Ask ten shops in Pune what makes a saree Maharashtrian and you will get ten answers. Most will say the Paithani saree and stop there.
The honest answer is that Maharashtra wears about seven different sarees. Two of the most loved ones are not even registered to Maharashtra. And once you know what to look at, which is almost always the border and the pallu rather than the body, you can name any of them in a few seconds.
This guide covers every one. What it looks like, how to tell it apart from the one next to it, where it is actually woven, and what it should cost.
The short answer
These are the Maharashtra saree names worth knowing, and the main types of Maharashtrian sarees you will be shown in any shop in the state.
● Paithani saree (पैठणी). Pure silk with a solid zari border and a woven peacock or lotus pallu. The reverse side looks almost as clean as the front.
● Nauvari saree (नऊवारी). Not a weave at all. It is a nine yard drape, with the pleats tucked at the back.
● Narayan Peth saree (नारायणपेठ). A checked cotton or cotton silk body, a narrow zari lined border, and a plain pallu broken by contrasting horizontal bands.
● Kathpadar saree (काठपदर). A description, not a separate weave. The word means border and pallu. It describes a saree whose whole identity sits in a contrast border and pallu.
● Khan saree or Khunn (खण). A cotton silk cloth from Guledgudd, traditionally woven as blouse material and now also made into sarees.
● Irkal saree or Ilkal saree. Body and pallu woven separately, then joined with a loop technique found nowhere else.
● Karvath Kati saree. The Vidarbha tussar saree, named after its saw toothed border.
● Shalu saree. The heavy zari silk wedding saree.
Two of these, the Khan saree and the Irkal saree, hold Geographical Indication registrations in Karnataka. The Narayan Peth saree's belongs to Telangana. More on that below, because almost every article on this subject gets it wrong.
Start with two words, kath and padar
Maharashtrian saree vocabulary is built on two words.
● काठ (kath) is the border. It is the strip that runs along the length of the saree.
● पदर (padar) is the pallu. It is the decorated end that goes over the shoulder.
That is why kathpadar means what it means. It is the two words stuck together.
Almost all of these sarees have a fairly plain body. The weaver puts the money, the zari and the skill into the kath and the padar. So when you are trying to identify a saree, looking at the body is the slowest way to do it. Look at the border first, then the pallu. You will usually have your answer before you have unfolded the whole thing.
The 30 second check
Go through these in order and stop at the first one that matches.
Step 1. Look at the place where the pallu meets the body. If you can see a row of small loops joining the two, it is an Irkal saree. That join is the giveaway. No other saree in this group is made that way.
Step 2. Look at the width of the border. If it is narrow, roughly three to five and a half inches, with fine zari lines and small geometric designs, and the pallu is plain apart from a few contrasting horizontal bands, it is a Narayan Peth saree. The body will usually be checked.
Step 3. Turn the pallu over. If the border is solid zari and the reverse looks nearly as finished as the front, it is a Paithani saree. That two sided finish comes from interlocking the wefts by hand.
Step 4. Look for saw teeth in the border. If the border is a row of sharp triangular points on a slightly coarse, matte silk, it is a Karvath Kati saree. Karvat is the Marathi word for saw.
Step 5. Check whether it is cloth or a saree. If it is a bright cotton silk covered in small butis, and it is sold by the metre or as a blouse piece, it is Khan fabric, which is also woven up as a Khan saree.
Step 6. Count the yards. If it is nine yards instead of six and the pleats are tucked at the back, it is a nauvari saree. But remember that this tells you how the saree is worn, not what it is. A Paithani saree can be draped nauvari.
Side by side
|
Saree |
Border (kath) |
Pallu (padar) |
Base fabric |
Woven in |
GI registered to |
|
Paithani saree |
Solid zari. Narali (coconut), pankha (fan) and asavali designs, with an oblique square selvedge |
Woven peacock, lotus or vine panel. Near identical on both sides |
Pure silk and zari |
Paithan and Yeola, Maharashtra |
Maharashtra. Paithani Saree & Fabrics, app. 150 |
|
Narayan Peth saree |
Narrow, 3 to 5.5 inches, with fine zari lines and small geometric extra warp designs |
Plain, with contrasting horizontal bands |
Fine count cotton (80s), or silk |
Narayanpet, Telangana, and also Solapur, Maharashtra |
Telangana. Narayanpet Handloom Sarees, app. 214 |
|
Irkal saree |
Red or maroon. Designs called gomi, paraspet, gaadi and jari |
Tope teni. Red silk with white bands and temple tower patterns |
Cotton body with silk or art silk border and pallu |
Ilkal, Bagalkot district, Karnataka |
Karnataka. Ilkal Sarees, app. 76 |
|
Khan saree |
Not applicable. Sold as yardage, with small butis across the whole cloth |
Not applicable |
Cotton silk, handwoven |
Guledgudd, Bagalkot district, Karnataka |
Karnataka. Guledgudd Khana, app. 210 |
|
Karvath Kati saree |
Saw toothed. Karvat means saw |
Usually plain or lightly zari worked |
Tussar silk |
Vidarbha, Maharashtra |
Maharashtra. Karvath Kati Sarees & Fabrics, app. 390 |
|
Kathpadar saree |
Contrast border, usually zari |
Contrast pallu, usually zari |
Silk, art silk or a blend |
Yeola and the Maharashtra powerloom belts |
Not a separate registration |
|
Nauvari saree |
Depends entirely on the fabric used |
Depends on the fabric used |
Any |
Anywhere |
A drape, not a weave |
Paithani Saree
The Paithani saree is the best known saree in Maharashtra. It is named after Paithan, on the Godavari. Most Paithani sarees sold today are woven in Yeola, in Nashik district.
What to look for.
● A solid zari border. The GI document names the designs as narali (coconut), pankha (fan), asavali, rui phul and kalas pakli. The selvedge itself is woven in an oblique square pattern.
● A woven pallu. Not printed and not embroidered. The classic panels are the peacock, the lotus and the asavali flowering vine.
● A clean reverse. This is the real test. In a genuine Paithani the border and body are woven in different colours and locked together by hand, weft against weft. There are no floating threads on the back and the motif is nearly reversible. Turn the pallu over. Powerloom copies almost always leave a mess of floats.
The motifs worth knowing.
● मुनिया (muniya) is the parrot, also called tota maina. It usually sits in the border. Single, double and triple muniya refers to how many rows of parrots run along it, and a muniya Paithani saree is named for them.
● बांगडी मोर (bangdi mor) is a peacock drawn inside a bangle shape. It is a pallu motif, not a border one.
● कमळ (kamal) is the lotus, most often in the pallu. The Ajanta lotus is the named classical version.
● Asavali is a flowering creeper that runs the length of the border.
● Koyari or kayari is the paisley.
Shoppers in Maharashtra also ask for chandrakor (चंद्रकोर), the crescent, by name. It is not among the documented classical Paithani designs, so treat it as shop floor vocabulary rather than a traditional motif.
One correction worth making. The Yeola Paithani is not a separate type of Paithani saree. Yeola is simply the town where it is woven. You will see articles listing them as two different sarees. They are not.
Nauvari Saree, a Drape and Not a Weave
This is the most common mistake in this subject, so it is worth being blunt. Nauvari is not a kind of saree. It is a way of wearing one.
● Nauvari (नऊवारी) means nine yards, against the usual six.
● The style is also called kashta (काष्टा) or sakachcha. The back tuck itself is कासोटा (kasota) in everyday Marathi.
● It was popularised during the Peshwai period. It is what you see in Lavani performance, at Gauri Ganpati, and on Maharashtrian brides.
● Any fabric can be draped nauvari. A Paithani draped nauvari is still a Paithani saree. A cotton saree draped nauvari is still a cotton saree. The word describes the length and the tuck, nothing else.
Readymade nauvari is pre stitched and closes with hooks or a drawstring. It sells heavily now, and for a four hour function it is a sensible buy. It will not fall the way a draped nine yard does across the back pleats, and anyone who wears nauvari often will see the difference. For a wedding, the real nine yards is worth the extra twenty minutes.
You can see the full nauvari saree range here.
Narayan Peth Saree
The Narayan Peth saree is the easiest of these to spot once you have seen one.
What to look for.
● A checked or finely patterned body in fine count cotton. The GI specifies 80s count, which is why the saree is so light.
● A narrow border, three to five and a half inches, carrying small geometric extra warp designs in zari or art silk. The silk Narayanpeth also adds a small repeating temple shape. The cotton one usually does not.
● A plain pallu broken by contrasting horizontal bands. No figures, no peacocks, no heavy panels.
Where it is really from. Narayanpet is a town in Telangana. It has been the headquarters of Narayanpet district since 2019 and sits about 165 km from Hyderabad. The GI for Narayanpet Handloom Sarees is registered there.
The traditional account ties the craft to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's southern campaigns, with weavers from his camp settling at Narayanpet. The GI application dates this to around 1630, which cannot be literally right, because Shivaji was born in February 1630. Treat the date as folk history rather than record.
It is also woven in Solapur, in Maharashtra. That is why Maharashtrian families have treated it as their own for generations, and why you will see it called a Solapur saree. Both things are true at once. The tradition is named after a Telangana town, and the Maharashtra production is real and old.
What it is not is a type of Paithani. Several popular guides file it that way. They are different weaves, different fabrics and different states.
Kathpadar Saree
Kath plus padar means border plus pallu. That is the whole word.
A kathpadar saree is one built around a contrast border and a contrast pallu over a comparatively plain body. In Maharashtrian usage the kathpadar saree most often means a Paithani saree, or a Paithani style saree, where the zari work is concentrated in the kath and the padar.
So it is a description of how the saree is built, not a separate weaving tradition. There is no kathpadar town, no kathpadar GI and no distinct kathpadar loom. If someone sells you a kathpadar saree, the useful next question is what it is actually made of. Pure silk, art silk or a blend. That is what decides the price, not the word itself.
The term is still useful. It tells you where to look and what you are paying for. In this family of sarees the body is cloth, and the border and pallu are the craft.
Khan Saree or Khunn (खण)
The Khan saree is the odd one here, because for most of its history it was not a saree at all.
● It is a handwoven cotton silk cloth from Guledgudd, in Badami taluk, Bagalkot district, Karnataka. It is registered there as Guledgudd Khana.
● Traditionally it is blouse and choli material, woven in long continuous lengths rather than cut pieces. A handloom length takes weeks.
● It is covered in small repeating butis, usually in strong contrasting colours.
● It has always been paired with the Ilkal saree from the same area. Ilkal saree, Khan blouse. That pairing is still followed.
● A piece of khan folded into a triangle is offered to Goddess Lakshmi and other female deities in north Karnataka. It is still the fabric offered at the Yellamma temple at Saundatti.
It is worn across north Karnataka and, in Maharashtra, most strongly in Marathwada and Vidarbha. Khan blouses have been standard with the Paithani saree and the Irkal saree for generations. The Khan saree, meaning the full cloth woven up as a saree, is a modern extension of the same fabric, and they have taken off fast.
Irkal Saree or Ilkal Saree
The Irkal saree is spelled Ilkal in Karnataka and almost always written Irkal in Maharashtra. It is the same saree.
The thing that identifies it is the join. The body and the pallu are woven separately and then connected warp to warp with a series of loops. The technique is called tope teni and it is used only at Ilkal. If you can see that join, you are holding an Irkal. Nothing else in this group is built that way.
The rest of the signature.
● Pallu. Red silk with white patterning, in a temple tower style. The classic tope teni seragu layout is three solid red sections with two white sections between them. The end patterns have their own names, including hanige (comb), koti kammli (fort ramparts), rampa (mountain range) and toputenne.
● Border. Red or maroon, roughly two and a half to six inches, in designs called gomi (also called Ilkal dadi), paraspet, gaadi and jari. Paraspet splits further into chikki paras and dodd paras.
● Fabric. A cotton body with a silk or art silk border and pallu. Fully cotton and fully silk versions both exist.
Ilkal town is in Bagalkot district, Karnataka, and the GI is Karnataka's. Maharashtra adopted the saree. It did not make it.
Karvath Kati Saree
The Karvath Kati saree is Vidarbha's own, and the one most often left out of lists like this.
● Karvat (करवत) is Marathi for saw, and kati refers to the border. The Karvath Kati saree is named after its saw toothed border, which is a row of sharp triangular points running the length of the saree.
● It is woven in tussar silk, which gives it a drier and more matte feel than Paithani's mulberry silk.
● It belongs to the Nagpur and Bhandara belt of eastern Maharashtra.
● The Karvath Kati saree is Maharashtra's second registered saree GI, as Karvath Kati Sarees & Fabrics.
If you only know the Paithani saree, this is the one worth seeing next. It looks nothing like it.
The Maharashtrian saree look
Most people searching for the look are not trying to buy a specific weave. They want to know how to put it together. The drape is only half of it.
The six elements.
● The drape. Nauvari for traditional occasions, standard six yard for everything else. A Paithani worn six yard is not less authentic.
● The blouse. A contrast khan blouse with elbow length sleeves is the most recognisably Maharashtrian choice you can make, and it costs very little next to the saree.
● Nath. The large curved nose ring, strung with pearls, usually with a red or pink centre stone and green side stones. It is the single strongest signal in the whole look.
● Chandrakor bindi. The crescent, not the round dot.
● Hirva chuda. Green bangles with gold, worn in odd numbers.
● Hair. A centre part with an ambada bun, and gajra or aboli flowers for a function.
Keeping it modern. Wear the saree six yard, keep the nath and the chandrakor, drop the heavy necklace, and let the border do the work. Two or three of the traditional pieces read as deliberate. All six at once reads as costume.
What suits what.
● Wedding, haldi or Gauri Ganpati. A Paithani saree or a shalu saree, draped nauvari.
● Office or a long day out. A cotton Narayan Peth saree. It is the lightest saree in this list and it holds a pleat.
● A festival that is not a wedding. An Irkal saree, a Karvath Kati saree, or a semi silk Paithani saree.
● Everyday. A Khan saree, or a plain cotton saree with a khan blouse.
What each budget actually buys
Prices move, and anyone quoting exact figures in an article is usually quoting them to sell you something. The bands below are what the market looks like. They are not a price list.
|
Budget |
What is realistic |
|
Under ₹1,500 |
Khan by the metre or as a blouse piece. A cotton Narayan Peth saree. Plain cotton sarees. |
|
₹1,500 to ₹5,000 |
A cotton or cotton silk Narayan Peth saree. A cotton Irkal saree. A semi silk Paithani saree, which means real silk and zari in the border and pallu with art silk in the body. |
|
₹5,000 to ₹10,000 |
A better semi silk Paithani saree. A silk blend Irkal saree. A tussar Karvath Kati saree. A heavier Narayan Peth saree with more zari. |
|
Above ₹10,000 |
Handloom territory. A fully handwoven pure silk Paithani saree with real zari starts here, and the good ones run far higher. |
Two things worth being plain about.
The semi Paithani saree is a legitimate thing, not a con. It means silk and zari where it shows, and art silk in the body. For most occasions it is the sensible buy. It stops being honest only when it is sold at pure silk prices.
A fully handwoven pure silk Paithani saree with real zari does not realistically happen below about ₹10,000. The silk and the zari alone cost more than that. If you are shown one at ₹4,000, something in the description is not true. Most likely the body is art silk, the zari is coated polyester, or the loom was a powerloom.
Caring for them
● The Paithani saree and other silks. Dry clean. Never wring. Store folded with the zari facing inward, and refold along a different line every few months so the creases do not cut the threads.
● The cotton Narayan Peth saree and the cotton Irkal saree. Hand wash, cold, and separately for the first few washes, because the red border will run. Do not machine wash anything with a zari or art silk border, because agitation abrades metallic zari. If a plain cotton one goes in the machine, use a mesh bag and the gentlest cycle.
● The Khan saree. Hand wash. The silk in the weave does not like hot water.
● The Karvath Kati saree, which is tussar. Dry clean. Tussar waterspots.
● All of them. Keep them out of plastic. Use a cotton or muslin wrap and a neem leaf or two. Plastic traps moisture and zari tarnishes.
● Never hang a heavy silk saree on a hanger for long. The weight pulls the weave out of shape at the fold.
Five things people get wrong
Nauvari is a drape, not a weave. It describes nine yards and a back tuck. It says nothing about the fabric.
The Yeola Paithani is not a separate type. Yeola is simply the town where the Paithani saree is woven.
The Narayan Peth saree is not a type of Paithani saree. Different state, different fabric, different loom.
The Irkal saree and the Khan saree are Karnataka crafts. Maharashtra wears them, deeply and for a long time, but the GIs are Karnataka's and both weaving towns are in Bagalkot district.
Pure silk is not a guarantee of anything except fibre. A saree can be 100% genuine silk and still not be a Paithani saree. Silk Mark certifies what the thread is made of. GI registration protects where the name comes from. Neither one tells you the saree is good.
Frequently asked questions
What is a kathpadar saree?
Kathpadar comes from kath (काठ), meaning border, and padar (पदर), meaning pallu. It describes a saree whose design sits in a contrast border and pallu over a plain body, most often a Paithani or a Paithani style saree. It is a description of how the saree is built, not a separate weaving tradition, and it has no GI of its own.
Which saree is famous in Maharashtra?
The Paithani saree. It is the better known of Maharashtra's two registered saree GIs. The other is the Karvath Kati saree, the saw bordered tussar saree from Vidarbha.
Is the Narayan Peth saree from Maharashtra or Telangana?
The tradition is named after Narayanpet town in Telangana, and the GI for Narayanpet Handloom Sarees is registered to Telangana. It is also woven in Solapur, Maharashtra, which is why Maharashtrian families have long considered it theirs. Both are true.
What is the difference between a Narayan Peth saree and a Paithani saree?
A Paithani saree is pure silk with a solid zari border and a woven figurative pallu, and it looks nearly finished on both sides. A Narayan Peth saree is cotton or cotton silk with a checked body, a narrow border of small geometric zari designs, and a plain pallu broken by contrasting bands. They do not resemble each other once you have seen both.
Is Irkal saree from Maharashtra or Karnataka?
Karnataka. Ilkal is a town in Bagalkot district, and Ilkal Sarees are registered there under GI application 76. The Irkal saree is widely worn in Maharashtra, which is why it is often assumed to be Maharashtrian.
What is a khan saree?
Khan (खण), or khunn, is a handwoven cotton silk cloth from Guledgudd in Bagalkot district, Karnataka, registered as Guledgudd Khana. It is traditionally blouse material, worn with Ilkal sarees. Khan sarees, meaning the fabric made up as a full saree, are a recent and popular extension.
What is the tope teni pallu?
Tope teni is the loop technique used at Ilkal to join the body warp to the pallu warp, and the name also covers the pallu it produces. The classic tope teni seragu is three solid red sections with two white sections between them, with temple tower patterning at the end. It is different from kondi, which is Ilkal's three shuttle weft technique.
Is nauvari a type of saree or a way of wearing it?
A way of wearing it. Nauvari means nine yards, and the pleats are tucked at the back rather than left at the front. Any saree of that length can be draped nauvari.
How do I identify an original Paithani?
Turn the pallu over. In a genuine handwoven Paithani the border and body are locked together weft by weft, so the reverse is nearly as clean as the front and carries no floating threads. Then check the zari, because real zari is silver gilt and will not flake. And be suspicious of any fully handwoven pure silk Paithani saree priced under about ₹10,000.
Which Maharashtrian sarees have a GI tag?
Five of the sarees in this guide are GI registered. Paithani Saree & Fabrics (Maharashtra, app. 150), Karvath Kati Sarees & Fabrics (Maharashtra, app. 390), Narayanpet Handloom Sarees (Telangana, app. 214), Ilkal Sarees (Karnataka, app. 76) and Guledgudd Khana (Karnataka, app. 210).
If you want to see these in person, our mill is in Pune and most of what is described here is on the floor. You can also browse Maharashtrian sarees, Paithani and nauvari online.