Balaramapuram Kasavu Sarees

End-piece of a Balaramapuram Saree

Balaramapuram sarees are, as the name suggests, primarily woven at Balaramapuram in Kerala although the weaving has now spread not only geographically to seven blocks in the Thiruvananthapuram district but also from the Saliya community, which originally wove fine cotton fabrics in the area, to others.

The sarees tend to be of cream-coloured (undyed) cotton with zari, called ‘kasavu’ in Malayalam, on their borders and end-pieces. The sarees are closely linked to the erstwhile Travancore state and the Thiruvithamkur royal family which patronised Balaramapuram sarees. Balaramapuram itself, if tales are to be believed, is named after Maharaja Balarama Varma who had weavers from Southern Tamil Nadu migrate to Kerala in the early 19^th century, and begin producing sarees there.

The Kasavu motifs on Balaramapuram sarees are sometimes woven in with pure gold zari; if this is the case, bamboo reeds are used during the weaving process (instead of metal) so that the zari is not damaged. The techniques used to weave fabric tend to be traditional, and the motifs of Kasavu sarees are usually reversible. They are woven into the fabric with supplementary threads.