I still recall how extremely careful my Parsi friend would be when we all went out together for a special occasion and she was wearing a Gara saree. She would take great pains to walk, gently surveying the ground at every step, choose a seat away from food and drink, be constantly watchful of people around her — in case they spilled anything or stepped on her saree. “It is my grandmother’s Gara saree, and there are not too many of these kind around. And they don’t make them like this anymore,” she would explain.

Many, many years later, after I visited Udvada in Gujarat where you find Gara products of all kinds, met Parsi families on other occasions in Bengaluru and Hyderabad who showed me their exquisite Gara sarees, and also met a few kaarigars (embroiders or sareemakers) in Mumbai, I realised why my friend was almost paranoid about her saree’s safety. Gara sarees are truly precious!

Precious heirlooms

The characteristic motifs of a Gara saree, which make it easy for you to identify one, are traditional Chinese designs. You will see figures of Chinese men and women in traditional attire and often depicted alongside their typical homesteads and rickshaws, and sometimes with accessories like fans, umbrellas and even musical instruments. Fishing scenes are also prominent in some fabrics.

Flowering vines, which often meander across the border or body of the saree, trees, bamboos, fruits, flowers, and plenty of birds and animals like the parrot, peacock and dragon are also some popular designs. Butterflies, either alone or hovering over flowers, are also depicted. You will find intricately woven pavilions and bridges besides pagodas and peonies, all along the border of the saree and on the pallu.

However, there are some sarees or fabrics that are profusely embroidered and the motifs are all over — covering almost the entire length and breadth. Such sarees with dense work are also heavy in weight. These highly-detailed sarees are also among the most expensive and coveted.

Purple, black and red are among the popular colours, or at least were, in the old-style ones, while pastel shades are also seen now. The dark colour background was used to highlight the beauty of the embroidery. Talking to the elders in a few Parsi families, we learnt that typical embroidery techniques were the satin stitch, long and short stitch as well as the popular seed-pearl stitch, also known as kha-kha.

Aruna Chandaraju, Bengaluru,Nov 30, 2014, DHNS: