Banarasi Kimkhwab Saree and my obsession with handwoven sarees

by - 19:33:00

Banarasi Kimkhwab Saree
Banarasi Kimkhwab Saree

Hello beauties! What comes to your mind when you hear “Banarasi Saree”? For a Bengali, Banarasi saree (Or as we call it Benaroshi Sharee) has been THE choice for brides since time immemorial. The vibrant silks majorly in colours of red, blue and pinks with intricate golden zari weave has been the ultimate choice of Bengali brides. Even I had chosen two such sarees for my wedding and reception (Read HERE and HERE). But for a handloom saree lover like myself, just owning one or two such royal sarees from Banaras was not enough. I needed to know more about such deep-rooted beautiful handwoven magic attire. So I have been reading quite a lot about Banarasi sarees since the last few months and found out about the various kinds of Banarasi sarees available since the glorious past. One such type of Banarasi saree weave is the “Kimkhwab” (Kimkhaab) weave.

“Kimkhwab” is a Persian word which means a “Little dream”. It is essentially a brocade woven painstakingly with silk and gold or silver threads. This type of cloth was popular in India right from the ancient times and was mentioned in Vedic literature as “Hiranya” or “gold cloth”. In the Gupta dynasty, it came to be known as “Pushpapat” or “Cloth woven with golden flowers”. But it reached the peak of popularity during Mughal era and was called “Kimkhwab”. Since in those days, this fabric was woven with actual gold and silver and silk was used sparingly, it gained popularity among the rich and remained a “little dream” for the general mass.
In present days expert weavers of Varanasi (Banaras) continue weaving kimkhwab but now majorly with “resham” silk and sparingly use gold plated zari for maintaining the feel of Kimkhwab.
Banarasi Kimkhwab Saree
Banarasi Kimkhwab Saree


It had always been a dream for me to own one such masterpiece, but the prices at which they are sold at designers boutique is almost 90% of my salary (which translates into “forget about it!”) AND I knew very well that only maybe 10% of that price tag goes to the weaver who actually made that magic. Then I came across an Instagram store which sells such exquisite pieces almost at weavers’ price (Come on! Profit margin will be there).
Banarasi Kimkhwab Saree
Banarasi Kimkhwab Saree

Once I received my order, I was overwhelmed at the sheer beauty of this saree! There was no blingy sequins but the whole rose pink saree exuded a golden glow. And the best part was, it is light as feather, can be worn easily and the drape falls beautifully over my curves. Plus, it is so very comfortable to wear in any summer wedding :D
The blouse you see here was sourced from “Umbara” store on Facebook because I felt this matched perfectly with the saree (The blouse piece which came with this saree is a plain rose pink resham one). The pearl studded choker and earring set again was bought from another Instagram store. Details will be given at the end of the post. I had worn this Aarshi ring in a separate blog post as well (Read what is an Aarshi ring HERE)

Banarasi Kimkhwab Saree
Banarasi Kimkhwab Saree


Banarasi Kimkhwab Saree
Banarasi Kimkhwab Saree

Banarasi Kimkhwab Saree
Banarasi Kimkhwab Saree

Banarasi Kimkhwab Saree
Banarasi Kimkhwab Saree

Banarasi Kimkhwab Saree
Banarasi Kimkhwab Saree

My makeup was strong brows and lips and dewy skin J Photography by a sleepy husband :D ( I made him get up on a Sunday morning to do this for me)
This post is the start of a series of posts which shall be exploring different nuances of Benaras weaves because I feel we know too little about this glorious tradition of ours. Let’s learn and be proud of such magnificent handwork J

Saree: Baranasweaves
Blouse: Umbara Designs
Jewellery: Jewel-Addicts

Did you like this look on me? Would love to know your reactions!

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9 comments

  1. Omg!!! Ur such a stunner in this beautiful saree,great informative post, thanks for sharing it...I am rushing now into that insta store to check out their banarasi saree collection ������
    I just loved your look dear!!!��

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    Replies
    1. Make sure to DM them for sarees.. On page mostly dupattas are shown :) Thank you so much dear :*

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  2. That Alta and saree! Stunning! You look like a Mughal queen.

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  3. Oh my god you stunning beauty!!!

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  4. My gosh! Such a ROYAL LOOK! You are slaying <3 <3 Loved this post :) I love Banarasi saree, they are bit heavy but absolutely adorable :)

    https://goo.gl/drRcy7
    www.naturalbeautyandmakeup.com

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! :D Original banarasi sarees are light as feather :) The heavy ones flooding the market are the machine made ones on satin

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