Sarees / Korvai / Arakku Rudraksham

Photograph: Arakku Rudraksham draped, full length, plain lime-washed wall, window light from the left

Detail: pallu, rudraksham brocade in zari, macro

Detail: korvai join between body and border, macro

Arakku Rudraksham

Lac red body, rudraksha-bead border

₹48,500includes blouse length

Silk: 3-ply mulberry, 20/22 denier, Silk Mark certified
Zari: Tested silver-gilt, 0.6% gold, from Surat
Weave: Korvai border, three-shuttle, rudraksham motif
Border: Nine inches, both sides, temple reku edge
Pallu: Thirty-two inches, brocade rudraksham and rasi checks
Length: 6.3 m including a 0.8 m blouse length
Weight: Around 720 g
Loom time: 26 days
Weaver: S. Ravichandran, Pillaiyarpalayam, Kanchipuram

Body colour · Arakku

Add to bag Ask the weaver a question

Made to order. Woven and delivered in 32 days from Kanchipuram; free delivery across India, insured. Returns within 14 days if unworn, with the selvedge tag intact.

The rudraksham border

The border carries a single row of rudraksha beads, the seed of the blue marble tree that Shaivite pilgrims wear on a string. On the loom each bead is a small brocade lift of about forty zari threads, spaced a finger's width apart, and Ravichandran ties the lift pattern by hand before the warp goes on.

Below the beads runs the reku, the temple zigzag that gives Kanchipuram sarees their edge. Here it is set in two lines, one heavier than the other, and interlocked into the arakku body with the korvai join.

Care

Dry clean only, and only with a cleaner who has handled zari before.
Store folded in a cotton cloth, and refold along different lines every three months so the silk does not crack.
Keep away from direct sun; the arakku will hold its colour for decades in a cupboard and fade in a season on a window.

Also from Pillaiyarpalayam and Arani

Photograph: MS Blue Mayil Chakram, draped, plain wall, side light

MS Blue Mayil Chakram

₹62,000

Lakshmi Venkatesan, Arani · 34 days at the loom

Photograph: Manthulir Vaira Oosi, draped, plain wall, side light

Manthulir Vaira Oosi

₹31,800

K. Murugan, Sirumugai, Coimbatore · 19 days at the loom

Photograph: Kumkumam Kottadi, draped, plain wall, side light

Kumkumam Kottadi

₹27,500

P. Selvi, Ayyampettai, Kanchipuram · 18 days at the loom