Banarasi brocades are one of the finest fabrics that India has to offer. It is a specialty of Varanasi, formerly known as Banaras, from which the fabric derives its name. Throughout history, brocade was a fabric of luxury worn by nobility in various cultures, from India to Korea. Brocade is a heavy fabric similar to jacquard with a raised pattern or floral design. Traditionally the pattern was produced with gold or silver thread said to be of such superb quality that they could be woven into fabric of pure gold and silver. There is evidence of different textured brocades since the Rig Vedic period c. 1750-500 BCE, including fabric of gold known as Hiranya Vastra. Silkora, a mixture of silk and cotton, is a modern textile innovation of Banarasi brocade. In regular weaving, the weft thread passes over the warp thread. The weft is the transverse thread, and the warp thread extends through the length of the fabric. In brocade weaving, extra weft threads of different coloured silk or metallic threads, better known as zari, are woven into the base fabric to form a pattern. The use of zari is not only traditional in Banarasi brocade, but also in the embroidery art of Zardosi.
