Paithani Silk Weaving
A tapestry-woven border and a peacock pallu in pure gold — the queen of Maharashtrian sarees.
Paithani is the classic silk saree of Maharashtra, named for the ancient town of Paithan on the Godavari, and often called a poem in silk and gold. It is woven in pure mulberry silk with pure gold or silver zari, and its two signature features are the border — woven in an oblique interlock (kadiyal) so it never separates from the body, in a repeating square or vine pattern — and the pallu, a dense tapestry of peacocks (mor), lotuses, the tota-maina parrot pair, the coconut, and designs adapted from the Ajanta murals. The body may be plain, spotted with butis, or fully brocaded.
Craft at a Glance
Origin
Paithan, Maharashtra
Also Known As
Paithani, Poethan silk, 'the poem in silk and gold'
Craft Type
Tapestry-border silk brocade saree weaving
Practising Community
Weaver families of Paithan and Yeola, organised through master weavers, cooperatives and a state handloom corporation
Materials
Pure mulberry silk for warp, body and pallu; pure gold- or silver-gilt zari; and acid and natural dyes for the deep jewel colours.
Known For
Paithani sarees with an oblique square border, a kaleidoscopic pallu of peacocks, lotuses and Ajanta motifs, and pure zari
Where It's Made
Paithan (the origin) on the Godavari in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, and Yeola in Nashik district, Maharashtra
Time to Create
One month to over a year per saree, depending on the pallu and body work
GI Status
Paithani is a registered GI of Maharashtra
Process Steps
Degumming and dyeing the silk
Pure mulberry silk is boiled to remove the gum and dyed in deep jewel tones, often with a contrasting border and pallu colour.
Warping
The body warp and heavy border warps are prepared for the saree.
Making the zari
Gilded silver wire is wound onto a silk core to make the pure zari for the border and pallu.
Setting the loom
The loom is set for the plain or figured body and for hand tapestry weaving of the border and pallu.
Weaving the body
The body is woven plain, spotted with butis, or fully brocaded, depending on the design.
Kadiyal border weaving
The border is woven in oblique interlock so its wefts loop around the body warp and cannot separate.
Tapestry pallu weaving
The pallu's peacocks, lotuses and Ajanta motifs are built thread by thread with many small bobbins of silk and zari.
Technique Glossary
Kadiyal
The oblique interlocking of border and body wefts around the warp, so the border cannot separate from the body.
Tapestry weave
A weft-faced technique in which coloured wefts are woven back and forth only within their own colour area to build a picture.
Mor (peacock)
The peacock, the signature Paithani pallu motif, alongside the lotus, the tota-maina and the coconut.
Muniya / tota-maina
The paired parrot motif woven into Paithani borders and bodies.
Buti
A small isolated woven motif spotted across the body of the saree.
Asawali
A flowering-vine pallu design, one of the classic Paithani patterns.
Pure zari
Zari made from real gold- or silver-gilt wire, used in a genuine Paithani.
A Craft Through Time
Satavahana era
Cloth for Rome
Paithan is a great trading city exporting fine cloth westward; silk weaving there is over two thousand years old.
13th–17th century
Yadava and Nizam patronage
Paithani weaving is patronised by successive Deccan rulers and prized as a status textile.
18th century
The Peshwa golden age
The Peshwas lavishly patronise the Paithan weavers and treat the saree as a mark of the highest rank.
19th–20th century
Decline and shift to Yeola
Paithan's weaving contracts, and Yeola in Nashik district takes up and scales the tradition.
2010s
Geographical Indication
Paithani is registered as a GI of Maharashtra.
Present
The premier Maharashtrian saree
Paithani remains the top bridal and ceremonial silk of Maharashtra, woven at Yeola and, in smaller numbers, Paithan.
Did You Know?
A Paithani pallu is woven like a tapestry with no shortcuts — each peacock feather, lotus petal and leaf is built up by hand with its own small bobbin of coloured silk or zari, which is why one saree can take a year.
Every craft has a story. Every story begins with tradition.