My mother has a Baluchari saree. Baba had bought it for her
in Kolkata many years back.
I had seen the saree many times, but had not noticed anything special about it. Today when Ma took it out from the wardrobe, I saw that the pallu/anchal i.e. endpiece of the saree was full of depicted drawings.
I took a closer look
and saw that it wasn’t any plain drawing, but the whole Ramayana was depicted
on the saree. On one image I could see Rama was shooting arrows against a deer.
In another image I saw Sita ma sitting and thinking deeply about something.
The saree is of orange and black colour. It is extremely
soft. The work is extremely intricate.
Fine silk thread has been in making the saree and it is a gorgeous
and beautiful saree.
It is a special Baluchari saree. Baluchari sarees were first made in Baluchar village in Murshidabad, West Bengal. That’s where the saree get it’s name from. Mostly all Baluchari sarees have Ramayan depicted on it.
The whole of Ramayana was depicted very nicely. But mind
you, these drawing were not the work of computer imagery or painting or some
other form of drawing. They were pure handiwork of saree artisans who have
handstiched the whole of the series.
I asked Ma-“Where had you worn this saree?”
Ma replied-“To my cousin’s marriage and in many other
functions.”
I told Ma that I was very happy that she had such a saree.
Adios!
Image courtesy of By Atudu – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46712966
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