Buying Guide
How to Spot an Authentic Chanderi: Five Telltale Signs
Power-loom Chanderi imitations are flooding the market. Here are the five checks — sheen, sound, weight, butis, and the GI tag — that take under a minute.
6 May 2026
A field guide to Indian handlooms
Six yards. Six thousand years.
Stories, weaves, and traditions of India's living handloom heritage — from Banarasi silks and Patola double-ikat to the everyday cottons of Bengal.
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Featured · Buying Guide
Why Chanderi Is India's Perfect Summer Saree
Sheer, silk-cotton, weightless on the shoulder — there's a reason Chanderi has been the go-to summer saree of north India for four centuries.
9 May 2026
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Field guide
Weaves to know
Banarasi
Uttar Pradesh
Mughal-era silk brocades from Varanasi — recognisable by zari work, Persian motifs, and the unmistakable weight of pure silk.
Chanderi
Madhya Pradesh
Sheer, lightweight silk-cotton sarees from Madhya Pradesh — known for their translucent body, gold zari butis, and unmistakable shimmer in soft light.
Kanjivaram
Tamil Nadu
South India’s temple silk — woven in Kanchipuram with three-shuttle technique, contrasting borders, and pure mulberry silk.
Patola
Gujarat
Double-ikat silk from Patan, Gujarat — both warp and weft pre-dyed, woven by only a handful of families.
Jamdani
West Bengal
Hand-woven discontinuous-weft muslin from Bengal — UNESCO-recognised for its diaphanous body and figured motifs.
The Journal
From the journal
Buying Guide
Chanderi vs Maheshwari: Which Should You Buy?
Both are silk-cotton, both come from Madhya Pradesh, both look similar to the untrained eye. Here's how to tell them apart and which suits which occasion.
30 Apr 2026
Buying Guide
How to Identify an Authentic Banarasi Silk Saree
A practical, hands-on guide to spotting genuine Banarasi sarees — what to feel for, what the reverse should look like, and the GI tag check.
1 May 2026
Artisan Stories
Why Patola Sarees Take a Year to Weave
The mathematics of double-ikat — and the reason a single Patan Patola can carry a six-figure price tag.
22 Apr 2026
Trends
The Quiet Revival of Bengali Tant Cotton
Once written off as everyday wear, Tant has become the unlikely hero of contemporary Indian wardrobes.
10 Apr 2026
How To
A Beginner’s Guide to Indian Saree Drapes
Beyond the Nivi: nine regional drapes that show how a single six-yard cloth becomes a hundred different garments.
2 Apr 2026
By region
Explore by region
Tamil Nadu
Home to Kanjivaram silk and Madurai cottons — temple-town weaving traditions tracing back centuries.
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Uttar Pradesh
Banaras silk brocades, Chikankari embroidery from Lucknow, and the storied weaving lanes of Mubarakpur.
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Gujarat
Patola double-ikat from Patan, Bandhani tie-dye, and Mashru silks of Kutch.
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West Bengal
Jamdani muslins, Baluchari narrative silks, Tant cottons of Shantipur and Phulia.
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Andhra Pradesh & Telangana
Pochampally ikat, Gadwal cottons with silk borders, and Venkatagiri jamdani.
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Madhya Pradesh
The heartland of Chanderi and Maheshwari — silk-cotton sarees from temple towns on the Narmada, woven for over a thousand years.
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