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I carried myself drudgingly through the bustling corridor. We were now a couple of months into lockdown and UK was reeling under the impact of the first wave of coronavirus pandemic. As a doctor I had no respite and life seemed like an eternal cycle of donning and doffing PPEs. I walked towards the hospital exit, hungry, thirsty, exhausted from a long day of work, when the phone nudged me with a message from a friend. Would I be interested to buy Kanjivaram sarees, it asked, from weavers who are struck hard by the economic inactivity?
Have you ever offered a treat to a bored dog? As I am certain that is how I reacted to the message! I have long maintained that Kanjivaram is my favourite weave and many years ago Vikram and I had travelled through Kanchipuram, the town in Tamil Nadu where Kanjivarams are created. We visited few ateliers but did not have the foresight to keep contact information of any weaver. Opportunity however has a habit of presenting in strange ways, and at the strangest of times.
As India went into lockdown craft artisans were especially hit hard and handloom enthusiasts like me came across heart-breaking pictures of overflowing stock rooms as stores refused to honour the orders they had placed with weavers. My friend’s Tamil friends had kindly decided to mobilise their network to get some of the Kanjivaram stock cleared. They got relevant information from weavers, organised them in a Google document and made a WhatsApp group of potential buyers. To my utter delight I discovered that they had managed to include elite weavers who make sarees for some of the most exclusive handloom stores of the country.
I dove right in and among the bright and colourful, spotted a picture of what at first glance appeared to be a simple cream saree with small checks and zari border.
Here I have to admit that I am blessed with a sharp sixth sense when it comes to clothes. I can spot a masterpiece from miles away, even if it is buried under a heap. Something about this saree caught my eye, and I immediately agreed to pay a premium for it. I did not even want to know how the pallu looks like or if it has a blouse piece. I saw one picture of a fully folded saree, and knew it was destined for my wardrobe.
Perhaps I would not even have checked the name of the weaver had I not needed his details for payment. B Krishnamoorthy, the name sounded familiar. I was sure I had heard of him but could not remember where. A quick Google search revealed the answer as the results page filled up with documentaries and media publications on the National award-winning master weaver who is revered as the God of Kanjivaram.
According to legend Kanjivaram artisans are descendants of Sage Markanda, the weaver of Gods. I was told by the weavers in Kanchipuram that all designs on their sarees are inspired by pillars and sculptures of local temples. Traditionally they are made with pure mulberry silk with original gold or silver zari, though now often copper zari coated with precious metals are used. The yarns are first dipped in rice water to ensure the final product is durable and retains optimal stiffness.
Although nowadays Kanjivarams are also made in cotton or a combination of cotton and silk, it is the shining, ethereal silk that has been enthralling wearers and onlookers for the past four centuries. Originally they were woven in nine yards as per the requirement of the Tamil style of saree draping. Even though six yards Kanjivaram sarees are primarily sold at present, they are still quite long and wide as my petite body realises every time I wear one!
In most sarees made in other parts of India, contrast borders and pallus are made by weaving them as a single unit with the rest of the body by changing only the colour of the yarn. In a classical Kanjivaram though, a contrast colour border or pallu is woven separately and then attached to the body by a three-shuttle weaving method using interlocking technique. This is a highly skilled and labour-intensive job and only a handful of weavers have the knowledge. When done at the border it is called korvai and for pallu it is known as petni. They are hallmarks of the purest form of Kanjivarams and are not easily available. Unfortunately like most other handloom varieties the market is flooded with fakes and it is up to the buyer to make sure they are not misled.
Mr Krishnamoorthy is a puritan and by his own admission predominantly makes sarees with traditional designs. He is one of the few experts of the korvai and petni techniques and created my saree with petni pallu. I had once read an article on how he had woven a 25 metres length of fabric with 5000 designs and not one was repeated! I must have retained the memory and hence fell in love with this saree at first sight. Though not 5000, mine has 120 different kinds of intricate motifs woven in each of the small squares.
5000 different designs in one fabric (Image: New Indian Express) 
My saree has 120 different intricate designs in the small squares
My fascination for Kanjivarams stems from watching silly Bollywood films of the 80s where the ever-stylish Rekha often made appearances in stunning Kanjivarams and colourful glass bangles. Even though many other Indian film actresses have been seen in Kanjivarams, the weave cannot have a bigger and better ambassador than her. She probably has the most extensive personal collection of Kanjivarams and I often wonder where she gets them from. As I was searching for her picture to add to this blog post, I came across one at the wedding reception of Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh.
Mr Krishnamoorthy is a senior and highly respected weaver and supplies to luxury handloom stores of India. The challenge in buying from him directly is that he speaks only Tamil and is not available on any social media platform. Thankfully, our Tamil friends who organised the sale acted as interpreters or else this would not have been possible for me. If you too wish to buy from him directly you need to learn Tamil or find someone who speaks the language. I know this is an extra effort but as they say in Bengali, you cannot reach God without hard work!
Art form- Kanjivaram weaves
Artist- B Krishnamoorthy
Contact- +91 94430 66123
Language- Tamil
Lovely read , very informative and gorgeous sarees!
Thank you 😊