Kanakavalli's November pick for The Beautiful Drape is a simple but stunning kanjivaram that plays with colour. The embellishments emphasise the sari's inherent geometry and dramatic layout.
The body of this kanjivaram has vazhaipoo stripes, a pattern inspired by banana blossoms - a beautiful flower and beloved ingredient in South India. The weaver interprets the flower stylistically as alternating horizontal stripes of about 0.25 to 0.5 centimetres in width.
The borders in a contrast or complementary hue feature classic patterns in zari and silk thread, including bhugodi triangles, rows of thuthiripoo flower motifs enclosed within delicate seer lines and muthu seer (dotted lines inspired by pearls), as well as kann pettu, a band of dotted diamonds that resemble eyes.
The pallu, attached in the benth technique, is known as a seer pallu, featuring delicate bands in gold zari and silken yarn.
The beauty of this kanjivaram lies in its subtle yet striking use of colour to highlight the geometric simplicity of its embellishment. Available in multiple colour ways, this kanjivaram features zari with a composition of 0.3% gold and 36-38% silver.