Indriya's Features
 
 
Description
Black and gold is a classical timeless combination. When in pure lightweight handloom silk and tissue, the saree becomes a light, elegant drape for an evening. The saree has 2 pretty buttas (an annapakshi and a gopuram or a royal swam and a temple tower) and has a matt gold tissue border. The pallu is a simple one. Style with pretty gold engraved jewellery and a tissue gold blouse for an intimate special dinner. Saree is perfect for a light casual function.
 
 We also undertake custom making of blouse so that you have a ready to wear saree and it does not go away into your cupboard and is forgotten!
The blouse worn by the model is for styling purposes. 
 
About Uppada weaves - The Southern Queen of Jamdani
An evening and over night train journey from Bangalore, takes you to the bustling town of Kakinada in the East of the Godavari River in Andhra Pradesh. As you head towards Uppada town, with the Bay of Bengal quietly accompanying you by the road side, 40 minutes later you reach a picturesque idyllic fishing hamlet. The odour of sea food and salt in the air engulf your senses and pristine aqua blue waters sparkle and   splash against the rocky beach. Uppada beach can easily pass off as one of the Thailand type beaches, if you will, sans the commercialisation of course.  The weavers colony at Uppada town is like any other weaver colony dotted with retail, wholesale shops, quaint homes with busy noisy handlooms above. A meeting with Shri L Sathyanarayana, a handloom evangelist, who belongs to a family of Uppada Jamdani National award winners and Master weavers, one becomes more enlightened about the story of exquisite GI tagged Uppada handlooms. It is folklore that many decades ago, a group of Uppada weavers travelled to Bangladesh to learn the fine craft of Jamdani tapestry weaving and that is how the craft got seeded in the South of India. 
As you walk down the quiet roads of Kothaapalli village and the weavers colony, one realises how different this weavers colony is compared to some of the others in South India. The 1st thing that will strike you, is the level of education and literacy. The senior soft spoken master weavers most often than not are 1st generation post graduates and extremely social media as well as business savvy. They have managed to transform and sustain the exquisite intricate art of Jamdani weaving, on lightweight pure silk Uppada sarees, through clever design and marketing collaborations with well-established Designers and cinema personalities. Every outlet down the village road, has some business taking place and there isn’t any feeling of deprivation. The weavers who are business owners themselves have an unsaid cartel of sorts so as to protect the craft from being under-priced. Additionally, the next generation has gladly embraced the marketing and further proliferation of Uppada Pattu across International borders with Uppada possibly being a close second to its better known and commercialised elder sister, Pochampalli. 
The 2nd aspect that will strike you, is the presence of young cheerful, adolescent girls who are experts in Jamdani weaving. Their dexterity in deftly handling silk threads and skilfully comprehending a complex CAD design and creating one of the most intricate Jamdani designs is mesmerising to say the least. While on one hand it is heartening to note that the craft is being pursued by the young and hence will transcend time, on the other hand, the thought that these young girls are pursuing the family business while they should be studying passes the mind. Jamdani weaving is the source of livelihood and these super talented young girls from nearby villages are proud to be the bread winners. Working in pairs and in tandem, a team earns Rs. 25000/- to Rs. 45000/- spread over 3 to 4 months of weaving (depending on complexity of the design), and there is always demand and work for premium complex design and skill. 
Jamdani is a technique in weaving with the loop being continuous and the distinction of the front and back of the textile appearing the same. Whether from Bengal, or Banaras, Paithani or Kanchi, Jamdani craft and technique is sheer royalty and only the true-blue handloom connoisseur knows to appreciates the fine craft. 
The 3rd aspect that will strike you is the transparency with which these weavers operate. They are quick to point out corruption in quality and craft. Every floral butta in a saree is not Jamdani (check the reverse to establish authenticity), every ‘silk like’, saree is not pure ‘uppada pattu’. A closer examination, touch and feel clearly shows the difference between a blended “chaloo uppada pattu” and a genuine one. Similar to any other handloom cluster, the threats of copies, quality & purity dilution and rising raw material costs and inflation cause trouble. It is impossible to make a pure handloom pure silk Uppada saree for Rs. 3000/- leave apart sell it after cognising for input costs and basic overheads. A slew of saree peddlers flood social media FB, You tube, Whatssap, IG with pictures of counterfeit products at rock bottom low rates, with the aim to make a quick buck. So beware of them. 
Uppada pattu has a unique hand feel at 20 – 22 Dernier of silk and ranging from 2 to 4 ply. (IHB specs). The lustre of pure pattu and the quiet rustle of the light weight silk is a pleasure to experience and drape and this South Indian queen of Jamdani, a living symbol of women’s empowerment and all things fine and luxurious, is a coveted and must have Queen in your wardrobe.
 
* This product has been woven on a handloom by the weaver and may have slight irregularities that are a natural outcome due to the human involvement in weaving a unique handcrafted product without any electrical power. The colours may fade or bleed due to the traditional dyeing method employed.
* There may be slight differences in color of the actual product due to lighting conditions during photography.