Bengali Brides in Red Dhakai Jamdani Saree
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| Bengali Bride in Dhakai Jamdani Saree. Image: Google |
Bengali brides and banarasi sarees (benaroshi) have been inseparable from time immemorial. When I was getting married more than a year back, I had only one option in my mind as well- a fiery red banarasi saree with all over “Jangla” zari work (Read HERE in “Bengalis and Benaroshi”). Even for my reception, my mother-in-law had gifted me a pink and green banarasi saree (Read HERE “What I finally wore for my reception). But as much as I love the regal look which Banarasi saree gives, I cannot deny the fact that it is only during winter that a bride can be comfortable in a heavy work banarasi saree since the original lightweight pure silk Banarasis are almost non-existent now and thick satin variants are the only option for people on budget. I realised I have totally ignored summer brides and it is time for some tips on choosing a different saree for your special day. If you are not fond of too much bling, heavy work sarees and like to keep it simple and comfortable on your wedding, then this post is for you!
So the idea of this post is to introduce another
pride of Bengal as a bridal attire option- The Dhakai Jamdani saree. The Dhakai Jamdani Saree, as the name suggests, is a special
type of handloom cotton saree woven in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Although the mention
of Jamdani sarees has been made very early in history pages, the Jamdani
culture (Persian word which means “Flower Vase”) is said to have flourished
during the Mughal rule in India, declined during British rule due to cheap
European yarn and then again raised its glory in Bengal (Present day Dhaka,
Bangladesh)
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| Weaving of Dhakai Jamdani. Image: Google |
Authentic Dhakai Jamdani saree are rightly called “The
finest of muslins” and are painstakingly handwoven in about 7 months to a year. The
characteristic of Dhakai Jamdani sarees is a sheer base with floral or “bootidar” designs in an opaque thread.
Finest cotton is used to create the sheer base and thicker cotton is used to
create the design. Sometimes golden threads are used between wefts to
create golden sheen in the sarees.
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| The sheer and opaque allure of Dhakai Jamdani. Image: RoopKatha |
While many of you would raise an eyebrow wearing a “cotton”
saree on your wedding, the original Dhakai Jamdani saree would be THE perfect
choice for the summer bride! These sarees will let you breathe and you can experiment
like crazy with the jewellery designs. Although a personal advice is: STAY AWAY
from Kundan jewellery with a Dhakai Jamdani saree. This sarees are incomplete
without gold jewellery (Read Bengali Bridal Jewellery details HERE)
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| Red Dhakai Jamdani Saree. Image: Indiaroots |
Consider this saree. Now imagine a huge gold nose ring, an intricate gold Taira-tikli or only Tikli (Mathapatti-maangtika), a
gold filigree short necklace and a long gold “Pushpo-haar” (A Bengali long
necklace where small gold flowers are strung like a garland), big jhumkas or
gold kaan-baala, Jasmine flowers in a low bun, and shakha-pola with baala and
choor (Bengali Hand ornaments). Any bride would look resplendent in this attire
and be as cool as a breeze during the whole event because of the soft and
breathable nature of this saree. Please don’t forget to wear matching blouse
with a red Dhakai Jamdani saree as contrast blouses kill the whole feel of a
Dhakai. Also, as a bride complete your look with Aalta on your hands (Aalta or Mehendi? Read HERE), red teep
(Bindi), kajal-ed eyes and a soft matte red lip. Yes, I am suggesting a red
lipstick with a red jamdani because red on red looks great on a bride who does
not immerse her face with glitters :P
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| Bengali Bride in Dhakai Jamdani Saree. Image: BengalLooms |
An authentic Dhakai Jamdani saree costs anywhere
between Rs.5000- Rs.10000 but there are cheaper
variants with synthetic mixed threads are widely available across the market in
prices as low as Rs.2500. I would strongly suggest to avoid those variants for
the Big-Day because the difference in texture can be understood very well
and there would be atleast two ladies in your guest list in those sarees :-/
Your best bet to buy Dhakai Jamdani sarees would
obviously be in Dhaka itself, but major stores in Kolkata also stock up the
authentic cotton Dhakai Jamdani sarees. Do your research before shelling out
the money. The best part is you can re-wear these sarees whole throughout your lives :)
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| Red Dhakai Jamdani Saree. Image: Midraar |
I wore a banarasi
saree for my wedding (Read HERE) but
if my wedding would have been in hot and sultry months, I would have definitely
chosen a Dhakai Jamdani saree with intricate gold jewellery J What about you??
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2 comments
Even I wanted to wear red benarasi with ghoti hata or 3 quarter ruffle deoa blouse and shonar gohono :)
ReplyDeleteSame here. I got the ruffle sleeved blouse made too. But the tailor made it a disaster :( So had to settle for another blouse
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