Khinkhwab Diaries

A field guide to the language of Banarasi motifs — the bootis, jals and janglas, the borders, and the meanings woven into peacocks, lotuses and vines.

Brocade from Versailles to the runway — the silk-weaving city of Lyon, and how French craft and the great fashion houses carried gold cloth into modern style.

Indigo from the vat, red from madder and lac, yellow from turmeric and flowers — how silk was coloured with natural dyes before synthetic colour arrived.

Nishijin brocade, deep indigo and the art of repair — Japan's textile crafts and the philosophy of mending that turns wear into beauty.

The hunting-scene Banarasi — forests, beasts and riders woven across the silk — and its southern cousin, the Vanasingaram of Kanchipuram.

Silk, cloud brocade and porcelain — the crafts that gave the world its very word for fine cloth, from the looms of Nanjing to the kilns of Jingdezhen.

A single Banarasi saree passes through many hands — the designer, weaver, naari-fillers, dyers, comb-makers, darners and polishers of Varanasi. Meet the people behind the cloth.

The gold-threaded songket, the ikats of the islands and the other glowing weaves of South-East Asia — and where they meet the Banarasi tradition.

A history of the looms behind the Banarasi saree — the draw loom and its draw boy, the pit loom, the backstrap and frame looms, the Jacquard revolution and the...

A region-by-region map of India's needle arts — chikankari, phulkari, kantha, kasuti, zardozi and more, and the places that gave them their names.

Flowers woven into air — the ethereal supplementary-weft muslin of Bengal and Dhaka, where motifs seem to float on cloth as fine as mist.

A whirlwind tour of India's saris — one signature weave from every region, from Kanjivaram and Paithani to Jamdani, Patola and beyond.