Banarasi saris have been a byword for sartorial elegance for centuries and even the Buddha was laid to rest veiled in a brocade of silk hand-woven in India’s holiest city Varanasi, according to local legend. However the local silk industry could be killed off within a generation by mass-produced garments and competition from China unless India’s next government steps in to save it, according to management and workers.
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A shopkeeper displays the embroidery of a handmade Banarasi silk sari in Varanasi. (Sanjay Kanojia / AFP Photo / April 22, 2014) -
A labourer prepares silk threads before weaving Banarasi saris inside a handloom factory in Rajapura Varanasi. (Sanjay Kanojia / AFP Photo / April 22, 2014) -
Indian weavers sit inside a handloom factory in Rajapura Varanasi. (Sanjay Kanojia / AFP Photo / April 22, 2014) -
An Indian labourer weaves a sari, the traditional dress of Indian women, at a handloom factory in Rajapura Varanasi. (Sanjay Kanojia / AFP Photo / April 22, 2014) -
A worker prepares silk threads before weaving Banarasi saris inside a handloom factory in Rajapura Varanasi. (Sanjay Kanojia / AFP Photo / April 22, 2014) -
An labourer weaves a sari at a factory in Rajapura Varanasi. (Sanjay Kanojia / AFP Photo / April 22, 2014)
In pictures: Baranasi silk industry battles against looming threats
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