Know your weave — The Loom — Banarasi Karkhana

Kadhwa brocade in close-up, each motif woven separately

कढ़ुआKadhwa

Each motif woven separately by hand, with the threads between motifs cut away rather than floated behind the cloth. The reverse stays clean, the saree can be worn either way, and the loom moves slowly — the most prized of the Banarasi techniques.

$Tanchoi satin — pattern built from warp and weft alone$

तानछोईTanchoi

A dense satin weave with no extra zari floating on the back. The pattern is built from the warp and weft themselves, giving a smooth, fully reversible surface.

Rangkat — the silk shifting shade as it turns in the light

रंगकटRangkat

Warp and weft dyed in different colours and joined panel by panel, so the silk shifts shade across the saree as it moves in the light.

$Shikargah ground — the forest field waiting for its hunt$

शिकारगाहShikargah

A hunting scene — animals, birds and forest woven across the field and pallu. The most elaborate figurative design in the Banarasi repertoire. One is on our looms now.