Royal Purple Pure Handloom Maheshwari Silk Saree, Wide Geometric Gold Border | Phulwari

A royal purple field held inside a wide gold border of dense geometric work.

Why this piece

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  The border is the piece — wider and more densely patterned than most in this weave, with the geometric work running its full depth.


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  A solid ground behind it — royal purple carried the whole length, undivided, so nothing competes with the border.


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  Flower buti — small woven figures repeating sparsely across the body and gathering through the pallu, dobby-set on the loom rather than applied to the surface.

The colourway

Royal purple sits between violet and blue and reads regal without going dark, which is why it can take a border this wide without the piece tipping into heaviness. The body is kept plain on purpose: the complexity is all at the edge.

How it is woven

Master weaver Aafreen wove it. This is hand weaving in the plain sense of it: a pit loom, a weft inserted by hand, and a dobby setting the buti across the body and the figures in the border. The pattern is built as the cloth is built, not printed on later.

A hand-inserted weft leaves marks of itself — the odd slub or a pick that sits a fraction differently. That is the weave telling you what it is.

The border, and how it wears

A bugdi border, so the woven border design reads the same on both faces — a craft signature you can see for yourself rather than take on trust.

The figures are ours, measured in-house: 350 to 360 g, 44 to 46 GSM. Light enough for warm weather and long wear, soft enough to pleat closely, and semi-sheer through the body, so wear it over a petticoat.

Specification

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  Total length: 6.3–6.5 m, including an 80–90 cm blouse piece


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  Width: 45–46 inches


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  Weight: 350–360 g, measured in-house


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  Fabric weight: 44–46 GSM


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  Body: semi-sheer; wear it with a petticoat


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  Drape: soft, holds its pleats, and stays soft after the first clean


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  Loom: pit loom, with the weft inserted by hand


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  Patterning: dobby-set, on body, border and pallu


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  Finishing: pallu kuchu, selvedge and edges finished; fall and pico on request


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  Woven in: Maheshwar, Khargone district, Madhya Pradesh


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  Country of origin: India


• 
  Net quantity: one saree with attached blouse piece


• 
  Care: Dry Clean Only

Care and storage

1. Professional dry clean only. Home washing is not recommended.


2. Air-dry in the shade, without wringing.


3. Iron inside out on a low-to-medium setting, under a cotton press cloth.


4. Store it wrapped in breathable cotton or muslin, in a cool dark cupboard.


5. Refold along fresh lines every three to six months.

Dispatch

This piece is held in stock rather than made to order, so hand weaving does not put you in a queue. About half of all orders leave the next day, most go within two to three days, and most orders inside India arrive in three to seven days.

A note on colour

This piece is a royal purple, bordered in wide geometric gold. Screens, camera settings and the light a photograph was taken in all move a shade a little, so the piece that reaches you may sit slightly away from the image on this page. Every colour in this range has been tested for fastness on wash and rub.

Product details

Country of origin: India. Net quantity: one saree with attached blouse piece. Care: Dry Clean Only.

Master weaver Aafreen wove this saree, on a pit loom in Maheshwar. The weft goes in by hand, and a dobby carries the buti across the body and the geometric run through the border. A wide border densely patterned is where the dobby earns its place: each repeat has to sit exactly on the last down the full length of the drape, and there is nothing but the weaver's rhythm keeping it there. Behind it the purple field is held plain, which is a decision as much as a default — a busier ground would have made the border unreadable. The cloth weighs 350 to 360 g at 44 to 46 GSM. The border is bugdi, its woven design reading the same on both faces, and the small unevennesses of hand weaving stay in the cloth.

Exchange: *Easy exchange is available within 3 days of receiving the product.
*No exchanges on home decor items.
*Unboxing video is required.

Return: *Only for damaged/wrong products.
*Unboxing video required.
Learn More

1. What exactly do I receive?
One unstitched Maheshwari silk saree, 6.3 to 6.5 m long including an 80 to 90 cm blouse piece attached to the saree, and 45 to 46 inches wide. The blouse piece is unstitched fabric and its price is already in the price on this page. The measurements are uniform across this weave and are measured in-house, not taken from a supplier sheet.

2. Is the saree stitched, and are fall and pico done?
It is an unstitched drape — you pleat and drape it yourself, or have it pre-pleated locally if you prefer. Fall, pico and edge finishing are not done before dispatch, but we will do them on request before the piece is sent.

3. How do I know it is handwoven and not powerloom?
It is woven on a pit loom with the weft inserted by hand, and the patterning on body, border and pallu is dobby-set on the loom. The Handloom Mark is held on record against these pieces, they are woven by master-weaver households in Mominpura, Maheshwar, and the weaver confirms each piece. Nothing we sell is machine-woven.

4. What is a bugdi border?
Bugdi describes the woven border design reading the same on both faces of the cloth. It is woven into the border on the loom, and you can turn the edge over and see it for yourself.

5. How should I clean and store it?
Professional dry clean only; home washing is not recommended. Air-dry in the shade without wringing. Iron inside out on a low-to-medium setting under a cotton press cloth. Store it wrapped in breathable cotton or muslin in a cool, dark cupboard, and refold it along fresh lines every three to six months so no single crease is held for years.

6. Will the colour bleed on the first clean?
Every colour in this range has been tested for fastness on both wash and rub. That is a test result rather than a reassurance. Dry cleaning remains the instruction.

7. What if the shade that arrives is not the shade on my screen?
Screens and camera settings shift colour, so the royal purple may read a little differently in your own light. If the shade does not match, or you are not satisfied with the quality, we will exchange the piece within the stated window and condition requirements.

8. What is the return and exchange window?
Two days from delivery, and the piece has to be unused, with its tags and its original packaging. Within that window we exchange for a colour mismatch or for dissatisfaction with quality.

9. Is it see-through? What do I wear underneath?
The body is semi-sheer — that is what 44 to 46 GSM and 350 to 360 g of cloth feels like — so it is worn with a petticoat, matched to the body colour or deliberately set against it.

10. Which occasions does it suit?
Festive and festival dressing, formal and ethnic wear, and light occasions. It carries well as a wedding or reception guest through a long function.

11. What do the motif and border names mean?
Buta and buti are the canonical spellings for the small woven figures scattered across the cloth; the same motif circulates as butta, butti and booti, and they all mean this. The figure on this saree is a flower buti, one of the named shapes in that vocabulary. Zari (also written jari) is the metallic thread worked into the border and the pallu. Here the buti repeat across the purple field inside a wide, densely patterned gold border.

12. When will it be dispatched and how does delivery work?
These sarees are held in stock, not made to order. About half of all orders leave the next day, most within two to three days, and most orders inside India arrive in three to seven days. Shipping within India is free, Cash on Delivery is available, and we ship worldwide with international carriage charged on actuals.

13. How long will it last?
Cared for as instructed, this is a piece to keep and to pass on rather than one to wear for a single event. The drape does not stiffen or go slack after the first clean, and the tracked defect and colour-complaint rates on this weave are negligible.

14. The weave looks slightly uneven in places. Is that a defect?
No. A hand-inserted weft leaves small irregularities behind — the occasional slub or an uneven pick — and they are characteristic of hand weaving rather than faults. Every piece is finished at the pallu kuchu, selvedge and edges, and passes a pre-dispatch check before it is packed.