Chattisgarh Sarees Are Civilized World Fabrics Made From Wild Silk

The Chattisgarh saree is a pure silk fabric made from ‘wild silk’ yarn. Obtained from silkworms which breed on the trees in the Jharkhand forests, the silk yarn is coarser and has a lustre as compared to conventional silk from domestically bred mulberry fed silkworms.

Chattisgarh is in the central part of India. Chattisgarh weaves woven by Bastar tribesmen produce kosa or tussar silk, pure cotton, linen and natural dyed saris.

Tussar Silk, also known as ‘Kosa’ Silk, is made from silk obtained from several species of caterpillars, of the moth genus Antheraea. It is also known as ‘wild silk’, a name given because the silkworms breed on trees unlike mulberry such as Sal and Arjun found in the forests of Jharkhand. The raw silk has a deep golden colour and is of good texture.

Tussar Silk staples are shorter and less expensive in comparison to that of cultivated silk because of the resulting quality of the produce from these silkworms in comparison to that from cultivated types.

The cocoons are generally boiled to make the cocoon soft for easy extraction of silk, thereby killing the larvae within the shells. However some weavers prefer to allow the silkworms to leave the cocoon before boiling. This takes ten to fifteen days after they have fed on the leaves, and is popularly known as Ahimsa or non-violent silk.

Tussar Silk is mainly found in India, in the states of Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, and Bhagalpur in Bihar, which is also famous as a commercial centre for the production of Tussar Silk. Eastern parts of India like Orissa and West Bengal and a small portion of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh also contribute to Tussar Silk production in India.

Chattisgarh Sarees are famous for the special use of the printing techniques of block batik and

The author is a young lady, a freelance specializing in ethnic fabrics, more devoted to sarees. With a penchant for travelling at will and to ethnic destinations in particular, She could be contacted at press@unnatisilks.com or 040-64555251.