In an attempt to keep our content accurate and representative of evolving scholarship, we invite you to give feedback on any information in this article.


    This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.


    ARTICLE

    Bapta Sari

    Map Academy

    Articles are written collaboratively by the EIA editors. More information on our team, their individual bios, and our approach to writing can be found on our About pages. We also welcome feedback and all articles include a bibliography (see below).

    Woven in the Sambalpur district of Odisha (formerly Orissa), bapta saris are named after the handloom fabric from which they are made. The body of the saris is woven with tussar or kosa silk, while the borders and the pallu are made of cotton. These saris are typically worn only on special occasions and are not meant for daily wear.

    These saris, woven on a three-shuttle loom, are also often embellished with gold threads in the weave and patterned using the ikat or baandha tie-dyeing technique and is woven with a three-shuttle loom that is worked by two weavers. Intricate motifs are woven on the body of the sari and along its border and throw. The phoda kumbha, or temple motif is usually woven along the borders, giving it the appearance of a jagged edge. The entire production process can take up to two weeks.

    The laborious weaving process, coupled with low demand in the market, has dissuaded many weavers from making traditional bapta saris, leading to a steady decline in their production in recent years.

     
    Bibliography

    Our website is currently undergoing maintenance and re-design, due to which we have had to take down some of our bibliographies. While these will be re-published shortly, you can request references for specific articles by writing to hellomapacademy@map-india.org.

    Feedback
     
     
    Related Content
    loading