10/100
My favourite saree. Ok not mine but my mom’s. She is a silk saree with beautiful Katha stitch done on the whole body. She is ageless as even at 20, she looks astounding and so young and vibrant.
I wore it for my daughter’s first rice ceremony party with a chequered cropped top and the beautiful lady with me in the picture is my little sister.
Wikipedia tells the following about Kantha Stitch in general –
Kantha is a type of embroidery popular in eastern South Asia, especially Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal and Odisha. The use of kantha is popular in “Kantha saris” traditionally worn by women in Bengal. Kantha stitching is also used to make simple quilts, commonly known as Nakshi Kantha. Women in Bengal typically use old saris and cloth and layer them with kantha stitch to make a light blanket, throw or bedspread, especially for children. Kantha is very popular with tourists visiting Bengal and is a specialty of Bolpur, West Bengal, India. Kantha is still the most popular form of embroidery practiced by rural women. The traditional form of Kantha embroidery was done with soft dhotis and saris, with a simple running stitch along the edges. Depending on the use of the finished product they were known as Lepkantha or Sujni Kantha.

My saree has beautiful motifs of a bride in a palanquin carried by men to her husband’s house. This is a very touching Indian saga, and palanquin carrying bride was practiced in olden days. A bride leaves her parents’ house with a heavy heart for her new house. This journey, however long or short it may be, but is a journey of a life time because in that span the bride remembers all the days she spent with her family, how she was brought up, her childhood, her teenage, her growing into the beautiful lady she is now, a lot of memories are associated. This saree always reminds me of my journey to my husband’s and how he pacified the weeping me. I still remember his words and my family’s face. Writing this…makes me emotional…sobbing!