Dhonekhali Sari is a cotton sari made in Dhonekhali, Hooghly district, West Bengal. It is a sari with 80 x 80 cotton thread count normally, borders between 1.5 and 2 inches or even more and 5.5-metre-long drape. No Blousepieces come with these saris. GI Status: Registered. Application No: 176
The Fish design seems to have become representative of Dhonekhalis but make no mistake, this existed even so many scores of years ago, like just other patterns. These are gradually on the wane and are becoming extinct, probably only the Fish design has helped to keep the market afloat, because it was endorsed by a Bollywood celebrity in a movie.
To the layman, these are also familiar as The Mamata sari. Maybe this is what the world now knows it as, but Dhonekhalis have always reigned supreme in Bengal. They are chic, sophisticated with an elegant charm.
Dhonekhali is a traditional Bengal sari that is woven from cotton threads and distinguished by its lightness and transparency. Its light and airy texture makes it suitable for the warm and humid summers of coastal Bengal, and thus these are loved by women during the hot weather. Dhonekhali ‘taant’ was famous mainly for men’s dhotis and plain bordered saris. The saris were woven in near opaque offwhite or Kora grounds with contrasting borders in red, black, purple, and orange, emphasized by a serrated edge motif. In time, the border was broadened to six or even eight inches, and adorned with a variety of stripes in muga or zari. These broad borders known as ‘Maatha Paar’ or 'Beluaari Paar' were often woven in two colours – such as black and red. Having a tighter and coarser weave than the “Tangail” or “Shantipuri”, it is more hardy. Its bold body colours and contrasting borders and absurdly low prices make them extremely affordable on the one hand and the simple, smart designs or rather lack of designs, make them extremely chic and stylised. The jacquard weaving technique is used to make these saris. The textile being coarser, these saris are also more durable.
Weaving of Dhonekhali sari is an age-old crafting of West Bengal. The craftsmen skillfully weave cotton to thread, using two shuttles in weaving a Dhonekhali sari. In the weaving process, bundles of cotton threads are washed, sun-dried, bleached, dried again, and then dipped in different colours to dye them. Once the thread gets coloured, it is starched and processed to make it finer and stronger. When this entire process gets completed, then artisans use hand looms and weave the Dhonekhali sari. The Dhonekhali is distinguishable as a square-fold sari with a thick border, most of them embellished with decorative woven motifs.
Typically, a Dhonekhali is known for its typical patterns. These refer to fine horizontal stripes which are found all over the body, sometimes they can also be broad bands. Some common terms are:
Mathapaar - Very Broad Borders in a Solid colour, sometimes going up to almost 12” or more. They were often woven in either of the two colours – Red or Black
Jol Durey - Fine stripes. Jol = Water. Durey = Striped
Churipaar - Fine Striped Border. Churi = Thin Bangles. Paar = Border
Jharna design – Inspired by waterfall patterns
Kora Rong - Natural shade, Off-white / Broken White. Rong = Colour
Khorki Durey - Extremely fine stripes, especially found on the body of Dhonekhali saris. Durey = Stripes
Gaye Durey - Stripes on the Body
Dhalapaar - Single coloured Solid Border.
Resham paar - Border woven with Satin thread / Resham
Durey paar - Durey = Stripe. Paar = Border
Nakshi - as in Carvings, or Naksha, referring to intricate Patterns and Motifs
Khejur Chhori - Typical of old Dhonekhali saris, an arrangement of special weft threads of twisted cotton yarns in two colours woven in the Pallu; a kind of intertwined V, plaited, woven motif, in the basic colours of the sari ... however, a lot of the saris found these days do not come with these ones.
Dhoop Chhaon - Shot Colours, a fabric woven from warp and weft yarns of two or more colours, producing an irridescent appearance. A "shot" is a single throw of the bobbin that carries the weft thread through the warp.
Missing Lines’ weave - Weft yarn missing regularly or at intervals while weaving a fabric
Another unique feature of Dhonekhali saris is their finishing. Weaver Balaram Basak, while rolling a ball of popped rice paste on the sari points out, “Once the sari is woven, before taking it off from the frame, the weaver for one last time has to apply size paste (made from sago or popped rice) meticulously with his hands to give additional lustre and shine to the freshly woven tant. This helps the saris from becoming limp with successive displays.” Once the saris are washed, this starch disappears and the saris become really soft and comfortable to wear.
But it is very unfortunate that despite various Governmental schemes these saris are already on their way out, they are gradually becoming few and far between. The soft Dhonekhalis that are available today are far from the authentic, traditional ones and a contradiction in terms.
