Of glistening silk and glamour Benarasi: Festival begins at Le Méridien Dhaka
If you want to indulge in the beauty of Benarasi and truly appreciate the hard work put into creating these mesmerising pieces by our weavers, visit the festival, which will remain open for all from 10am to 10pm till 9 March
Weaver Md Rafique has been making Benarasi sharis since he was a young boy. His grandfather came to Bangladesh all the way from Uttar Banaras, India, and settled in Old Dhaka's Neemtoli. From there they took their business to Ishwardi, Pabna, and now, Rafique and his nephew run a Benarasi store in Mirpur.
"Our Benarasi and Jamdani are absolutely unique, no one can take these from us. You can wear Benarasi anywhere, it is not only for brides or wedding guests," he said with a hint of pride in his voice.
"Look at this shari, feel the fabric," he told me as he laid out a beautiful Benarasi shari on the table in front of me. It was a dark two-toned silk with stunning flowers and leaves in golden, woven all over it.
It was soft like a muslin, and Rafique claimed one can wash it at home and the colours won't ever fade.
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"If only we had a place dedicated solely for us [the Benarasi weavers]; we could easily beat Indian powerloom products. Our biggest problem is we do not have a large enough space to make our products; we do it on the roadside, inside the camp etc," he said.
Six renowned and talented weavers from Mirpur Benarasi Polli, including Mohammad Rafiq, were present on 28 February at the inauguration of the 10-day Banarashi Festival titled 'Timeless Magnificence of Bangladeshi Banarasi' powered by BRAC Bank at The Muslin- a lifestyle outlet, adjacent to the lobby of Le Méridien Dhaka.
Tasnuva Islam, founder and CEO of The Muslin, inaugurated the festival. She shared with TBS that her vision behind creating the festival was to make people appreciate our Benarasi more, and uphold the silk fabric's true beauty.
"Our weavers are so talented; we do not need to depend on any other country. Our silk sharis are incredibly beautiful with their colours and motifs," she said.
She herself wore a stunning emerald and gold Benarasi jacket with black pants and matching green heels. When asked about it, she said that she herself fashioned the jacket from a shari and she also designs muslin sharis often.
A long, arduous process
Like Jamdani, making a Benarasi shari requires time. A standard shari takes up to 10 days to be completed, while those with more intricate designs can take a month and a half.
The very first step to making a Benarasi involves creating a shari graph or a design template. Weavers draw the designs on graph papers.
Then the design is punched onto pieces of cardboards, creating a stencil, based on which the shari is woven. The punchboards are attached to the handloom.
The exhibition has a handloom where a weaver was sitting and working on a shari. Rafique said that he designed the handloom, which carried a large metal frame with bamboo poles for paddles at the bottom.
As the weaver's hands worked on setting and weaving the pastel green, white and golden silk threads on the top, his feet worked the paddles. It was a rhythmic process, albeit an extremely difficult one.
Any colour, be it white, black, red or blue, becomes more beautiful when a metallic sheen is added to them. This golden-hued thread or zari, which makes Benarasi one of its kind, is created by layering the rayon threads with Rolex.
A complete collection of Benarasi beauties
Colourful Benarasi sharis are displayed in every corner of the exhibition area, each radiating more glamour than the other. Some are folded like a worn shari, while some are hung from poles like curtains. Visitors can also buy the products, which range between Tk2,200 and Tk20,000.
However, the price of Benarasi in the markets can go up to one lakh taka if real gold and silver zari are used.
There are different items on display, such as Benarasi ties. Students from the BGMEA University of Fashion and Technology also displayed a unique collection of dresses, jackets, jumpsuits etc made from Benarasi.
Zareef Tamanna Matin, an entrepreneur, was looking for a bright, red Benarasi shari at the exhibition. She seemed intrigued by the collection of the silk sharis. "When I buy a shari, the idea is always to pass it onto the next generation. My daughter is 15 years old and loves to wear sharis," she said.
If you want to indulge in the beauty of Benarasi and truly appreciate the hard work put into creating these mesmerising pieces by our weavers, visit the festival, which will remain open for all from 10am to 10pm till 9 March.
