Handwoven Cotton Sarees from the Madanpura Atelier

The Weave

What is a Banarasi Cotton?

A Banarasi cotton is hand-loomed on the same pit looms as our silks, but woven from desi short-staple cotton spun on a charkha rather than imported on a cone. The fineness is measured in counts — 80s, 100s, 120s — referring to the number of hanks of yarn that go into a pound of cloth. Higher counts mean finer, more translucent fabric.

Our cottons sit between 80s and 100s — fine enough to drape with the softness of silk, sturdy enough to live in through a Bombay monsoon. The zari at the borders and pallu is real silver, gilded in gold, kept restrained because cotton does not carry heavy work the way silk does. A true Banarasi cotton breathes, takes a press well, and only softens with each wash — it is built for daily life over decades.

Authenticate

How to identify an authentic piece

• The reverse test. Turn the saree over. On a true Banarasi the back of the brocade shows clean, individually tied weft threads at the edge of each motif. A power-loom print shows a smooth, machine-finished underside or long floating threads.
• The burn test (on a 2cm tassel only). Real silk burns to a fine ash, smells like burnt hair, and self-extinguishes. Art silk melts into a hard plastic bead and smells acrid.
• The zari test. Scrape a small section of zari with a fingernail. Real metallic zari reveals a silver core under the gilt. Plastic zari peels back to a coloured polyester thread.
• The passport. Every Danyah saree ships with an authenticity card listing the weaver's name, loom number, silk and zari composition, and a blockchain-logged serial.

Care

Care & longevity

• Dry clean only, sparingly. A Banarasi does not need cleaning after every wear. Air it inside-out in shade for a full day after wearing; clean only after every three to four uses.
• Fold along the loom line. Refold the saree every two months along a different crease to prevent the zari from cracking along a permanent fold. Store flat where possible.
• Wrap in undyed muslin. Never store directly in plastic or in a sealed bag — silk needs to breathe. A clean cotton mulmul wrap protects against moisture and oxidation of the zari.
• Tuck in a clove or two. Whole cloves and dried neem leaves keep silverfish and moths away without staining the cloth. Refresh every six months.
• If a thread pulls, do not cut it. Send it to us — we maintain a free lifetime mending service at our Mumbai atelier for any saree purchased from Danyah Banaras.