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Narayanpet Saree Now in Telangana, Narayanpet is a town which, till quite recently, lay in Andhra Pradesh near the Karnataka border. It is believed that its tradition of weaving arose sometime in the 17th century: Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is reputed to have brought some Maharashtrian weavers to Narayanpet, who brought with them a tradition of weaving Narayanpeth sarees. Today, Narayanpeth sarees from Maharashtra are all but indistinguishable from the Narayanpet sarees of Andhra Pradesh. Contemporary Narayanpet sarees may be woven in silk, cotton, or silk-cotton. They have borders of between 3 and 5.5 inches which run along both sides of each saree, and endpieces which are about 60 cm long and tend to feature simple striped designs. The borders, which usually have zari 'ribbons' woven into them, are of equal breadth on both sides, feature a small temple design (especially when the sarees are woven in silk), and contrast with the colour of the (often c...

Narayanpeth sarees are primarily made in Yeola (which is in Maharashtra’s in Nasik district) of thin silk material. The borders are woven in colours which contrast with the main body of the saree, and they typically have sawtooth designs referred to as 'karvatikath'; 'karvat' means ‘saw’ in Marathi. There are no limitations as such when it comes to colour, and no colour seems to dominate either. The body is traditionally plain although contemporary sarees may have some designs. The endpiece of Narayanpeth sarees isn’t heavy either in terms of design or zari, and often has stripes. Tassels may be used on the endpiece but aren't characteristic of the sarees. Typical Narayanpeth Saree design by Vijaya Dandekar This kind of design can be in other sarees too but the design matched with the other characteristics is a sign that a saree is a Narayanpeth saree. (The information in this post is from Vijaya Dandekar who's also sketched the designs used. A...