a state with a rich heritage of weaves. Though the Narayanpet saree is not as well known as the Pochampally or Gadwal, it is very unique and distinguished by certain special characteristics.


Generally, the border is of a different color than the body and the border has thread/jari work in a set pattern. It is a 2/3 line weave of ||*||*||*|| separated by a gap and a repeat of the same number of lines of work to form the border. Spilling into the body is always the temple design.

Narayanpet Cotton

Being in the Western part of the state and due to proximity to Karnataka and Maharashtra, the Narayanpet saree is widely available in those 2 states. Mine were picked up in Dadar (Mumbai) on a recent trip. This lovely powder blue and grey beauty is a cotton saree and has yet another trademark of the Narayanpet saree - the checks. The weave is smooth and the saree is light and carries very easily.

I also picked up this black and white checks - was love at first sight! Saw many other sarees and came back to this one :) It is very simple with the traditional Narayanpet border.

A more traditional Narayanpet is the green and mustard saree on the right that I picked up for my mother. Photographed is the pallu while the body is a full green.

Pattern! Pattern! What pattern do you choose?

OLD IS GOLD! What my daughter is wearing below is something i wore a quarter century ago (oh my! how old does that make me?). It has found it's way into this post for a specific reason - due to the numerous patterns in a single piece of silk! This is a traditional South Indian Paavadai (long skirt) which is worn with a blouse.

It was purchased at ThiCo (Thirubhuvanam Cooperative Silk Society) in Neyveli, where I grew up. The color is a beautiful Kanakambaram - the color of the crossandra flower!

Pattu Paavadai & the Kankambaram poo (photo courtesy: wiki)

This long skirt has 6 different patterns:

1. Rettai pattai (ரெட்டை பட்டை) - literally meaning two strips
2. Chakkaram (சக்கரம்) or wheel pattern
3. Spear or eetti (ஈட்டி) pattern
4. checks
5. Veldhaari (வேல்தாரி) - a typical pattern of curves with dots in between
6. Butta ( புட்டா) or filled circles

Lovely patterns

Unique weaving patterns such as these are a treasure and these days (circa 2014) due to modernization and mechanization, the charm and beauty of owning something so intricate and elegant is close to impossible. Yes, they are exorbitantly priced, and even if you are ready to pay, you may not be able to own it because they are not available now. Yes, old is truly gold!

So, what pattern do you choose???