Two words you will hear over and over in a Banarasi shop are "jaal" and "jangla." Both describe a saree covered all over in pattern, and they are easy to muddle — but they are not quite the same thing.
✨ Fun fact: Jangla comes from jangal, the Hindi word for jungle or forest — a saree overrun, beautifully, by growing things.
Jaal: the net
Start with jaal, which simply means "net." A jaal is an all-over design in which flowers, vines and leaves are linked together into a continuous mesh that runs across the whole body of the saree — not scattered motifs sitting alone, but one connected, repeating web. A floral jaal, the most common kind, is a net built mainly of blossoms, with the silk ground still breathing between the flowers. It is one of the patterns Banaras absorbed from the Mughal love of formal gardens, and it has been woven here for roughly four centuries.
Jangla: the densest, wildest jaal
A jangla is a jaal too — but the grandest and oldest of them. Where a floral jaal is mostly flowers with room to breathe, a jangla is a jungle: dense, spreading creepers, vines and foliage — and sometimes birds and animals — that overrun the cloth until very little plain silk is left showing. It is among the most ancient Banarasi layouts, historically woven in real gold and silver zari for nobility, and a fine one could take months on the loom. So every jangla is a jaal, but only the wildest, most thickly covered jaals earn the name jangla.
The kadwa connection
Traditionally, the name jangla was reserved for an all-over jaal woven entirely in kadwa — the painstaking style in which every motif is woven in separately, with no loose threads floating behind the cloth. Because a jangla covers nearly the whole saree, weaving it in full kadwa means building hundreds of small, self-contained motifs by hand, which is why a true kadwa jangla is counted among the most demanding things a Banaras loom can produce. Lighter, faster versions are woven in the cutwork (phekwa) style, where the connecting threads run behind the fabric and are clipped away afterwards.
How to tell them apart
A simple way to read a saree: if the all-over pattern is mostly flowers with the silk ground still visible between them, you are usually looking at a floral jaal. If it is a dense tangle of vines and leaves that swallows the ground almost completely, that is a jangla. And if the motifs sit apart from one another rather than linking up, it is not a jaal at all but a booti pattern.
Find your pattern at Khinkhwab
From airy floral jaals to lavish janglas, the all-over weave is the Banarasi at its most generous. Explore our handwoven Banarasi sarees, and read more about the motifs of Banaras and how a Banarasi is woven.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between jangla and jaal?
A jaal is any all-over net of linked motifs across the saree; a jangla is the densest, most jungle-like kind of jaal, where spreading vines and foliage cover almost the entire ground. Every jangla is a jaal, but not every jaal is a jangla.
What is a jaal in a Banarasi saree?
An all-over pattern in which flowers, vines and leaves are linked into a continuous net or mesh covering the body of the saree, rather than sitting as separate motifs.
What is a jangla?
One of the oldest Banarasi designs: a dense, free-spreading all-over pattern of creepers, vines and foliage — a woven jungle — traditionally woven in full kadwa and, historically, in real gold and silver zari.
Is a jangla always kadwa?
Traditionally the name belonged to an all-over jaal woven entirely in kadwa, with each motif woven in separately. Lighter versions are made in the cutwork style, with the connecting threads clipped from the back after weaving.
Sources & further reading
This article draws on documentation of Banarasi design traditions and on Khinkhwab's own weavers. Further reading: Tarannum Fatma Lari, Textiles of Banaras: Yesterday and Today (Indica Books, 2010). See also our pieces on kadwa weaving and the motifs of Banaras.
