Cotton body, silk pallu, royal patronage.
Gadwal sarees are woven in Gadwal, the seat of the historic Gadwal Samasthan in present-day Jogulamba Gadwal district of Telangana. The textile traces to the 17th century, when the local Samasthan rulers patronised weavers brought from Saurashtra and Tamil Nadu.
Gadwal received its GI tag in 2012. About 5,000 active weavers work in the cluster, predominantly the Padmasaali community.
Kotakomma — the interlock that joins cotton to silk.
The Gadwal trick is in the join. The body of the saree is woven in cotton, but the border and pallu are pure silk — and the two are joined seamlessly using the kotakomma interlock technique, similar to the pitni used in Kanjivaram three-shuttle weaving.
The result is a saree that looks like silk from the shoulder down but feels like cotton against the body — light, breathable, and formal enough for weddings. Weaving takes 4–7 days per six-yard.
How to spot a real one.
- 01 Cotton-to-silk join Look at the boundary between body and border — a real Gadwal has a visible interlock seam (a row of fine zigzag teeth). Power-loom Gadwals have no interlock.
- 02 Two-fibre feel Rub the body and the border — body should feel like cotton (matte, dry), border like silk (smooth, cool). Fully synthetic versions don't have this two-fibre contrast.
- 03 Zari pinch The border carries genuine gold-coated silver zari — leaves no dent when pinched. Polymer-zari indents and bends.
- 04 GI 2012 mark Look for the "Gadwal Sarees" GI tag or the Gadwal Handloom Weavers Cooperative seal.
- 05 Weight balance A real Gadwal feels balanced — the heavy silk pallu and the light cotton body produce a distinctive drape. All-cotton or all-silk imitations don't.
Living with it.
- Hand-wash cold for cotton body
- Wash the body carefully in cold water, but keep the silk pallu out of soak time. Some weavers recommend dry-cleaning the whole saree.
- Iron in two settings
- Iron the cotton body on cotton setting and the silk pallu on silk setting separately, using a pressing cloth on the zari.
- Store rolled
- Roll loosely; the kotakomma seam cracks if the saree is sharply folded at that line.
- Avoid bleach
- Bleach degrades the silk pallu. Use only mild detergents.