Gollabama

A very rough sketch a Gollabama motif

Gollabama sarees are made in Siddipet, Andhra Pradesh, of rough cotton and sometimes of silk. They are a comparatively new creation dating back to the 1940s after a film was produced depicting the legend of a queen named Gollabama who was somehow separated from her husband, the King Vikramaditya. During their separation, the queen became a milkmaid. One day, the king chanced upon her, drank some milk, and failed to immediately recognise her although they were ultimately reunited.

The distinguishing feature of these sarees is the image of a milkmaid which is certain to be found on the endpiece of the saree, and possibly on both the body of the saree as butis and on the saree's lower border. The motifs are handwoven in cotton regardless of whether the saree itself is silk or cotton. They feature a milkmaid carrying a pot in her hand or on her head (or both), and each motif often faces the same direction giving, if the motifs are in profile, the impression of a line of milkmaids walking towards their destination.

On the endpiece, there tend to be a line of about eight to twelve milkmaids (with each Gollabama motif about 5 cm wide and 10 cm high), possibly in different colours (all bright! — there are no milkmaids in pastel shades), and with the line of motifs being surrounded on both sides by stripes. The sarees themselves are most often white or off white although they are made in a variety of colours, and the stripes on their endpieces tend to be in colours which contrast with their main bodies.