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.

Kalamkari

Kalamkari, as the name means is art made with - 'Kalam' or कलम - pen. This is a product of Krishna district in Andra Pradesh. Only natural dyes are used and the process involves many washes before when the final product is ready.

More can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalamkari

Kalamkari Cotton

Mine is a tie and dye with a kalamkari pallu and blouse purchased at Kalakshetra. This 'sacred region of art' houses a craft unit which patronizes Kalamkari and handloom.

They also have a craft shop which is on my list of places to check out!