The Weavers of Ilkal Saree : The Perfect Saree

What do you see in common? Flaming red pallus. These pallus are most synonymous with women living in rural Maharashtra and North Karnataka now, although in earlier days that is what women mostly wore on a daily basis throughout the state. If you do not already know the name of this saree, it’s called Ilkal (pronounced ‘Irkal’). And Ilkal is back is fashion as is evident from the first two photos. :-) 

On my trip to Guledgudda last year, to meet the weavers of Khun, we also met Ilkal weavers. There is an eponymous village called Ilkal too, near Badami which obviously is known for its sarees. But we met the Ilkal weavers in Guledgudda and another village nearby called Kamatagi, where we visited the Hotti brothers of the Chamundeswari Handloom Weavers Association which specialises in weaving Ilkal sarees.

So, let me straight away get to the details :-)

We first met Sampath Rathi, who is a wholesaler of Khun and Ilkal. He explained the different varieties of Ilkal. 

What sets Ilkals apart is the pallu- mostly in flaming red, although now they come in several other colours. The technique of the weaving the pallu with the body of the saree is called topi-teni. The pallu is woven separately and was always made of pure silk (even if the remaining saree was a blend of cotton and silk) and is then attached to the body of the saree.

Ilkals come in plain as well as chequered. Even for the chequered ones, depending on the size of the checks there are different names assigned.