TALES 》 Ilkal Cotton and Silk Sarees

Contemporary Ilkal sarees goes on a delightful weaves!

The most down to earth yet vibrant colors are seen in traditional attire of Ilkal, Ilkal is a small town, this town is located in the South-East part of Bagalkote district, Karnataka state, India. This place is very hot during the summers but has a pleasant weather during the winters. The language of communication here is Kannada. Ilkal was an ancient weaving centre and known for renowned handloom sarees. The main source of income comes from the 'Red granite' which is exported all around the world, while Ilkal sarees are secondary source of income for the people residing over there since generations. The availability of local raw materials helped in the growth of this saree.

The Main body of the saree carries designs such as stripes, rectangles, squares or even plain. The pallu of the Ilkal saree carries designs of temple towers indicative of the lasting influence, pallu is usually made of red silk with white patterns. The main highlight of this saree is the border, thus the border of the saree is very broad about "4 to 6 inches" and they usually use contrast colors, which looks appealing, thus the ornamentation or embellishments on the saree increases its cost and it becomes really very expensive.There are three different types of borders – Gomi, Paraspet, and Gaadi. Traditionally used colors are pomegranate red, brilliant peacock green and parrot green. Comming to the motifs, inspired from temple architecture, liga, gopura(temple tower), ratha(chariot), temple tank, lotus, animals, conch shell, border motif representing a field of crop ready for harvest, these are few popular ones. Ilkal saree is available in 6, 8 and 9 yards. To weave one masterpiece saree with the help of the handloom it takes about three to seven days, based on the design and pattern. Ilkal sarees are worn by high society ladies as a fashion statement, these sarees are available in 'Ilkal cotton' and 'Ilkal silk' in two mediums.

What makes Ilkal saree so unique from other sarees is that, uniqueness of saree is joining of the body warp with pallu warp with a series of loops locallycalled as TOPE TENI technique, this technique is only used exclusively at Ilkal. Bridal wear collection sarees are made of 'Giri Kumkum' a particular color associated with sindoor(a bindi is a red dot worn on the centre of the forehead), worn by the priests of this region.

Ilkal sarees are available in mediums such as:

• Ilkal pure silk saree (Silk x Silk)
• Ilkal pure cotton
• Ilkal semi cotton silk(Cotton x Silk)
• Ilkal viscose rayon (Art silk x Cotton)

Important Note:

• Checks pattern locally known as 'Tirki'
• Stripes which are thick are known as 'Jabra'

Length of the saree:
Traditional Ilkal sarees are available in

• 6 yards ( 5.4 meter) approx
• 8 yards ( 7.3 meter) approx
• 9 yards ( 8.2 meter) approx respectively.

How to identify genuine Ilkal saree:

• Traditional Ilkal sarees can be noticed in color shades such as red/green and yellow
• The main body of the saree, one can notice checks, colored stripes, squares, even plain and rectangles
• Pallu(falling edge of the saree), patterns woven in white color temple towers are noticed
• Border of the saree is very broad around four to six inches
• TOPE TENI technique is been used to join the body warp with pallu warp with a series of loops one can noticed in the back side of the saree.

Fabric care

• If it's a cotton saree than one can wash in cold water
• Never soak and bleach the saree
• Always use mild detergents
• Once wash cycle is done, dry the fabric in shade
• Iron over the damp section of the fabric, to relax the wrinkles

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