The Madanpura looms — where every saree begins
This is the actual atelier. Two rented rooms above a sweet shop on the main lane of Madanpura, three pit looms on the ground floor of the building next door, and a small mezzanine where the zari is weighed and inventoried before each commission begins. The looms here run six days a week — Friday is for Jummah and for the warp-setting that the master weavers prefer to do without the rest of us in the room.
Mohammad Iqbal, our senior-most weaver, runs the two looms closest to the courtyard. He has been weaving Banarasi Katan since 1987 and is the third generation of his family on the loom. Salim-bhai works the loom by the front window — his meenakari is studied at the Crafts Museum in Delhi, and we keep a small archive of his rejected swatches because they are some of the most beautiful things in the atelier. Rashid is our Tanchoi specialist; his loom is on the ground floor of the neighbouring building, and he is the second generation of his family on the satin weave. Mohammad Iqbal-junior, Habibullah, and Khalid each run a loom across our Pilikothi and Lallapura branches; we visit them weekly.
Visits to the Madanpura atelier are by appointment only. We do not run a retail showroom here — the saree you eventually wear leaves Varanasi sealed in muslin and travels to our Bandra studio for the fitting. But if you want to see the loom your saree is being made on, watch the silver zari being measured, and have lunch with the weaver who is making your piece, write to us a month ahead and we will arrange the day. Most clients combine this with a quiet morning at the ghats and an evening Aarti at Dashashwamedh.
We do not allow photography of the weavers' faces without their written consent. We do allow photography of the looms, the silk, and the certificates. The atelier is air-conditioned (the Banarasi loom prefers dry, still air); it is wheelchair-accessible via a side ramp on the south wall; and our atelier driver will pick you up from the Banaras Hindu University hotel, the Taj Ganges or the BrijRama Palace.
Twelve minutes by car from Varanasi Junction railway station; twenty minutes from Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport. Last fifty metres of the lane are pedestrian-only — we will walk you in. Closest landmark: Khalifa ki Masjid, opposite. Best time to visit is October through March; July and August are the monsoon months and the looms run slower.
The atelier
The twenty-eight weavers of Danyah Banaras
Every saree on this site can be traced to one of these names. Tap a portrait for the weaver's full story, their loom number and the techniques they are currently working on.
Add weaver blocks in the theme editor to populate the roll call.
Why Madanpura, and not anywhere else
Three mohallas in Varanasi have wound the warp of the Banarasi saree for five centuries: Madanpura, Pilikothi and Lallapura. The looms there have not moved, and the families running them have not either. Our atelier rents space in all three — Madanpura is the headquarters, Pilikothi is where our Tanchoi specialist Rashid runs his loom, and Lallapura is where our master meenakari swatches are made.
We do not work with weavers outside these three lanes. The technique does not travel.