Begampuri cotton sarees, once considered to be worn out of fashion are now taking the mammoth saree market in India by surprise!
Like most traditional Indian textiles, Begampuri cotton sarees get their name from a small town named Begampur, located in the Hooghly district in West Bengal. From time immemorial, the town is famous for its handwoven cotton sarees and dhotis. The sarees are loosely woven to ensure they are light-weight and translucent. Weavers use a pit loom or frame loom for weaving the Begampuri saree and they use traditional dobby designs. A simple design could take around one or two days to be woven and more intricate ones can stretch up to five to six days to complete. It’s worth mentioning, at an age where time is considered to be money and everything we purchase is being made on assembly lines motivated by profits, the traditional handloom weavers of Begampur have made it through and kept it all alive!
For ages the weavers were manufacturing a locally known variety called ‘Matapar’ sarees, which carry simple borders without any fancy ornamentation and are woven with coarser cotton yarn. Due to a decline in sales, Begampur handloom development came up with a revival strategy and offered training in design and dyeing to the weavers. This has now led to signs of recovery in sales and an enhancement in the traditional but modern grace of the saree. At Aevum Sarees, we directly employ the traditional weavers of Begampur to manufacture 100% fine cotton sarees carrying deep bright colours that are extremely comfortable to drape. Checkout our trending Begampuri cotton saree collection here.
Made a purchase already? How to identify if your Begampuri saree is genuine?
Traditional Begampuri cotton sarees are woven in a way that its texture is balanced with contrasting borders of red, purple, orange, black, green and so on. Also do notice the designs and ‘chiur’, the designs are made using wooden pattayas and a few other varieties are woven with ‘khejurchuri’ though it is originally derived from Dhanikhaligharana. The typical borders are either the Naksha border, Ganga Jamuna border, temple border, skirt border, dobby border, plain border and broad borders known as ‘maathapaar’ or ‘Beluaaripaar’ and are often seen in two colours such as black and red with a solid weave thus making it more robust.
We at Aevum Sarees, directly source the handlooms from the traditional weavers ensuring they meet Aevum quality standards, worry no more and shop for your Made in Begampur ethnic wear today!
A small act of sharing this blogpost can take the Begampuri weavers a step further on their quest to revive their age old tradition.
