Kota Doria Sarees

Travel to India > Kota > Kota Doria Sarees

Kota is a small district place in Rajasthan. It is very famous for its delicate Kota doria saris. These dories are very fine woven fabrics containing a special check pattern in the weave. Locally this doria is called as Khat. The saris are very delicate, lightweight and porous. This makes the fabric very favorable for surface ornamentation techniques like tie and dye, chiknar work, hand block printing, embroidery work and applique.

History of Kota Doria saris

Maharao Kishore Singh ji was a Mughal General. While he went on a campaign to south India, he brought master craftsman from Mysore with him while coming back. These artisans omitted threads in the warp and weft of cotton fabric and produced such small checks that even a single grain of masur dal could not pass through the check. The fabric was very lightweight and strong. Hence, these saris are called as Masuria saris in Kota.

Other legend goes that the saris are called as Masuria saris as they were prepared by the craftsman from Mysore.

Kota doria is super transparent and stable fabric. The weave consists of varied gauges of yarn and creates almost graph like patterns. The squares are formed with different thickness of the fibers used for the sari. The heavier intermittent gauge of yarn gives the fabric enough weight and stability to fall gracefully. This is a muslin fabric woven with alternate threads of silk and cotton. The cotton provides firmness to the sari while the silk lends the gossamer to the fabric. The saris are airy, transparent, and worn during summer.

Kota sari is a prized possession among women. The Gossamer fine fabric of Kota dories are one of the finest weaves in India. The fabric is so fine that the saris are almost weightless. Skilled artisans do the spinning, dyeing and weaving of the fabric. The weavers do all the things from dyeing the fabric, making patterns and design of the fabric and all this is done by hand. There are more than 1200 weaves in this art and it takes a lot of time to make the final product, sari. One whole week is required to produce three saris in basic doria. Now a day, the mix of 70% cotton from Coimbatore is done with 30% silk from Karnataka. This makes the fabric last longer throughout the day.

Apart from the checkered patterns, there are other weaves in complicated designs. The weavers produce a minimum of three saris of the same design as their looms can accommodate that much at a time. Traditionally the color of the saris was white. Now a day these saris have many colors and dyes like vegetable dyes, Bagru and Sanganer block printing and embroidery are used. You can find three different of Kota doria sarees -plain, zari and printed.

This art is facing serious threat from the power looms and advanced technology. Rajasthan Handloom Development Corporation (RHDC) is promoting this craft and it is taking a lead in producing other items other than saris from Kota Doria. They have successfully produced lampshades, curtains, skirts and suit pieces for dresses from Kota doria.