The Silk Field Guide — Katan, Tussar, Mulberry, Eri, Muga, Mashru, Dupiyan

Mulberry silk — the foundation

Mulberry silk is the silk produced by the domesticated Bombyx mori silkworm fed exclusively on white mulberry leaves. It is the longest, finest, and most lustrous silk in the world — a single cocoon yields a continuous filament of 600 to 900 metres of pure silk fibre, which is reeled (not spun) into yarn without the breaks that characterise wild silks. Mulberry is the base fibre of every wedding-weight Banarasi saree Danyah produces, sourced from cocoon farms in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal.

To the touch, mulberry silk is cool against the skin for the first second of contact, then warms gradually as it matches body temperature. It produces the characteristic scroop — a soft paper-dry rustle when two folds of the cloth are rubbed together — that synthetic silks cannot replicate. Under light, mulberry silk has a smooth, even sheen with subtle directionality: the fabric appears slightly darker when light catches the warp and slightly brighter when light catches the weft. This is the visual signature of a long-filament silk.

Mulberry silk takes natural dyes deeply and evenly. The same vegetable dye applied to mulberry silk and to a wild silk produces a clearer, more saturated colour on the mulberry — which is why the meenakari-on-Katan pieces from Madanpura, which use vegetable-dyed silk threads in the brocade, are technically achievable on mulberry warps and visibly inferior on wild-silk substitutes. Mulberry is the foundation. Every other silk in this guide is measured against it.

Katan silk — twisted mulberry, the Banaras backbone

Katan silk is not a different fibre — it is a different yarn structure. The name comes from the Hindi katan, meaning twisted: pure mulberry silk filaments are doubled and twisted together before being woven into the warp and weft of the saree. The twist increases the yarn's structural integrity and gives the woven cloth a denser, more substantial drape than plain-mulberry sarees. A Katan silk holds its shape like couture; it sits on the body with weight; the brocade work appears to be set into the cloth rather than floating on it.

Katan is the foundational silk grade of the wedding-weight Banarasi tradition. Every kadhwa Banarasi from Iqbal-ji's pit loom in Madanpura is a Katan. The twist is so consistent — set by a Varanasi reeler with a specific machine-and-hand tension — that experienced atelier eyes can recognise Katan from a metre away by the way light falls across the surface. Two grades exist in practice: Single Katan (one twist pass) and Double Katan (a second twist pass for the heaviest bridal pieces). Double Katan is what you want under a meenakari pallu with full kadhwa brocade across the body. Read the full Katan Silk Guide for the bridal-grade selection process.

Tussar silk — the wild honey-gold

Tussar silk (also spelled tasaar, tasar) is produced from wild Antheraea moths that feed on oak, arjun, and sal leaves in the forests of Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and parts of Bengal. Unlike mulberry, tussar cocoons are broken (the moth emerges naturally, then the cocoon is harvested), so the silk filament is shorter — typically 300 to 500 metres per cocoon — and must be spun rather than reeled, like wool. The result is a heavier, more textured silk with a distinctive honey-gold undertone that persists even after dyeing.

To the touch, tussar silk is warmer than mulberry — closer to body temperature on first contact — and has a slightly grainy, irregular surface that you can feel under a fingernail. Under light, tussar reads as matte rather than lustrous, with a textile-like rather than a fluid-like drape. Tussar takes vegetable dyes beautifully but unevenly, with the natural honey undertone producing slightly warmer colour outcomes than the same dye on mulberry. It is favoured for daytime sarees, casual formal occasions, and the modern Bhagalpuri saree tradition. Danyah does not produce wedding-weight Banarasis in tussar — the wedding tradition is mulberry — but we recommend tussar for daytime-formal and we cover it in this guide for compare-only clarity.

Eri silk — the Assamese peace silk

Eri silk is produced from the Samia ricini moth in Assam and Meghalaya, fed on castor and tapioca leaves. Eri is sometimes called peace silk or ahimsa silk because the cocoon is harvested only after the moth has emerged naturally — making it the rare silk whose production does not kill the silkworm. The resulting filament is broken (because of the moth's exit), so eri is spun rather than reeled, and the yarn reads heavier, woollier, and more matte than either mulberry or tussar.

To the touch, eri is warm and slightly fuzzy — closer to a fine wool than to a silk in tactile impression. It does not produce the silk scroop. Under light, eri is decidedly matte. It is treasured for its ethical production story and for its winter-suitable warmth (eri is the rare silk that insulates), but it is not the silk of the Banarasi bridal tradition. Eri occasionally appears in modern Banarasi fusion pieces — Northeast-inspired collaborations — but our heritage commissions remain mulberry.

Muga silk — golden silk of Assam

Muga silk is the rare golden silk produced by the Antheraea assamensis moth, native exclusively to upper Assam. The silk filament emerges with a naturally golden colour that does not fade — in fact, muga silk reportedly intensifies in lustre with each wash across decades, which is one of the few cases where a textile improves with age. Muga is the only silk indigenous to a single Indian state (Assam), and it carries its own GI tag. Production is small and almost entirely consumed within the Northeast saree tradition. We include muga in this guide for completeness; Danyah does not produce muga Banarasis (the silk is not part of the Varanasi tradition), but we recommend muga as a distinctive heirloom option for buyers building a multi-region Indian saree collection.

Mashru — the silk-cotton compromise

Mashru silk is technically a fabric structure rather than a fibre. It is woven as a satin-weave cloth with a pure silk warp (the visible face) and a pure cotton weft (the back, hidden against the skin). The name comes from the Arabic mashru, meaning permitted — a reference to the orthodox Mughal-era prohibition on pure silk worn against the skin, which mashru was specifically engineered to circumvent. The silk face holds the brocade and produces the lustrous appearance of a silk saree; the cotton back makes the cloth cool, breathable, and skin-friendly in summer.

To the touch, mashru reads as silk on the outside and as cotton on the inside — a deliberate dual identity. Under light, mashru has the directional satin sheen of silk; against the skin, it has the breathability of cotton. It is the ideal daytime-formal Banarasi: cool enough for an Indian summer wedding, lustrous enough for a reception, light enough to wear all day without fatigue. Read the full Mashru Silk Guide for the historical context and the daytime-saree styling.

Dupiyan — the two-toned shot silk

Dupiyan silk is a structural variation rather than a separate fibre. The technique uses pure mulberry silk dyed in two contrasting colours: one colour for the warp, a different colour for the weft. The resulting woven fabric reads as a shot silk that appears to shift hue as it moves through light. A red-warp-on-gold-weft dupiyan reads gold-when-still and red-when-moved; the shimmer of changing colour is the dupiyan signature. The technique demands yarn-dyeing (each silk thread dyed individually before weaving) and absolutely cannot be replicated in piece-dyed or printed cloth.

Dupiyan Banarasis are favoured for evening receptions and sangeet ceremonies where the colour-shift effect is dramatic under tungsten and candle lighting. The Katan-Dupiyan combinations — twisted mulberry warp in one colour, twisted mulberry weft in another — are among the most photographically dramatic Banarasi configurations and one of the most distinctive heritage techniques. Danyah commissions dupiyan pieces specifically for clients who request the shot-silk effect; the lead time is comparable to a standard Katan commission.

How to identify silk in the hand

Four tests, in order of how quickly you can perform them, separate genuine silk from polyester/viscose imitations and identify the silk type.

1. The touch test

Real silk is cool to the first second of skin contact and warms gradually to body temperature. Polyester and viscose feel uniformly room-temperature from the first touch; they do not have the thermal-shift signature of natural protein fibre. Rub two corners of the saree together with light pressure: real silk produces the soft paper-dry scroop (a distinctive rustling sound); synthetic silks feel plasticky and silent, or produce a sharper static-charged rustle that is not the same sound.

2. The light test

Hold the saree up to natural daylight at a 30-degree angle. Real silk has a directional sheen — the fabric appears slightly darker when the light catches the warp threads and slightly brighter when it catches the weft. This is the signature of a long-filament protein fibre. Synthetic silks have a uniform, flat sheen with no directionality; viscose has a slightly waxy uniform shine. The directional sheen is hard to fake and is one of the most reliable visual tests for natural silk.

3. The weight test

A six-yard pure mulberry silk saree with light brocade weighs roughly 350–450 grams. A wedding-weight Katan with dense brocade and real silver zari weighs 800–950 grams. A polyester imitation of the same visual specification weighs 200–300 grams — noticeably less in the hand at first lift. The weight test alone separates the real from the synthetic in seconds, regardless of brocade complexity.

4. The burn test

The definitive test. Pluck a single warp thread from the inner saree edge, hold it with metal tweezers, and touch it briefly to a candle flame. Pure silk turns to a fine gritty ash that smells like singed hair (the protein burning). Polyester melts into a hard black plastic bead with a sharp acrid plastic smell. Cotton burns to a fine grey ash with a smell of burning paper, similar to natural fibres but distinct from silk's protein scent. Linen burns similarly to cotton, slightly slower, with a green tinge to the ash. Viscose burns more like cotton than silk — a grey-paper ash smell — and is the most commonly mis-sold replacement for silk. The burn test on a single inner thread is non-destructive and takes under sixty seconds.

The silk price hierarchy

Pricing across silks reflects rarity, production complexity, and labour intensity. From accessible to bridal, the rough hierarchy in the Indian saree market today runs as follows.

Eri silk sits at the most accessible end, typically ₹4,000–15,000 for a finished saree — accessible because production is decentralised across Northeast cooperatives, the silk is broken-filament-spun rather than reeled, and the aesthetic suits casual daytime wear. Tussar silk ranges from ₹6,000–35,000 depending on weave complexity; the wild-silk character keeps prices below mulberry but the textural distinctiveness commands a premium over polyester imitations. Mashru silk sits in the ₹8,000–35,000 range; the silk-cotton hybrid construction is labour-intensive but the materials cost less than pure mulberry, producing an excellent daytime-formal price band.

Mulberry silk in its plain-yarn form ranges from ₹15,000–80,000 depending on brocade density and zari grade. Katan silk — twisted mulberry, the foundation of the wedding-weight Banarasi tradition — runs ₹25,000–3,00,000 and beyond, with the upper end reserved for heavy kadhwa pieces with real silver zari and full meenakari pallus. Dupiyan (two-toned twisted mulberry) sits at the same band as Katan, sometimes higher because the yarn-dyeing adds complexity. Muga silk, despite being the rarest, occupies a smaller market and prices vary widely (₹20,000–1,50,000+) based on weave and weaver provenance.

The single most important rule for buyers: a pure-mulberry, handloom, real-zari Banarasi cannot be produced profitably below approximately ₹15,000–20,000. Anything sold under that price for the same visual specification is, almost without exception, either a power-loom imitation in polyester/viscose with plastic zari, or a heavily blended silk with synthetic warp threads. Read the certificate. The certificate names the silk grade and the zari grade. If those two grades are not named, the price you are paying is for a story, not a textile.