Baluchari Saree The name ‘Baluchari’ is derived from the area in which the sarees are woven: Baluchar, now known as Jiaganj, in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district. Early Baluchari sarees were silk sarees believed to have been the creations of weavers who had migrated from Varanasi to Bengal around the 16 th century; these early sarees are said to have depicted scenes on their end-pieces not only from everyday life – everything from women smoking to horses being ridden – but also from the great Indian epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, and the Puranas. Each scene was set in an oblong frame on the end-piece of the saree, and each frame could feature a different scene; together, they actually told a story. In addition to this, the borders of Baluchari sarees often featured floral designs or figures, as did ‘butis’ on the field. The technology and know-how required to produce such sarees is now lost to us – unable to compete with less expensive textiles, by the time of indepe...