Chanderi is a town in Madhya Pradesh with an old tradition of weaving going back to the 7th century and well-documented from the 13th century onwards.
The weavers of Tana Bana Self Help Group accepted the challenge of reviving the tradition by weaving a continuous blessing along the upper and lower borders of a sari.
In the middle of the 20th century there existed a tradition of weaving scripts on saris made as part of a trousseau for a bride.
The words "sada sowbhagyavati" were woven along the upper and lower borders. The words are a benediction that the bride be blessed in her marriage. They imply a wish for the long life of her husband.
As old traditions waned, weavers tried to please the market with woven words like “welcome”. Obviously, these attracted neither sophisticated nor traditional clientele and the technique all but died out