Thirubhuvanam Silk

Thirubhuvanam is a small town near Kumbakonam, very famous for it's weaving cluster and the Kambaheswarar (aka) Sarabeswarar Temple. We visited this temple during a temple trip to Kumbakonam, mainly to purchase a local silk saree! The temple is very lovely and the Goddess Dharmasamvardhini has a separate shrine.

Kambaheswarar/Sarabeswarar Temple, Thirubhuvanam

Couple of noteworthy points in this temple:

• The foresight in the construction of temples in olden days - temples are places of refuge in times of war, floods or any calamity. That is the reason for the many entrances (the four gopurams generally found in temples). In this temple, the sanctum is elevated and reachable by steps. This is done mainly to give shelter to people in case of floods.

• Another neat feature I found is the waterways or கால்வாய் found in the temple.All the water that is used to bathe the deities and the sanctum are piped to a holding tank which then connects to waterways that go the periphery of the temple, where it joins other passageways of the temple and is diverted to the temple gardens. And we talk about rain harvesting & water conservation these days!

Kambaheswarar/Sarabeswarar Temple Water Conservation System, Thirubhuvanam

And right on Sannadhi Street (the name generally given to the main street emanating from a temple entrance) are the numerous silk saree shops!! My diwali sari this year (2014) was a purchase from ThiCo silks (Thirubhuvanam Cooperative Society) on Sannidhi Street. It is a beautiful coffee brown with onion pink border. I paired it with a brocade blouse in pink and gold!

Thirubhuvanam Silk

Thirubhuvanam silks have the GI status and are made from locally grown domesticated silkworms. What is unique about the saree is the way in which they are folded. The fold is narrow and if unfurled and wrapped correctly, the folds can form the front pleats of the saree. This way it retains the fold for a long time and is preferred by brides to get that perfect look on their wedding day!

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???