On the banks of the river Ganga, in the state of Bihar, is a small town called Bhagalpur, that is also known as the “Silk City” of India, because of the production of its world-famous silk known as Tussar Silk or Bhagalpuri silk, from which the immensely popular Bhagalpuri sarees are made.
Bhagalpuri silk is also referred to as “peace silk” because its production style is very different from the production of all other varieties of silk. The production of Bhgalpuri silk or Tussar silk is entirely an eco-friendly process, and only a finite number of worms are used for silk production.
Bhagalpuri Silk is one of the finest quality of silk that exists, and hence, is called the ‘Queen of all fabrics’. It is immensely popular for its distinct and prominent flexibility and durability. This inherent piece of art reflects the roots and traditions of Bhagalpur in its absolute form. The Bhagalpuri Silk has every aspect of Indian culture on it, most of which are drawn from the minute details of the environment and are symbolic in their own form.
Bhagalpuri sarees, made from the famous Tussar silk have a very sophisticated and appealing look. They are mostly available in vibrant colours such as red, Florence, pink, light pink, yellow, fuchsia, blue and green. They are very comfortable to wear and suitable for each and every kind of occasion.
What is the History and Origin of Bhagalpuri Sarees?
The Rise and the Fall
Bhagalpuri sarees are said to be very ancient artwork in India. It started as a simple work of separating threads from the silkworms and then spinning the threads on yarn in order to weave the majestic Bhagalpuri sarees. But the craftsmanship was so intriguing and unique that even the Mughal rulers hugely appreciated and witnessed the beauty of the Bhagalpuri sarees.
The origin of the Bhagalpuri sarees can be traced back to the Vedic age, but it was during the Mauryan age, that this craft truly flourished and caught the attention of everyone.
But as years passed by, this once upon a time unique and scintillating craft started getting caught up in economic, social and governmental issues. The craft slowly started fading away, and for a long time was forgotten by everyone, and almost became extinct.
A New Life
After a long time of being forgotten and almost becoming extinct, this craft suddenly started finding a new lifeline about 200 years ago and came back with a bank.
The government, along with non-government entities decided to revive this lost art and started new initiatives to make sure that the Bhagalpuri sarees were ready to compete in the market, and reacquire the appeal, attention and high demand it once had.
Bhagalpur is home to almost 35 thousand skilled and experienced craftsmen and to about 25 thousand looms, and these weavers gave their absolute best to make sure that they could bring the art and craft of Bhagalpuri sarees back to life, and they succeeded owing to their tremendous hard work, dedication, skill and passion for their traditional craft, that also reflected their culture and heritage along with their pride.
What is a Bhagalpuri saree?
Bhagalpuri sarees are sarees that are made from one of the finest quality of silk that mother nature has to offer known as the Bhagalpuri silk or Tussar silk. These silks are extracted from the cocoon of the silkworm known as Antheraea paphia.
The Bhagalpuri sarees are extremely lightweight and cosy. They have magnificent designs and are available in a wide variety of colours from vibrant multi-colours to white-pelleted colours.
The Bhagalpuri sarees are a combination of a royal and regal look with innovative designs and a wide range of colours.
What are the Varieties of Bhagalpuri sarees?
Bhagalpuri sarees are generally made of silk, but keeping up with the time and requirement of these sarees, they are now available in a variety of blended fabrics such as Bhagalpuri cotton saree Bhagalpuri khadi saree Bhagalpuri linen saree Bhagalpuri jute saree etc. and they have beautiful embroideries and motifs all over them such as Kantha embroidery, Shibori embroidery, floral patterns, designs of temples etc.
What is the Process of Weaving Bhagalpuri sarees?
1) Thread extraction from the cocoon- The cocoons are first sorted and the ones are chosen that have not been hampered in any way and then they are boiled in hot water with a hint of baking soda for about two hours, in order to make them soft and dissolve the sericin gum to facilitate the process of unwinding the fibres from the cocoon.
The threads are then one by one reeled from the cocoons individually in long threads. Then they are attached to the bamboo spools. The weavers use their bare thighs to draw out one filament of silk from the cocoons. This silk is known as Ghicha silk and it’s from this silk that the Bhagalpuri Ghicha silk sarees are made. After the end of this process, the spools are transferred to skeins.
2) Dyeing of the silk yarn– This process generally involves the use of traditional dyes. The silk threads are bleached and dried to remove any impurities before they are dyed. Boiling the dyes helps extract the colours and the solution is then strained and applied to wet silk yarn. After a few minutes, the yarn is put in a mordant solution containing Kasis stone and then the yarn is washed with Reetha powder.
3) Weaving- In this process, the warp beam is mounted at the rear and the warp is conveyed onto a cylinder which is placed at the front of the loom. The warp yarns are supported between two cylinders and they are able to interlace by filling to supply the woven fabric. There are four stages in this process:-
- Hedding: A series of wires are attached to rectangular frames, and each warp of the yarn coming from the beam must pass through these series of wires.
- Drawing in: Each warp yarn is passed through its appropriate heddle eye in this process.
- Picking: As the frames are raised by the heddles, which in turn raises the warp yarn, the filling yarn is inserted through the shed by the shuttle that contains a bobbin of filling yarn. This crossing of wefts between the shed of the warp is called Picking.
- Beating: The fabric is that is newly formed through the process of weaving must be wound on the cloth beam with each shedding, picking and beating. This is called taking off.
4) Finishing – After all the three processes are completed, the newly formed saree is washed with water and then laid out to dry. Then water is sprayed all over the saree through a spraying machine. Then the saree is neatly folded and beaten with a hammer, also known as kundi. The saree then undergoes a process of calendaring, which is accomplished by pressing the saree between two or more rollers to make it smooth and ensuring that all the wrinkles from the saree are removed.
The Queen of Fabrics, Bhagapuri silk which was once appreciated and recognized by the Mauryans and Mughals has now managed to appeal to all women worldwide. The Bhagalpuri saree has made its presence and popularity extend to countries like Paris and London.
The saree which was almost extinct at a point in time now has a huge following and desire worldwide. They are being sold all across the nation in major cities such as Kolkata, Bangalore, Bihar, Pune, Chennai etc and are also available worldwide in all the popular e-commerce websites such as Mirraw, PeachMode, Amazon, Flipkart,Nalli,Saree.com etc.
The price of a Bhagalpuri saree ranges from INR 1000- INR 25000, depending on the fabric, designs and embroideries.
A lot of hard work and dedication and investment of time and resources is involved in the making of a Bhagalpuri saree. It is the livelihood of around 40,000 weavers in Bhagalpur who give their absolute best and make this saree with passion, love, skill and expertise, and hence the Bhagalpuri saree is one of the best in the world which is comfortable, beautiful, royal, elegant, glossy and majestic and will make a woman stand out in any occasion or events.