Most women in South Indian, especially  from the land of Tamil, Kannada & Telugu languages prefer Kanjivaram sarees while performing a pooja, attending a wedding or participating in other auspicious occasions.  Why?  Should we just say that it is our tradition to do so and that is what our parents or seniors did when the occasion came?  In fact, a silk saree is considered auspicious attire rather than cotton or other material.  Let us take this discussion a little further and understand the concept of auspiciousness from all angles, starting with the weaver himself, the creator of the saree.

The connection with religion and culture of the saree finds its roots in the Markandeya Purana. The Padma Sali community, the original weaver community who migrated from Andhra Pradesh to Kanchipuram and its neighborhoods are said to be descendants of Markandeya Rishi who in turn traces his lineage to Brighu Maharshi.  In a penance to Lord Narayana, Sage Markandeya is bestowed with Bhavana Rishi carrying a lotus flower (Padma) from the Narayana’s navel and comes tasked with weaving cloth for the gods.   Markandeya adopts him as his son.  Thus begins that santati of Padma Saliyars.  Incidentally the word ‘Sali-du’ means spider in Telugu, their mother tongue.  Even today, the Padma Sali community worships Bhavana Rishi as their deity and consider their work of weaving as a divine profession assigned to them by the almighty. 

Let us move on to the practice weaving and the construction of a typical saree.  If a length of cloth is woven with a single-colored warp (longitudinal yarn) and a single-colored weft (transverse yarn) then it can only be called yardage and not a saree.  A typical saree has a distinct body (Udal), border (Karai) and pallu (Mundani or Talaipu).  In the Kanjivaram parlance, this becomes a Korvai saree, the finest example and the most representative of a weaver’s product from Kanchipuram.  A korvai saree is considered a complete apparel and considered appropriate for devout occasions.  This age-old sartorial association of the person with the practice makes it special and deific.  Can you imagine a woman in a modern borderless saree or a fully plain saree in the same setting?  Nah!

A standard Korvai saree can be metaphorically equated to a human form, evident from the various names that are given to its different parts.  While the pallu, most decorated portion of the saree forms the talaipu (meaning, head in Tamil), the flowing body forming the Udal (meaning, torso) and the two distinct borders or Karai (meaning borders or banks of a river) represent the limbs.  The thick selvedges at the perimeter serve to protect the saree from wear and tear – like nails at the tips of our fingers.  The tassels at the end of the pallu, the zari buttas of the body and the richly woven motifs of the border heighten the beauty of the human figure as jewels.

Now, let us look at colours. The traditional colours of Kanjivaram – bottle green (pacchai), blue (neelam), mustard (manjal, meaning turmeric), maroon (color of arakku, meaning sealing wax) has been woven for hundreds of years and still continue to be the traditional favorites although many variants in shade have been developed.  It is these colours that are ‘most accepted’ as suitable for festivities. 

These are the very colours of nature and each has found a significant place in our religious practices.  Just look at the color palette of the pooja or wedding paraphernalia – the earthy yellow of turmeric, the fertile red of Kumkum, the hue of the chrysanthemum flowers, the fresh green of the beetle leaf or the torana on the doorway.

Isn’t complete harmony evident? The above discussion wonderfully shows the inseparable relationship between the Saree and auspiciousness.  It is an integral part of our culture and age-old practices.  Speaking of practices, it is important to study the professional behavior of the weavers and the traders that must be brought to the fore.  When a loom is set up for a fresh lot of sarees and the warp is being made ready, the weaver, without fail seeks an auspicious time slot (muhurtam) to begin his work.  The very position of the loom in the weaver’s home is chosen based on raasi or planetary positions in his horoscope.  The word raasi has many meanings – it is said that there must be a match between the raasi of the weaver to the raasi of the trader….so that the saree sells quickly and at good profit.   Even to this day, our weavers, before handing over the packed carton box of sarees, touch it to their brow and momentarily close their eyes in prayer.  Another master weaver, while passing on the invoices, makes sure he does so with all reverence and stretches out both his hands.  When wedding parties buy sarees in large numbers in the many show rooms of Kanchipuram, the owner or the senior member of the staff come forward to handover