THE SAREE STUNNER!

The cotton saree with red border also known as Lal Paar saree is one of the most sought after attires of Bengali women. Siddhanto Roy explores the symbolic meaning of this saree, its different varieties and the reason, why this saree should be a must-hav

Most Bengali women love to adorn lal paar sarees. Not just an elegant attire, the saree has its own symbolic meaning and comes in varieties, such as Tant, Jamdani, Garad, Tussar, Muslin, Korial and Baluchari. The combination of red and white colours is considered auspicious by Bengali women as white stands for purity and red symbolises fertility. For devotional events or religious functions, the lal paar saree is one of the most preferred attires of married Bengali women. The sarees are not only worn at the time of Durga Puja but are an integral part of a Bengali woman’s wardrobe. The laal paar saree is accessorised by shakha (bangles that are made out of conch shells)s) and pola (red coral bangles) and along with sindoordoor completes the married woman’s look.

The Tussar silk sarees have a beige or off-white base with a golden sheen. The borders are in red or red-gold, and the pallav has elaborately woven motifs in red. The muslins are super-fine and exotic versions of the jamdani sarees. The white base of the saree is extremely light and is adorned with weavings in red, giving it an exquisite finish. Baluchari silk sarees in the red and white combination are very exquisite to drape and behold. The borders and pallav are

EVERY BENGALI WOMAN, NO MATTER IN WHICH CORNER OF THE WORLD SHE RESIDES, PREFERS TO

OWN AT LEAST ONE GARAD OR KORIAL SAREE IN HER CLOSET. THE BORDER OF GARAD SAREES ARE DISTINCTIVE IN COLOURS, MOSTLY RED AND MAROON WHICH GIVES IT A RICH LOOK.

intricately adorned with red motifs depicting tales frfrom epics and religious religi texts. The rich white base co complements th the borders and o often has delicate red motifs woven across. A touch of gold zari amidst the red weavings fu further en enhances its gra grandeur. Let’s take a look at the popular popula varieties in detail.

TANT

Tant saree is traditionally made by the weavers from Murshidabad, Murshidabad Nadia and Hooghly in West Bengal. With the division of Bengal province during the partition of 1947, some of the weavers from Bangladesh migrated to West Bengal and continued their craftsmanship. Weaving of tant saree is famous and an age-old craftsmanship of weaving from Bangladesh and West Bengal. Tant sarees are woven from cotton threads and distinguished by its lightness and transparency. It is considered to be the most comfortable saree for hot and humid climate. Traditionally, handlooms were used by the weavers, which have in today’s times been replaced by power looms to weave such sarees.

GARAD

Garad silk is one of the popular styles of sarees originated in West Bengal. Also known as Gorod, the word Garad means ‘White’. Garad silk sarees are distinguished by its red border and small paisley motifs. Silk fabric used to weave Garad sarees is not dyed which keeps the purity factor of the fabric intact and therefore, these sarees have a sacred importance to women in

Bengal. Murshidabad district of West

Bengal specialises in weaving these sarees wherein the silk yarns are woven close together, which imparts the fine texture to the sarees. The Garad Silk is manufactured from Tussar or Mulberry Silk and is not dyed to retain the natural colour of silk. Bengali women prefer not to stitch a fall in these sarees to preserve its quality and wear it in its purest form.

GARAD-KORIAL

The Korial Saree is a close alternative to the Garad Silk Saree. There is another style of Bengali saree, which resembles the design and look of Garad silk sarees, and is known as Korial sarees. Every Bengali woman, no matter in which corner of the world she resides, prefers to own at least one Garad or Korial saree. The border of Garad sarees are distinctive in colours, mostly red and maroon which gives it a rich look.

Korial saree is also identical to Garad saree except the border, which is more intense in design and rich red in colour. What distinguishes Garad saree from Korial saree is that the former contains small floral and paisley motifs across the length of the saree while the latter is plain

white in colour with red border. The popularity of lal paar sarees amongst women ranges from the households of West Bengal to the celebrities of Bollywood with several actresses having donned this traditional attire at numerous functions.

So, get ready to flaunt this traditional wonder.