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| End-piece of a cotton Berhampuri saree |
Berhampuri sarees are made in coastal Orissa; they are most often woven in silk, and silk Behrampuri sarees are referred to as Berhampuri patta. Silk weaving is said to have begun at Berhampur in the 14
th century although the history of Berhampuri sarees is confused: these sarees are also associated with the Mohuri kingdom which lay between the Rushikulya and Bahuda rivers: the Gajapati King Purushottama Deva who ruled Kalinga from 1466–97 is said to have ‘founded’ the Mohuri kingdom with a grant of land to Sana Raja. Much later, the Mohuri King Harihar Narayan Deb who ruled between 1772 and 1782 is believed to have convinced weavers from Rajmundhry in nearby Andhra Pradesh to migrate to his kingdom; these weavers of the Deras community, also known as Debangas, are credited with not only bringing the Behrampuri saree to its current form but also for introducing to the area worship of the goddess Budhi Santani Thakurani who is believed by some to be the goddess Kali’s sister.
Although Berhampuri sarees woven in silk are most well known, these Berhampuri weavers also work in cotton, and tussar. The sarees often feature a temple design (which could be anything between less than an inch high to more than a foot wide) along the border: either phoda kumbha or badhi kumbha. Phoda kumbha refers to temple spires, and weaving the design into the sarees takes two weavers; badhi kumbha, on the other hand, is created using Ikat which rarely features serrated lines. The sarees tend to be in extremely bright colours with contrasting borders, and, when they’re woven in silk, 2 ply malda is most often used. All of them are reversible.
