A map of
India's weaving.
25 living weaves cluster around 12 towns. The Narmada, the Ganges, the Cauvery — India's handloom traditions still trace its rivers.
- Pashmina Srinagar
- Kullu Kullu
- Phulkari Patiala
- Chikankari Lucknow
- Banarasi Varanasi
- Bhagalpuri Bhagalpur
- Jamdani Phulia
- Baluchari Bishnupur
- Tant Shantipur
- Sambalpuri Sambalpur
- Muga Sualkuchi
- Chanderi Chanderi
- Maheshwari Maheshwar
- Kota Doria Kaithoon
- Patola Patan
- Bandhani Bhuj
- Mashru Surat
- Paithani Paithan
- Pochampally Pochampally
- Gadwal Gadwal
- Mangalagiri Mangalagiri
- Mysore Silk Mysuru
- Kanjivaram Kanchipuram
- Madurai Madurai
- Kasavu Balaramapuram
Eighteen Indian states have at least one living handloom tradition. Here are the ones featured in the field guide so far.
Jammu & Kashmir
Pashmina wool from the high Himalayas and kani shawls woven on twill tapestry looms — Kashmir's textile traditions have crossed three empires.
Himachal Pradesh
Kullu shawls — geometric pattu-style yokes on hand-loomed wool — and Kinnauri shawls from the high villages above the Sutlej.
Punjab
Phulkari — "flower-work" embroidery on hand-spun khadi — the textile of dowries and weddings in rural Punjab and Haryana.
Uttar Pradesh
Banaras silk brocades, Chikankari embroidery from Lucknow, and the storied weaving lanes of Mubarakpur.
Bihar
Tussar silk from Bhagalpur — the "silk city" — plus Madhubani painting traditions and the Khatwa appliqué of Patna.
West Bengal
Jamdani muslins, Baluchari narrative silks, Tant cottons of Shantipur and Phulia.
Odisha
Sambalpuri ikat from the Mahanadi basin, Bomkai silk from Ganjam, and the Khandua jagannath textiles of Nuapatna — Odisha is India's ikat heartland.
Assam
Muga silk — the golden, sun-resistant silk endemic to Assam — plus the everyday Mekhela Chador, woven on throw-shuttle looms in every village.
Madhya Pradesh
The heartland of Chanderi and Maheshwari — silk-cotton sarees from temple towns on the Narmada, woven for over a thousand years.
Rajasthan
Kota Doria from Kaithoon, Bagru block-print, and the Bandhani tie-dye crafts of Jaipur and Sikar — desert-state textiles built around resist-dyeing.
Gujarat
Patola double-ikat from Patan, Bandhani tie-dye, and Mashru silks of Kutch.
Maharashtra
Paithani silks of Paithan, Karvati cottons of Vidarbha, and the Himroo brocades of Aurangabad — each tradition tied to a specific town.
Karnataka
Mysore silk — sericulture started by Tipu Sultan in the 1780s — plus Ilkal silk and the Molakalmuru cottons of the Tungabhadra basin.
Andhra Pradesh & Telangana
Pochampally ikat, Gadwal cottons with silk borders, and Venkatagiri jamdani.
Tamil Nadu
Home to Kanjivaram silk and Madurai cottons — temple-town weaving traditions tracing back centuries.
Kerala
Kasavu — the unbleached cotton with a gold-zari border worn on Onam and Vishu — plus Balaramapuram fine cotton, woven on traditional pit looms in Trivandrum district.