Begampuri Saree

What is Begampuri Saree?

Begampuri is a cotton saree woven on handlooms in Begampur, a weaving centre in the Hooghly district of West Bengal, and in the villages around it. The cloth usually sets the body against a border of a different colour, so the two parts read as separate bands. Two older pattern names survive in the record, Matapar and Booty, each woven at various widths. A finished saree runs about 5.5 to 6.5 metres. In 2026 the saree entered the Geographical Indication register, in Bengali as Begampuri Saree and in English as Begampuri Cotton Handloom Saree. Weavers pass the craft down inside their families.

Where does Begampuri Saree come from?

One account dates the craft to the 16th century. Another traces handloom weaving here to about 200 to 250 years ago, before dobby and jacquard came to the fly-shuttle looms. Both place its beginnings in the Mughal period, when court patronage is said to have drawn skilled artisans to the region, and the industry then grew during British rule. Old texts are said to mention the Motaperey, a wide-bordered saree, and the people who wove it. The sources offer these as possible origins rather than settled fact.

How is Begampuri Saree made?

The loom is a frame type the region calls khatkhti, or khatkati-tant. Weavers use cotton yarn in counts from 40S to 60S, and the finer 100S yarn is now also used. Extra warp patterns are worked with a wooden dobby, and jacquard machines have been added. Pattern work called chiur is made with wooden strips, and designs in the anchal are formed by raising sheds with bamboo rods and passing the weft through. The sett per inch along warp and weft runs close to equal. A saree takes between one or two days and six days, depending on the design.

Colours, motifs and borders

Contrast is the rule: the body and the border of a Begampuri saree are usually woven in different colours. Wide borders were often packed densely with two colours of thread, black and red among them, a treatment that also made the edge stronger. Narrow borders carry stripes and small woven motifs in dyed yarn. The sources describe a stretched-thread groove pattern running over the body, the anchal and the border. Matapar and Booty, the two traditional designs, were made in a range of widths.

How Begampuri Saree is worn

The record does not describe a drape particular to Begampur, so the saree is worn in the ordinary way, wrapped and pleated by the wearer. A piece measures roughly 5.5 to 6.5 metres, a common saree length. Nothing in the sources describes the blouse or petticoat worn with it, or a special way of setting the pallu.

Styles of Begampuri Saree

Two yarn counts appear in the record: the traditional 40S to 60S cotton and the finer 100S now in use. Looms have changed as well. Patterns once raised only with a wooden dobby are now also set on jacquard machines. Borders range from wide to narrow, and the two traditional designs, Matapar and Booty, were woven in different degrees of broadness. The sources do not discuss imitations or powerloom copies of the saree.

What Begampuri Saree means

In 2026 the saree entered the Geographical Indication register, an official recognition that ties the cloth to its place of making. The application carries file number 877. The Ministry of Textiles counted 400 registered weavers working on Begampuri sarees in 2015. Weaving skill here is handed down inside families, from one generation to the next, and the trade belongs to the older handloom industry of Hooghly district.

Questions people ask about Begampuri Saree

Good reading and sources

• Begampuri Saree on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data