Design Resource
Weaving Craft of Varanasi
Making of Benarasi Sari
by
Reeling
Reeling is the skein preparation prior to dyeing. The reeling machine is fed by yarn packages and winds them onto a reel, thereby forming the skein. The yarn is separately reeled for tana (warp) and bana (weft). Three to five people are needed to reel the warp which is wrapped on a warp cylinder in sufficient length required to weave a known length of sarees. Yarn for the weft is reeled on small cylindrical object in a process known locally as ‘nari bharana’. The weft-yarn is used in a shuttle called ‘dharki’, which is thrown from one to other side while weaving. A charkha (spinning wheel), now made up of a bicycle rim and a paddle, is used for winding the yarn on nari (bobbins) and is usually done by women.
