Paithani

What it is

Paithani is a kind of sari, made in Maharashtra in western India, and it takes its name from the town of Paithan. Silk forms the ground and zari, a metal yarn, provides the gold. The weave is plain, and figures are drawn in by a tapestry method rather than printed on afterwards. One colour can run along the length and another across the width, which gives a changing, kaleidoscope look. The border, called the selvedge, is worked as an oblique square, and the padar, the panel that falls over the shoulder, commonly carries a peacock. Saris come in plain and spotted patterns, in a single colour or in many.

Origins and history

Paithani was known as Pratishthani, after Pratishthan, the older name of Paithan. It flourished under the Satavahanas, who held the region from the 2nd century BCE to the 2nd century CE and encouraged trade with Greek and Roman lands. Ptolemy named the textiles of Baithana among the finest fabrics. Historians note Paithani saris with delicate gold and silver thread being sold in Greece for gold between 200 and 400 BC. The Gatha Sattasai, written by a poet at King Hala's court, describes weaving, dyeing and fine embroidery. Old Hindu and Buddhist texts mention the sari. In the 17th century the Peshwas moved some weavers to Yeola, which grew into the new centre.

Making a Paithani

Weavers in Yeola dye their own yarn, which is bought in Bangalore, using vat and acid dyes. Bleaching and dyeing happen in copper vessels, and coconut oil gives the silk a soft finish. Traditionally the colours came from vegetable dyes, among them Aboli, a light pink, Morphankhi, peacock green, Neeligunji, blue, and Vangi, aubergine purple. After dyeing, women wind the thread onto an asari; the rahat, an older winding tool, has largely given way to machines built from bicycle wheels. Threads then pass to a kandi and finally to the loom. Three weaving methods give the figures: split tapestry, interlocking or kadiyal, and dobe-tailing.

Motifs and designs

Motifs come from many places. Because the Ajanta caves lie close by, Buddhist painting shapes some of them: the lotus Buddha rests on, the swan, the asavalli or flowering vine that grew popular under the Peshwas, the peacock in a bangle, and the parrot and myna. Small marks fill the body of a sari, among them circles, stars, kuyri, rui phool, chandrakor and clusters of three leaves. On the padar, weavers set the muniya, a green parrot, the panja, a flower shape outlined in red, the narali or coconut, and the mor, a peacock. Two selvedge kinds are named Narali and Pankhi. Saris are grouped by motif, weave and colour: the kalichandrakala, black with a red edge, the Raghu in parrot green, and the Shirodak in white.

Today and change

Yeola remains the largest manufacturing town, with roughly 6,000 to 7,000 weavers, and about 13,000 more work in the villages nearby. Some weavers today are working to revive the weave. A handwoven Paithani uses silk and zari, and its zari is often 80 percent silver and 20 percent gold; peacocks, lotuses and asavali vines are the motifs most often looked for, and a single sari can take months. Zari itself has changed: it was drawn from pure gold once, and is now silver with gold plating. It was first made in Yeola, and Surat is another centre. Imitations are also sold.

How Paithani is kept

Paithani has no fixed day. It is a sari made by handloom weaving families in and around Paithan and Yeola. Yarn brought from Bangalore is dyed by the weavers themselves in copper vessels, washed, squeezed and dried in the shade. Silk is wound onto the asari, a winding frame, then onto a kandi, and at last set on the loom, which takes about a day. Weaving one sari can run from 18 to 24 months when the design is complex. Three shuttles work together, since the border and the field take different weft threads.

When and where

Paithan, in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district of Maharashtra, is where the sari was first made by hand, and it gives the sari its name. Yeola, a town in Nashik district, is the largest maker of Paithani today, with roughly 6,000 to 7,000 weavers there and about 13,000 in the villages around it. Surat is another centre for zari, the metallic thread.

What Paithani means

Paithani is called Dev vastra, the fabric of God, and its motifs borrow from the Buddhist paintings at the Ajanta caves nearby: the lotus Buddha sits on, the swan, flowering vines. Gold and silver thread has long been part of its value, and in the Peshwa period the borders and pallu were made with gold mixed with a little copper for strength. For families in Maharashtra the sari carries the name of an ancient city, Pratishthan, now Paithan, and the memory of a trade that once reached Greece and Rome.

Questions people ask about Paithani

See also

DiwaliA five-day festival of lights celebrated across India and its diaspora to mark the victory of light over darkness.NowruzThe Iranian new year at the March equinox, kept with fire, greenery and picnicsMawlidAn annual festival marking the birth of the Prophet Muhammad, marked by poetry, processions and feasts.HoliA spring festival of colours and bonfires that marks the end of winter and the triumph of good over evil.

Good reading and sources

• Paithani on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.