6 Facts about the Original Traditional Chanderi Silk you should know before buying

Katan Silk is an extremely fine, and a graceful piece of cloth, which is originally Silk by matching up the properties, and is made of double twisted yarns in both Warp and Weft pattern of handloom weaving. The delicacy of the Katan Cloth has garnered the image of, “The cloth goes to the pieces when exposed to the moonlight.” Katan, when in a blend with Chanderi silk (Resham), now consisting of two threads which are together twisted for the warp of Chanderi silk textile. The six yards of final outcome of handloom manual of weaving Katan Silk. Chanderi Saree, brings out which is known to be one of the very finest pieces of traditional clothing in the Indian subcontinent, known of their gilded or silver Zari and luscious and lavish embroidery.
Katan silk generates an eccentric product which is exceptionally lightweight, and its distinctive transparency, speaks for itself in all manners. The sheen to it brings in the widely alias of ‘woven wind’, And when transformed along with traditional Chanderi weaving better off for its summery properties, establishes the right amount of chivalry and delicacy into a fabric which is extremely popular in saree adoring audience. Some more useful and distinguishing facts in regard to Katan are:

1. Katan, undeniably is one of the purest forms of Silk

 Handwoven Chanderi katan silks have silk threads both in the warp and the weft. Chanderi weaving consists of pure, as well as degummed mulberry silk. The extremely fine property of the silk yarn gives out a splendid lustrous shine and transparency to the end product. It is guaranteed for a fact that the Lustre and transparency of katan chanderi is perpetual. Although, it does come with a challenge of focused carrying as well as keen maintenance. Katan silk, contrastingly, is different when it comes to Banarasi Weaving, where the texture is relatively more solid and heavy.

2. Katan Silk Sarees are transparent

One must be cautious while styling these as the sarees made from Katan tend to be a bit slithery as well as it does have a see- through transparency due to the lustrous degummed pure mulberry silk. However, once these are draped, the person would be astonished by its light weighing properties, and it would be hard to admit that they’re carrying around six- yards of these, as these weigh generally around 20-30 gms, all of it owing to the fine pure silk threads used in the warp and weft.

3. Goes on with a range of add-ons

Katan Silk Chanderi Sarees are generally preferred with traditional handwoven borders. These exceptional sarees carry traditional motifs like Sikka, Adda, Paisley, Meenakari, etc., with mostly and preferably consisting of handwoven and not jacquard borders. Some of the most preferred and highly regarded styles of these borders are Nakshi, Banebaar, Mehendi Lage Haath, Sada Suhagan Raho, etc.

4. Acclaim and admiration from the world of art

Raja Ravi Varma, also hailed as the father of the modern Indian Art, categorically and explicitly showed his expression of high esteem of the chivalrous Traditional Chanderi silk sarees or Katan Silk Chanderi Sarees and portrayed many of his subjects in a similar clothing. These included the royal women of the Raj Gharanas as well as influential women from courts wearing bright fine Katan Silk Sarees. Now, many labels targeting the traditional sphere of customers are reviving the art as well as the beautiful handloomed Katan Silk products. 

5. Distinction from other yarns of Silk

Handwoven Chanderi products are widely marketed as Chanderi silks. However, a Chanderi woven Sari in handlooms can be Katan silk Chanderi, Chanderi Silk cotton, Mercerise silk by cotton and pure silk (Solid Pattu silk). Similarly, there is a common misconception regarding Chanderi Cotton products in the market. It must be noted that Chanderi weavers are not skilled to weave cotton warp yarns, hence, there is no such thing as Chanderi Cotton. The warps are predominantly Silk. Moreover, due to the transparency and lustrous nature of the fabric, Chanderi katan silks are wrongly named Chanderi Katan Organza sarees.

Chanderi Katan silks have a history of royalty attached to it and it would unfair as well as disrespectful to term them Organza which is commonly used only to make the audience understand the nature of the fabric. This comes from the fact that Chanderi Weave were only woven for the royal families in the olden days. However, now the weavers are being empowered to use cotton in warp but the frequency of which is few. So, there is a large possibility that the cotton retailed as chanderi cotton is actually silk cotton.

6. Distinctions between handwoven and machine woven Chanderi

Most of the Block- Printed varieties, such as Batik and Arakh, are machine made silk cotton sarees and not Chanderi sarees. A very easy indicator of this distiction is the price and value of these products. A handwoven plain chanderi silk cotton saree with a petite Zari selvedge would retail around INR 1000-2000, which would depend upon the yarn. Once there is a certain cost of Block-printing added, the seller margins would subsequently increase and the distinction is altogether clear. However, we are not against machine made sarees. Rather, they shouldn’t be straight-up calling them Chanderis.
 
Now that we know such a great deal about Katan Silk Sarees, there are certain unsaid norms around draping and styling these products. They are transparent as they are slightly slippery. Also, there requires a great deal of effort to maintain them from a weary condition. But you cannot deny the fact that they are beyond gorgeous and you just cannot keep your hands off them. Be it Anushka Sharma donning one in green or Kareena Kapoor’s saree in black, Chanderis are a fan- favourite. Taking cue from the Bollywood celebrities, the Katan silk sarees are worn with long length blouses, Chinese collars and one could even go backless. Also, one may go the gen-z way and style them along with trendy crop tops. But don’t you shy away from these beauties, they’re just the right rotation for your to-be royal wardrobe!