Venkatagiri Saree - Andhra Pradesh
Venkatagiri sarees are mostly of one to two inch wide with gold border, it has a unique characteristic of woven combinations of zari and cotton threads. Designs on the borders are locally called Patti, which are nothing but dotted lines alongside the golden bands. These are also known as high quality muslins with high thread counts. Though they are transparent with their most saturated colour of yarn dyed with hues such as purple, orange, olive green, bright green, bright red.
They are woven to create fine checks and stripes, the coloured muslins are woven with two relatively wide, plain, weft bands at end pieces. These sarees are usually of finely woven, soft to touch and particularly light in weight and comfortable to wear in any season. The raw materials such as cotton are brought from Coimbatore, silk from Bangalore, zari from Surat and segregated as per the end use to be obtained. In case of weft the yarns are winded to the plastic pirns and spools, especially for the Jamdani design insertion. Zari thread segregated as per in warp way and spools.
The warp yarns are spread as per the pattern of design in the open space outside the house, special care is taken to insert each yarn with colour. The adai system is carried out for the laying of the Jamdani design’s, for the insertion of the weave the adai arrangement is spread and the yarn is weaved along with extra yarn insertion with spools as per the colour to be inserted like the peacock, mango design etc. In some cases after the fabric is woven rice starch is applied for strength purposes and rolled on to the beam. This technique of weaving of the handloom Venkatagiri saree gives the softness, durability and comfort to wear that suits all types of climates. The uncertain payments from the merchants and the change of the lifestyle have forced most of the weavers to choose other means for their livelihood.
