Hand woven stoles Closeup

The master weaver, naqaash (pattern-maker), and a dozen others who worked on creating new calligraphy for the famed brocades of Varanasi were fascinated with the idea of making patterns out of words. They researched from the 15th century poet Kabir’s works.

The motifs on the deep red silk stole are in zari thread woven in the Devanagari script. The large paisley at the two ends contains Kabir’s poem:
Jab main tha tab hari nahin / ab hari hain main nahin / sab andhyara miti gaya / jab dipak dekhyo mahi
The single word banaras, also known historically as Kashi and Varanasi, became the smaller motif to be paired with the larger end motif of this stole.