Banarasi Sari weaving

There is no marketplace for textiles, small or big, in India, that does not boast of the famous weaves of Varanasi. Varanasi brocades are sold from the smallest spaces in shops, not larger than a cupboard, to large high-end showrooms belonging to well-established entrepreneurs in the city.

Every step of the process of creating a Varanasi brocade is handled by designated workers. The head of a weaving establishment is also called a grihast, and the simple weaver is the karigar or a bunker. Women who set the warp on the loom are tanharis. They usually set the warp on the beam. The chain of processes, often numbering eighteen, ends with the dhobi, who irons the finished piece.

This video features Maqbool Hasan, a master weaver and Bharat Shah, a textile revivalist.