If the first language of Banaras is silk, its alphabet is the motif. Here is a dictionary of the named designs — each booti, jal and border that together let you read a Banarasi saree like a text written in thread.
✨ Fun fact: The coin-round ashrafi booti was once woven to resemble real gold ashrafi coins. Colonial traders even nicknamed it the “Dollar booti” — so to wear it was to carry wealth woven into silk.
This is the deeper companion to our guide to Banarasi motifs. If you're just beginning, start there; if you want to know the names, read on.
Bootis and bootas: the words and the sentences
Bootis are whispers — tiny blossoms scattered like stars across the field of a saree. Bootas are songs — larger, more elaborate, blooming boldly on the pallu and borders. Almost everything below is a kind of one or the other.
Circles of prosperity and the cosmos
Ashrafi booti — round as a gold coin, woven to resemble the ashrafis (gold mohurs) that once symbolised prosperity. Known to colonial traders as the “Dollar booti.”
Chand Tara booti — moon and star woven together, sometimes with nine stars (navtara) to invoke auspicious power. A favourite in bridal sarees. As a weaver in Madanpura once told us, the moon and star are not just a design — they are a blessing.
Chakra and Tara bootis — wheels and stars, symbols of eternity and celestial protection, often repeated across the field or carried along the borders.
Floral whispers
Tinphulia, Chauphulia, Panchphulia, Satphulia — floral bootis of three, four, five and seven petals, descended from the trefoils of Harappa and still alive on the loom.
Kamal booti — the lotus, echoing Ajanta murals and temple carvings, a symbol of purity.
Bela boota — jasmine vines twining delicately across the cloth.
Genda boota — bold as the marigold of weddings and rituals; even woven in zari, it seems to carry the flower's festive fragrance.
Leaves, fruits and nature's embrace
Paan booti — the heart-shaped betel leaf, beloved in rituals and a bridal favourite, a symbol of love and auspiciousness.
Kairi booti — the mango motif, also called ambi or paisley. The Banarasi kairi is broader and bolder than the slender Kashmiri or Gujarati versions, standing for fertility and growth.
Khajuri booti — date-palm patterns, sometimes paired with swords (khajur talwar), once woven for patrons from Arabia.
The geometry of jals
A jal is a net — a lattice spread across the saree like architecture in silk, each opening cradling a small motif. As one nakshband explained, when we design a jal, we think of the light and shadow in Mughal palaces.
Charkhana — chequered patterns filled with flowers. Lahariya jal — wavy nets that ripple like the Ganga. Badrum jal — diamond-shaped lattices. Hira jal — sparkling like cut gemstones. Kamrakhi jal — shaped like starfruit. Bulbul-chashm jal — a delicate trellis named for the eye of a nightingale.
Borders, kinaras and jhalars
Borders frame the saree and give it rhythm — the kinara is often where a weaver's imagination plays most freely.
Kangana kinara — repeating bangles along the edge, evoking bridal jewellery. Badla kinari — gleaming metallic zari borders. Jhalar — ornamental frills, like the curtains and tassels of old palaces, swinging at the saree's edge.
Rare and narrative motifs
Beyond flowers and geometry, Banaras weaves whole stories.
Shikargah — hunting scenes with elephants, deer and falcons, woven like tapestries; a royal favourite. Nauka Vihar — boat rides on the Ganga, woven for local patrons. Gyasar (Tibetan kochin) — rich brocades for monasteries, filled with dragons, lotuses and Buddhist symbols. These remind us that Banaras has always woven for the world — for kings, brides, pilgrims and monks alike.
The motifs in our collections
We keep this living dictionary alive by weaving it: bootis shimmer across our Ashrafi Boota and Chaand Boota edits, janglas unfurl in Khinkhwab Gold, narrative weaves fill our Shikargah collection, and delicate motifs reappear across our Muniya moonga and tussar silks.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a booti and a boota?
A booti is a small motif scattered across the saree; a boota is a larger, more elaborate version, usually placed on the pallu or border. Same idea, different scale.
What is an ashrafi booti?
A round, coin-shaped motif woven to resemble a gold ashrafi (mohur) coin, symbolising prosperity. Colonial-era traders nicknamed it the “Dollar booti.”
What is a jal in a Banarasi saree?
A jal is an all-over net or lattice of vines and lines, with a small motif caught in each opening. Named varieties include lahariya (waves), hira (diamonds) and bulbul-chashm (nightingale's eye).
What is the rarest Banarasi motif?
The narrative weaves are the rarest and most prized — the shikargah hunting scene, the nauka vihar boat ride on the Ganga, and the gyasar brocades once woven for Tibetan monasteries.
Sources & further reading
- Tarannum Fatma Lari, Textiles of Banaras: Yesterday and Today (Varanasi: Indica Books, 2010) — Chapter VII, on typical designs.
- Krishna & Krishna, Banaras Brocades (1966).
- Khinkhwab Fabric Stories: a guide to Banarasi motifs and the poetry of motifs.
