Kanchipuram Silk - Black and No Zari...Really???

Kanchipuram Silks is considered the most auspicious of silks in South India. All south Indian girls receive a beautiful Kanchipuram Silk Saree as they get into mid teens. Kanchipuram silk is rich, lustrous with beautiful zari work - on the border, pallu (thalappu as it is called in Tamil) and all over the body of the sari.  Women folk down south wear it for all festive occasions. Depending on the importance of the occasion the grandeur of the sari varies - grandeur generally translates to the quantum of Zari work of course ! All south Indian brides invariably wear  Kanchipuram silk at their marriage ceremony- even if they are real divas like Aishwarya Rai , Shilpa Shetty or Vidya Balan.

There are only two rules - Lots of Zari (jarigai as it called colloquially) and No Black (black is really an inauspicious color and is not recommended for festive occasions)

These two rules make my Black Kanchipuram sari - with NO Zari work a truly unique piece. In the 21st century  "simple" Kanchipuram sarees are really trendy. And to make the Kanchipuram sari more national and appealing to the younger generations, many innovations such as embroidery, zardosi work, kundan stones etc have found their way to embellish Kanchipuram sarees. But way back some 20 years ago this was unheard of.

Nalli Silks was then a small shop tucked away into the heart of Matunga, Bombay. With a single window A/C and a jasmine incense fragrance this shop was really different from the huge silk emporiums of Bombay like Roopam, Roopmilan, Benzer etc. Visiting Nallis was a complete south indian experience for us at Bombay. The day would start with a leisurely breakfast at Sarada Bhavan or Ramashray, mostly the former. Then a walk thru the busy bazaars of Matunga to Nallis. The rustle of soft silks, the smiling faces of veteran salesmen and the fragrance unique to traditional silk shops. The hours spent admiring and discussing the merits of various colors - MS Blue, Onion pink, Mukkupodi ( snuff powder) brown, Maambhazha orange (mango color), the latest Ramar Pachai (the color that girls call green and guys call blue), mayil (peacock)
 blue....It is at the end of such a wonderful discussion that I discovered and insisted on buying my black kanchipuram silk with no zari..just a few small red thread work buttis (oval designs). To this date, this first saree remains my favorite.
During one of her spring cleaning exercises, my mom exchanged this piece of my heart for a plastic bucket and mug....

The journey begins....

with a simple pure raw silk saree - purchased from the iconic silk saree shop of Chennai (Madras) -  Rasi Silks. Rasi Silks has its origins in a suburb called Mylapore which is the cultural hub of Chennai. 

 Being from Mumbai we knew only of two silk saree shops of Madras - Nalli Silks and Rasi Silks. So when Rasi Silks held an exhibition at the Fine Arts Center of Mumbai, my mother and me were really excited. In 1990s, when the only silk sarees in vogue were Kanchipuram and Dharmavaram (for the South Indians, of course) - pure raw silk was something totally unheard of. We even refused to believe that it was silk. And to pay a kings ransom of 1200 rupees for something which was not even an "Arani pattu" was sacrilege for my mother. But me being the rebellious teen had to have my way. And there - I was a proud owner of a green and pink printed raw silk saree.  

Little did I know that this piece of uniqueness would go on to be a rage !! Today some 20 years later, this is the most basic of silk sarees. Somewhere along the line, this was the design for Air India's Air hostess's too. In fact it is also called the "Corporate Silk" - worn by successful and powerful women for Board meetings and International conferences teamed with lustrous pearls or priceless platinum. 

I am sure women with  healthy saree wardrobes already have many of this versatile pieces (I own 4 of them).  Even today these sarees can be got for a price of 1500-3500 Indian rupees

pssst....it also makes you look slimmer that what you are...

So here is my toast to printed pure raw silk...