After the decline of Baluchari weaving in West Bengal, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, the doyen of Indian handicrafts, made attempts to revive it, determined to bring the weave back to life. Along with Jasleen Dhamija, the textile expert, Chattopadhyay took a sample of Baluchari designs to Kallu Hafiz (Ustad Ali Hassan), the designer and master nakabandi in Varanasi. Their efforts bore fruit and the near-extinct tradition of Baluchari weaving got a new lease of life. When the Baluchari was being revived, the jala could be made only at Banaras, where there were still Nakshabands practising the craft.
Kallu Hafiz came up with a production of the original Baluchari. Today, the fourth generation of Kallu Hafiz’s family, his great grandson and master weaver Naseem Ahmad, continues to work on the old nakshas on Baluchars, weaves the Baluchars now using Malda silk yarns, using the traditional technique, but on an intricate jala or naksha loom.
Therefore, we can safely say that while Golani/Chalani Baluchari saris are made in Bishnupur, even today, the Nakshaband Baluchars are made in Banaras
