Paithani is a hand woven silk saree with a rich, ornamental Zari (gold thread) Pallov (Pallu) and border, which is characterised by borders of an oblique square design, and a colourful geometric design. The Paithani saree is known all over the world over for its uniqueness. The paithani saree and shela is traditionally a part of the trousseau of every Maharashtrian bride. The art of Paithan is mor
e than 2000 years old, The name “Paithani” is derived from the small town Paithan located in Central India, Maharashtra state
The Peshwas had a special love for Paithani textiles. During the 17th century, the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb patronized the Paithani Silk weavers and introduced new motif that was called Aurangzebi. He prohibited weavers to weave ‘Jamdanis’ except for his court and punished the weavers who disobeyed his orders
Mainly raw material used for paithani is Silk yarn, Zari and colours. Preferably Filiature silk is used as warp and charakha silk is used as weft. Another major raw matarial used in the production of Paithani Silk Saree is ‘Zari’. In the olden days the zari was drawn from pure gold. Paithani comes in various colours derived from vegetable dyes. Some are pure and some resulting from the blending of yarns of different colors in the weave.
