Value Chain Analysis of Shantipuri Sarees

Source and 2

1. There are three types of Sarees popular in the region: Jamdani Sarees of Nabadip, Shantipuri of Shantipur and Tangail variety of Phulia.

2. The weavers of Shantipur have made themselves famous by their professional aptitude in making Tant  or Taant Saree. There are two types of Taant Sarees, Tangail and Dhanikhali. Here Jacquard weaving technique is used in these sarees.

3. The sarees are famous for designs used with extra warp in the border and cotton ground base. Muga, Twisted cotton, zari, viscose and polyester are used for the extra warp.

4. Depending upon the design, color, pattern, Shantipuri sarees are named as Nilambari, Gangajamuna, Benkipur, Bhomra, Rajmahal, Chandmala, Anshpar, Brindabani Mour Par, Do Rookha

Nilambari Saree

5. Mostly fly shuttle pit looms of width 130-140 cm are used in the cluster with 100-150 hook jacquard. 99% of the looms have jacquard attachment.

6. Average production per weaver per week of 6 days: 5 sarees

7. Value Chain Analysis

Saree is the major cluster product, the value chain for a Santipuri cotton saree with border is analysed as under

-  Raw material accounts to 50.6% in Santipur cotton sarees.

- Value addition in weaving including preparatory works to 30.5 % with respect to the cost price.

- Dyeing is nearly 3.8% of the cost price of the saree.

- Margin to the master weaver exclusive of marketing costs is 8.5% as the cost price of the saree.

8. About the various Sarees:

Nilambari

The terms Nilambari is applied as the ground warp and weft yarns are dyed with the indigenous indigo colour. Mainly cotton yarns are used for warp & weft. The colour is extracted from the leaves of the herb indigo ere tinctoria. The leaves are harvested steeped in water and allowed to ferment. A blue substance that settled as sludge in the bottom vessel is derived and sold as indigo cakes. The colour is pleasing and will not fade. The colour resembles the dark blue of the clear night sky. The rich sarees are ornamented treated designs. In some sarees the technique of weaving the designs in ground and anchal is same as Jmdani.

Gangajamuna

The name of the saree is derived for the use of different colours in border i.e one side red and the other black. The ground warp is grey cotton.

Benkipar

In the saree the aesthetic value of the border design is prominent due to the use of muga and zari( 4 in a dent ) in extra warp. The name of the saree is derived from the diagonal pointed twill lines in the border. 

Bhomra

The name is derived from the hernet & bumble-bee. Indigo black, red & chocolate are the common colours. In border Kashmiri silk i.e 20/22 organza silk yarns were very commonly used. For extra warp twisted cotton yarn, zari & muga were used.

Rajmahal

The yarn used for border is similar to Benki-Par saree. The motif in border is diamond twill. The name of the saree is indicated according to the enclosed space of the diamond twill weave.

Anshpar

 The type of yarn in border was zari only. The only difference is the motif i.e fish scale for which the name of the saree is termed as Anshpar.

Chandmalla

The name of the saree is derived from the round motif i.e. depiction of moon. Here the extra warp is cotton or golden zari. The border is twisted cotton yarn.

Visva – Bharati

The speciality of the saree is for using two different coloured cotton yarns in extra warp. Coloured extra warp yarns are distributed throughout the width of the motif in border. The denting order for these is six per dent of a reed i.e. 4 extra and 2 grounds in borders. As a result of colour distribution, reversible colour effect is visible in same side of border. Usually red and black coloured yarns are selected for extra warp while the yarn for ground border (khas) is yellow cotton. Thus variety of saree came into production after the introduction of jacquard only i.e. 1950.

Do-rookha

This is almost similar to above variety with the exception of yarn used for extra warp. Unlike above, the ground border yarn is not visible. The zari & coloured yarns are used in the ratio of 2:2. It is two sided or two-faced weave. In “Do-rookha” both the sides are exactly identical.

Brindabani Mour Par

Here the border is depicted by two peacocks sitting face to face on a tree. Cotton yarn is used for both border and ground. Jacquard is used for design.