Reference
Glossary
The words used on this site, without translation, explained once here.
- Zari
- Thread wrapped in fine metal — historically real gold or silver, now usually a metal-coated polyester or a silver base. Carries the raised motifs in Banarasi and Kanjivaram weaving.
- Pallu
- The decorative end of the saree, worn draped over the shoulder. Usually the most elaborately woven section of the cloth.
- Buti
- A small, individual motif scattered across the body of the saree — a single flower or dot repeated at intervals, rather than a continuous pattern.
- Korvai
- A joining technique, mainly seen in Kanjivaram weaving, where the body and border are woven separately on the same loom and interlocked by hand rather than woven as one continuous piece.
- Kadwa
- A Banarasi technique where each motif is worked as its own separate weft thread, rather than carried loosely across the back of the cloth. Slower, and the reverse side is nearly as clean as the front.
- Ikat
- A way of dyeing the yarn before it is woven: the threads are tied and dyed to the pattern, so the design is in the thread itself and each motif has a soft edge. Single ikat dyes the warp or the weft; double ikat dyes both.
- Patola
- A double ikat silk. Every thread of warp and weft is tied and dyed before weaving, so both faces of the cloth are the same. Among the slowest sarees to make.
- Paithani
- A silk saree whose pallu and border are tapestry-woven in silk and zari, often with peacocks and parrots. Also made with a cotton body.
- Baluchari
- A silk saree whose pallu is woven with scenes from the epics. When the figures are worked in zari, it is called Swarnachari.
- Bandhej
- Tie-dye: the cloth is pinched and tied in tiny points before dyeing, leaving a pattern of dots. Also called bandhani.
- Gharchola
- A wedding saree: a grid of zari checks woven into the silk, with bandhej motifs tied and dyed in each square.
- Kalamkari
- Drawn and painted by hand with a bamboo pen, the kalam, and natural dyes. Pen Kalamkari is drawn freehand; other kinds are printed with blocks.
- Pattachitra
- A painting tradition with fine line work and bold colour, telling stories in panels. Now also painted on sarees.
- Kasavu
- An off-white handloom saree with a border of gold zari. Kasavu is the name of the zari border itself.
- Chikankari
- Hand embroidery from Lucknow, traditionally white thread on fine white cloth, in small, close stitches.
- Mul
- Very fine, soft cotton, light enough for heat. Also called mulmul.
- Khadi
- Cloth hand-spun and hand-woven from start to finish, not just hand-loomed from mill-spun yarn. Slightly irregular by nature — that irregularity is not a flaw.
- Selvedge
- The self-finished edge of the woven cloth that will not fray, running the length of the saree. On a handloom piece, small irregularities in the selvedge are a sign of the hand, not a defect.
- Count
- A measure of how fine the yarn is — the higher the count, the finer and lighter the thread, and generally the more time a piece takes to weave.
- Handloom
- Woven on a loom operated by hand and foot, with no electrically powered parts driving the weave itself — distinct from "handwoven," a looser term sometimes used for power-assisted looms.
