Gara Sarees

 

Gara sarees are Parsi sarees; they're often referred to as embroidered paintings. For the most part, they feature traditional motifs embroidered using silk thread usually on georgette or crepe silk. A single saree can take months to make although the making of Gara sarees is very much a living tradition. There have been experiments with weaving Gara-inspired designs into Banarasi sarees, for example. 

The saree photographed here is a new-fangled Parsi gara combining Persian, Indian, and Chinese influences, as such sarees always do. It was acquired not at a dedicated saree shop but at a tiny all-things-Parsi place which I visited along with a lady who made life seem so much better just by her having been part of it. She'd come down to Pune, where I was at the time, just for a day and I've kept the saree because the memory of that evening is one I treasure. 

The shop was overseen by a gentleman who (not too surprisingly) spoke about the materials used and the man-hours the embroidering took but didn't get into the symbolism of the motifs themselves. What I understood of the motifs came later from friends; I'm not Parsi and hope I've understood what I was told correctly...

The intertwined vines allude to not just the tree of life and the interconnectedness of all living beings but also to Asha, truth, and harmony, represented by a lush garden and to the Amesha Spentas, the bounteous immortals who uphold cosmic order. 

The paired birds are the chakla-chakli motif, the male and female representing domestic bliss although their not being sparrows here along with the introduction of a third bird, a guardian presence perhaps, takes the symbolism closer to a representation of a bountiful, good world created by God, an impression enhanced by the birds being sunbirds or hummingbirds; sunbirds are auspicious while hummingbirds they symbolise energy, persistence, and the ability to find beauty in the smallest things with the speed at which they flutter their wings and through their constant search for nectar. 

(Hummingbirds not really traditional motifs; birds of paradise, and the simurgh connecting the temporal and divine worlds, the phoenix, are more common but the tails of those birds are usually longer.)

The purple flowers are likely fuchsia, sunbird and hummingbird magnets, which symbolise good fortune and abundance while the large peonies are a mark of opulence, dignity and social distinction. Small buttercups with their rounded petals convey humility and refinement and the pointed jasmine symbolises spiritual purity, the scent of paradise and the presence of a loved one. 

All together, the light embroidery which ‘pops’ against a dark background tells of a divine spark in the primordial night, of hope in the darkness.