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The ferocious Yali!
Appearance during Weddingbells, Ceremonies as guest how special it would be? It is believed to be more powerful than Lion, Tiger or elephant, often sculpted in the walls and pillars, seen in south Indian temples and many a times seen in entrance of temples and homes to keep away evil.
It is called by varies names such as Yali, Vyala, Vidala in Sanskrit and Leogryph (part lion and part griffin)in English. In iconography mythical beast Yali is portrayed as head of a Lion, tusks of an elephant(gaja), catlike elegant body, tail of a serpent(snake) and they became much prominent in south Indian sculptures during 16th century. Even the masterweavers of Kanchipuram are inspired by traditional motifs inspired by temple art, the luxury mulberry silks are handcrafted in Yali motifs.

Exquisite craftsmanship, the treasured intensity of colorful art
During olden days these sarees were much in demand and loved by aristocratic and royal families. The traditional double ikat Patola which originates from Patan, small little town which is north of Ahmedabad in Gujarat state. Creating designs by tyeing knots on warp and weft, it takes around three to four months to prepare tie and dyed on warp and weft threads for one saree. Patola saree art was much of labour-intensive, with the combined effort of four weavers, it would take anywere around a six months to a year to weave a masterpiece saree from the scratch, its perseverance in doing it from the time of process of dying that is the reason it was too expensive, and was worn only by the royal and upperclass, who were able to pay for opulence.

Priceless intricacies of Paithani Sarees
The art of weaving Paithani flourished during the 'Satvahana era' in the 200 B.C. The name Paithani is derived from small town Paithan is situated on the banks of the river Godavari located in Central India, Aurangabad district, Maharashtra state, India. The Nizam of Hyderabad was also an ardent admirer of Paithani sarees, the Peshwas took it upon themselves to promote the craft, and consequently, settled Paithani weavers in Yeola, which is now the manufacturing hub for Paithani. The Paithani saree is traditionally a part of the trousseau of every Maharashtrian bride. People here speak Marathi language and they lead simple life. There are many communities involved in weaving these beautiful sarees namely Khatri, Koshti, Swakula Sali are few known communities.

The Sacred Lotus, petals on beauty
Lotus(Nelumbo Nucifera) is a very ancient water plant. Lotus is one of the popular motifs used in Indian textiles, motifs are generally inspired by nature, human figures, architecture from buildings and animals so on, this flower occupies a unique place in Indian art, textiles, poetry, literature, religions purposes and mythology of ancient India. Although this flower is rooted in mud, it continues to float on the water even after emerging from the mud, it remains unstained! The flower is represented with both its opening and closing petals indicating the ups and downs of life. In fact many Hindus are infatuated with lotus flowers, Gorgeous Lotus are called by varies names such as Kamal, Tavare-gadde, Motunkamal, Utpala, Pundarika, Tamarai and Padma and are found in white, pink, red, purple and blue are found in Asian countries.

A Coastal town, situated in Prakasam District in the state of Andhra Pradesh called Chirala, this town was also known as 'Kshirapuri'. Chirala town is renowned for handlooms. Years passed by, the town gained popularity for its excellent handloom sarees known for the softness and durability. The name Chirala means Saree in Telugu and so eventually the name of the town got transformed to Chirala. Main occupation of this village is handloom weaving and paddy cultivation.

Invoking the magic of spectacular, Baluchari sarees
This beautiful garment is worn by women across India and Bangladesh. The origin of these sarees and roots dates back in Bengal, later produced in Murshidabad, but currently 'Bishnupur' town of 'Bankura district' and its surrounding places of West Bengal. Baluchar town from where it derives its name as Baluchari sarees. This marvelous place is famous for its exquisite terracotta temples and Malla Shree Krishna Raslilla. Beautifully made 'terracotta craft' is well known in this place. People here predominantly speak Bengali.

Melting Mysore pak to butter-soft Mysore silks by Sarees are my passion
It is called as City of Palaces, the cultural capital of Karnataka, heritage palaces, magnificent buildings, art galleries, and monuments. Mysore has lent its name from renowned dishes like Mysore Masala Dosa which leaves me craving for melting dessert called Mysore Pak(sweet-dessert). Mysore, the original name of this city was 'Mahishapura' which is derived from the demon named Mahishasura. Mysore officially renamed as Mysuru is one of the districts in Karnataka state.

One of my vintage collection from Tamil Nadu is Kanchipuram Double Border Saree, it is a Beige color as you can see in the portrait and do check out for an overall look of the saree in my video of as well. It has that charm of subtle look yet gives that opulence. In a nutshell, I can say it's the best match for your temple wedding( muhurtham silk saree) gives that complete finish of that traditional look and feel with antique temple jewelry. This is my one of my wedding saree as well which I had shopped for which has a 'Double Border' the first border is bottle green in color with thread work and the second border is a blend of Zari( Gold, deep maroon and bottle green) as well. This saree credit goes to my dad since he selected this wonderful piece of art. When I go deep about this saree, the base of the saree has the emboss stamp a design(beige color) with leaf and other elements as well and when it comes to the pallu area it has Swan's bird motifs.

Contemporary Ilkal sarees goes on a delightful weaves!
The most down to earth yet vibrant colors are seen in traditional attire of Ilkal, Ilkal is a small town, this town is located in the South-East part of Bagalkote district, Karnataka state, India. This place is very hot during the summers but has a pleasant weather during the winters. The language of communication here is Kannada. Ilkal was an ancient weaving centre and known for renowned handloom sarees. The main source of income comes from the 'Red granite' which is exported all around the world, while Ilkal sarees are secondary source of income for the people residing over there since generations. The availability of local raw materials helped in the growth of this saree.

Decoding the traditional handloom of Ilkal
Remote corner in the state of south India is famous for its traditional handloom attire called Ilkal silk sarees and Ilkal cotton sarees, named after after the town Ilkal, in Bagalkot district of Karnataka state, these traditional handwoven sarees are GI protected craft of India. Ilkal is famous for red granite stone and traditional Ilkal sarees. Localites out here are very friendly and they speak Kannada(regional language of the state), one of the main source income of this place is weaving these handwoven evergreen classic sarees. If one happens to peep around in this place, almost all house are engaged in weaving these sarees, their is no discrimination done, both men and woven are engaged in weaving to make their livelihood. Major centres of weaving is from villages of Ilkal, Kolhar, Kamatgi and Nidagundi at the Bijapur district and many of them have their own loom at home.

Soaked in handloom tradition, deeprooted weaves
A small town called Shantipur, also called by Santipur, Nadia district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Santipur is famous for handloom sarees from ancient times, this place and surrounding region has been famous for handloom sarees. Shantipur sarees are also called by name Santipore saree. This place is famous for handloom sarees from ancient times and elegant designs inspired from nature and especially known for its superfine dhoti and handloom saree with jacquard design. In this place, they generally use 'fly shuttle' frame looms filted with jacquard invariably used in Shantipur. Graceful looking sarees have been granted and awarded GI tag(Santipore Saree). To weave double-sided design they use Do-Rookha technique, the front and the reverse side of the saree looks extractly the same.

Handloom sarees are one of the most classic ones and will never go out of fashion no matter what new sarees comes in trend. In Karnataka there are so many such sarees which are yet to come to the light, I'm trying to reach via my blog post and my youtube channel Sarees are my passion to educate, discover and learn about sarees. Here is one such Vintage Ilkal Saree from Bagalkot district of Karnataka state.

The irresistible Handloom saree, that drapes like a dream
Indian textiles are rich in artifacts, Begampur is a small town in Hooghly district in West Bengal, the sarees woven here carries deep and bright colours. The economy of this place depends on textiles and also famous for dhotis. What reminds everyone when you say Bengal is handwoven cotton sarees and is the center for fine cotton weaving and these Begampuri cotton sarees are known for loosely woven light-weight and translucent and are extremely comfortable to drape. These cotton beauties would take one to two days to weave which are very simple ones and more intricate designs could even take five to six days to complete, although the saree fabric named after the city, the subtle madness look after wearing them is absolutely sophisticated.

I've never heard before Madurai Cotton Saree?
A couple of years back when I traveled to the ancient city Madurai, I visited this historic Hindu temple called Meenakshi Amman temple in Tamil Nadu, the architecture and the art impressed me! In the temple streets, I had a glance of wonderful cotton sarees which was showcased, I knew before visiting Madurai about Sungadi cotton sarees, but you get to see other versions of saree which not much many of them are aware in that place, basically it is a simple cotton saree in contrast shade.

A gamechanger I can say, this traditional attire which is still one of the most expensive sarees which is ruling the state. Century plus old and still rules the parties and auspicious festivities beyond it, a crazy fan base, are you curious to know what's the secret behind this Massive fan following, unlock the hidden truth by watching this video.

Simplicity lies the beauty- Toda Embroidery, Sarees are my passion
Tamil Nadu, the famous Mulberry silk called Kanchipuram Silks apart from this one can see magnificent craft called Toda embroidery, which is locally called as Pukhoor. This beautiful embroidery looks very refined as if it is done in a machine but done by beautiful hands, the hues such as charcoal black and pomegranate red with white canvas, what a blend of shades with impressive thread art, its mind-blowing!

Land of shrines, beaches, rivers, hills and forts
Kasaragod district is a small town situated in Malabar Region of Kerala–God's Own Country, India. The traditional Hand-loom Kasargode sarees are manufactured in this region, these Handwoven sarees is inexpensive and can be wearable daily. These traditional ethnic sarees are specially treasured and worn by every keralite during any traditional occasions and are known for 'quality', 'colour pattern on borders', 'durability' and 'traditional designs'. Kasaragod sarees are best known for cotton sarees of fine count like 60s, 80s, and 100s , recent versions have made available for a blend of artificial silk saree. Kasaragod sarees is registered and recognized under Geographical indication tag (GI tag), under the geographical indication Act- 1999. The weaving community who are involved in weaving these traditional sarees are 'Shaliya community' is also known by various names such as 'Saliya' or 'Chaliyan'.