Gollabhama Saree Weaving
The milkmaid with her pot, woven in relief across the body of a Siddipet cotton saree.
The Gollabhama saree, woven at Siddipet in Telangana, is a fine cotton saree whose body, border and pallu are scattered with the figure of a gollabhama — a milkmaid carrying a pot on her head — along with related motifs of dancers, birds, buttis and creepers, all worked in a contrasting supplementary weft that stands slightly proud of the ground. The milkmaid is always shown in profile with a pot balanced on her head, and weavers treat the motif almost as a signature.
Craft at a Glance
Origin
Siddipet, Telangana
Also Known As
Siddipet Gollabhama, milkmaid saree, Gollabhama-Gollasidapadu design
Craft Type
Supplementary-weft figured cotton saree weaving
Practising Community
Padmasali weaver families, organised through cooperative societies
Materials
Fine cotton yarn for warp and ground weft; contrasting cotton, sometimes with a little art silk, for the figured motifs; occasionally zari for the borders; reactive dyes.
Known For
Cotton sarees patterned with the Gollabhama (milkmaid) motif in extra weft
Where It's Made
Siddipet town and Rajanna Sircilla area, Siddipet district, Telangana
Time to Create
Five to eight days per saree
GI Status
Siddipet Gollabhama Sarees is a registered GI of Telangana
Process Steps
Dyeing and winding the yarn
Cotton is dyed for the ground and for the contrasting motif weft and wound onto warp bobbins and weft pirns.
Warping and beaming
The warp is prepared for several sarees and set on the pit loom, border threads at the edges.
Drafting the loom
Warp ends are drawn through healds and reed to set the plain-weave structure and width.
Weaving the ground
The plain body is woven, the weaver pausing wherever a milkmaid or companion motif is to be placed.
Inlaying the milkmaid motif
The figure is worked in by hand as an extra weft, thread by thread, so it stands slightly proud of the ground.
Building the border and pallu
Denser rows of milkmaids, birds and creepers are worked into the borders and the end-piece.
Finishing
The saree is cut from the loom, checked for pattern faults, and folded for the cooperative.
Technique Glossary
Gollabhama
The milkmaid-with-pot figure that is the saree's defining motif.
Discontinuous supplementary weft
Pattern threads inserted only where a motif appears, leaving a clean reverse.
Buti
A small repeated motif filling the field between the larger figures.
Padmasali
The Telugu weaver community that carries the Siddipet cotton-saree tradition.
Anchal / pallu
The decorated end of the saree, in Gollabhama densely figured with milkmaids.
Pit loom
A floor loom whose treadles sit in a pit so the weaver works at ground level.
Relief motif
A woven figure that sits slightly above the plane of the ground weave, catching the light.
A Craft Through Time
Pre-modern
Siddipet cotton weaving
The town's weavers supply plain and figured cotton sarees for regional wear.
20th century
The milkmaid motif
Weavers develop and popularise the gollabhama figure as the saree's identity.
Late 20th century
Cooperative craft
Production is organised through societies and promoted as a Telangana speciality.
2013
Geographical Indication
Siddipet Gollabhama Sarees are registered as a GI of Telangana.
21st century
A craft under pressure
Falling weaver numbers and power-loom competition make active support necessary to keep the design alive.
Present
A recognisable handloom
The milkmaid saree is a marker of Telangana weaving, worn and gifted within and beyond the state.
Did You Know?
The gollabhama motif is always shown in profile with a water or milk pot balanced on the head — weavers treat it almost as a signature, and the number and spacing of the figures marks out a design.
Every craft has a story. Every story begins with tradition.