Magenta Tussar Ghicha Silk Saree with Gold Zari Border – Bhagalpuri Handloom

Lalima

A bright magenta, silver breaking through it wherever the ghicha runs, with a gold zari border down both sides and a pallu banded in wide zari stripes.

About the weave

There is no print and no painting on this saree. Everything you see is yarn and loom. Ghicha yarn runs lighter and darker along its length, so the colour never sits flat — it shifts between deep magenta and pale rose depending on where the light falls and how the saree is draped. Photographs only half catch it.

The zari is real metallic thread, woven in rather than applied: a band along both selvedges, gathering into broad stripes across the pallu. Against a colour that is already moving, it gives the cloth two different kinds of light.

About the fabric

Tussar Ghicha silk, handwoven in Bhagalpur. Ghicha is the yarn drawn from the outer layers of the cocoon and spun by hand — hence the slubby, uneven texture and the soft matte lustre rather than a flat shine. It has more body than plain tussar and holds a pleat well.

Details

• Fabric: Pure handloom Ghicha Tussar silk
• Colour: Magenta with gold zari
• Border: Gold zari, both sides
• Pallu: Wide gold zari stripe bands
• Body: Plain, with the natural silver striation of ghicha yarn
• Saree length: 5.5 m · Width: 1.10 m
• Blouse piece: 0.80 m, matching, unstitched
• Package contains: 1 saree with blouse piece
• Wash care: Dry clean only

On handloom

Handloom cloth is woven entirely by hand, without electric power — a rhythm of foot and shuttle that takes years to learn and cannot be hurried. Every weaving cluster has its own way of rendering a weave, particular to its region, its yarn and its craft, which is why two handloom sarees from different districts never quite look alike.

On tussar

Tussar is spun by forest-reared silkworms rather than farmed ones, which is where its natural gold tone and its coarser, more textured hand come from. It was first woven by tribal women in eastern India, and the slight roughness people sometimes mistake for a flaw is the whole character of the cloth.

On colour and variation

Each piece is woven individually and dyed in small batches, so slight unevenness in the slub, in the selvedge and in the depth of colour is inherent to the process rather than a defect. These variations are what make a hand-dyed, handwoven piece its own thing. Colour may vary slightly from your screen.