Authentic silk pattu with dual tone - Arani silk saree

A traditional weavers accumulations of Tamilnadu is what the Arani handloom saree is?

It has a touch of contemporary and traditional designs a unique south Indian smooth textured silk party having blend of variety.

The uniqueness of saree is that you have two different bodies and pallus on each side which is good to use as two different sides.

Historic roots 

District of Thiruvananthapuramalai in the state of Tamil nadu is the small town of Arani is located. It is the one of the silk hub of Tamilnadu. The historic saurashtrian legacy is carrier of the Arani silk saree along with many other silks that are manufactured in the state.

Saurashtrans were known to convert cotton and silk  into something enchanted. They were not just the expert in weaving, but in all form of textiles like printing dyeing and embroidery. The Royal charter named them ‘pattavayahs’  means weavers. They carry   the legacy who lived 1200 years ago!

All was well for the saurashtrans till Mohammed Ghazi invaded the rich land. They were forced to flee from the region, this is how they spread to other parts of the country over a two centuries.

Finally settled in the sourthern. They lent their expertise in weaving to the local art and market, just creating the masterpieces. While they preserved their roots, and integration of Tamil community is also wide and the merger of both distinct styles is richly shown in Arani sarees.

Process of creating Arani saree

As per the requirement of the single and double yarns which brought from Bengaluru of the Karnataka state are twisted and winded at Arani. Then, the yarn is soaked in water for 10 minutes and boiled for 20 minutes in soap solution, afterwards the yarn rinsed throughly.

When the yarn is completely dried it was immersed in the dye solution which further boil with acid dyes in the brass vessel by providing heat by the firewood.

The first light colors are dyed and then comes the turn of darker tones. The yarn are then spread on the streets to dry completely and rolled to beams.

After the beam is fixed to the handloom as per the color pattern pirns are fixed to the flying shuttle color. It is then run by the peddle movement by the Weaver’s limbs. A sandbag is used to balance the lifting movement of the yarn and also jacquard operation.

After some length of saree weaving Gondhu passai (local gum) mixed with little amount of water applied to the surface for the purpose of of stiffness. Around and weak is required to complete the weaving process of Arani saree.

How to distinguished genuine Arani saree?

The saree is pure silk with small zari border With less complex design.  It is heavier than banarasi saree and Lighter than kanjeevaram saree. There is one extra series of wrap threads in Pallu. This is how we differentiate the Arani saree from others.

Government schemes and facilities provided

 The Government of India is implementing handloom marketing assistance(HMA) scheme, A component of national handloom development program (NHDP) All across India,  for providing market for all handloom products including Arani silk saree, The financial assistance is provided to the handloom.

 In addition, The silk mark organization of India, organizers silk mark Expo in various towns and cities resulting in the opportunity including Arani weavers to grow.

However, under Section 8 of the Company Act 2013, Arani Master weavers have created a nonprofit company “Arani Handloom Silk Park” and a Mou Have been signed with government of Tamil Nadu in 2015.

 present day scenario

 thanks to the pandemic, the looms have fallen shut with no takers and Arani Silk saree have been procrastinated For an uncertain period of time.  In the normal time the salary never failed to caught the eye of people traditional wear or modern wear fanatic.

Even after the relaxation in pandemic, there is less or no orders place which result in thousands of laborers have pushed into agony.

There are accepting the financial support from government and also from the organizations which can lift them from the depth trap.

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