Before a single thread is woven, it must be given its colour. And for most of Banaras's history, that colour came not from a factory but from a garden — from roots, leaves, flowers and even insects, coaxed into dye over a slow fire.
✨ Fun fact: Indigo doesn't dye blue at first. Silk lifted from the vat looks green or yellow, and only turns blue as it meets the air.
We've written elsewhere about what Banarasi colours mean. Here is the older story of how those colours were actually made.
When plants were the only palette
For centuries, every colour on a Banarasi came from nature. There were no synthetic dyes until the late nineteenth century; before that, a dyer's whole world was plants, minerals and a few precious insects. Each shade had its source, its season and its secret, and the recipes were guarded within families and passed down like heirlooms.
Blue: indigo from the vat
The most famous of all natural dyes is neel, indigo, drawn from the leaves of the indigo plant. The leaves are fermented and the dye settled out as a paste, then revived in a vat. Indigo will not simply dissolve in water like other dyes; it has to be coaxed into a soluble form in the vat, and the dyer lowers the silk in and lifts it out again and again, each dip deepening the blue. Strangely, the silk emerges green or yellow and turns blue only as the air touches it — a small daily miracle the dyers knew by heart.
Yellow: turmeric, pomegranate and flowers
Yellows were the easiest gift of the garden. Turmeric (haldi) gave a warm, auspicious yellow; pomegranate rind and the flowers of kusum and other blossoms gave softer golds and greens. Many of these are gentle, fugitive colours — they fade more readily than indigo or madder — which is part of why the old yellows had such a tender, living quality.
Red: madder root and lac
Red, the colour of brides and festivals, was the hardest won. It came mainly from two sources: the root of the madder plant (manjistha) and lac, a crimson resin left on tree branches by tiny insects. Neither gives up its colour easily. The silk first has to be treated with a mordant — usually alum — a mineral salt that bites into the fibre and lets the red bind fast and glow. Without the mordant, the colour would simply rinse away.
The mordant: the dyer's secret
Mordants are the quiet heroes of natural dyeing. These mineral salts — alum most commonly, sometimes iron — fix the colour to the silk, and can shift a single dye across a whole range of shades: the same madder can lean scarlet, brick or deep rose depending on the mordant and the water. It is here that a master dyer's instinct really shows, judging by eye and long habit rather than any fixed measure.
The slow craft of the dye-house
The process itself was patient. The raw silk was first scoured and degummed so it would take colour evenly (we describe that step in how a Banarasi is woven); then mordanted, then lowered into the dye and turned, sometimes over hours, sometimes over days, until the shade was right. Skeins were lifted, rinsed in river or well water, and hung to dry — and the colour was often judged final only once it had dried in the sun.
From garden to chemistry
Synthetic dyes reached Banaras around the turn of the twentieth century, and they changed everything: brighter, faster to use, endlessly repeatable, and able to give shades nature never offered. Most Banarasis today are dyed with these colour-fast chemical dyes. Yet the older knowledge has not vanished — there is a quiet revival of natural colour, and some dyeing families still keep the plant recipes alive.
Colour at Khinkhwab
Whether woven in a classic bridal red or a soft modern pastel, every colour is still chosen with the same care the old dyers gave it. Explore our handwoven Banarasi sarees, and read more about the meanings of Banarasi colours.
Frequently asked questions
How were Banarasi sarees coloured before synthetic dyes?
Entirely with natural sources — indigo for blue, turmeric and pomegranate for yellows, madder root and lac for reds — fixed to the silk with mineral mordants like alum. Plants, minerals and insects were the only palette until synthetic dyes arrived in the late nineteenth century.
How is natural indigo dyeing done?
Indigo is fermented from the indigo plant and revived in a vat. The silk is dipped repeatedly; it comes out green or yellow and turns blue as it oxidises in the air, with each dip deepening the shade.
What is a mordant?
A mineral salt — most often alum — used to fix a natural dye to the fibre. It helps the colour bind and last, and can shift the same dye across many shades.
Where do natural red and yellow dyes come from?
Red comes mainly from madder root and lac (an insect resin); yellow from turmeric, pomegranate rind and flowers such as kusum. Reds need a mordant to hold fast, while many yellows are gentler and fade more easily.
Sources & further reading
Histories of Indian natural dyeing; Khinkhwab dyers' accounts; Tarannum Fatma Lari, Textiles of Banaras: Yesterday and Today (2010). See also our piece on the colours of Banaras.
