The PPT presentation on the very famous Gara Saree worn by Parsee women of India.

1. The Glory of the Gara
Presentation By :
Prof. Pravin Pavhare
(Fashion Design)

2. (The word Gara (also ghara) actually stems from the Gujarati word for sari. )

3. Parsi Embroidery: A Fading Art
Parsi embroidery is yet another example of how a century-old art
can be so relevant, without putting up with those bleeding
colors.
Parsi embroidery is a unique part of India’s diverse textile
heritage.
This unique artistic tradition has its roots in Iran during the
Bronze Age but with time it has drew influences from European,
Chinese, Persian and Indian culture.
.

5. • A very famous example of Parsi embroidery is the Parsi
embroidery sarees also called as Gara embroidery sarees.
Parsi embroidery sarees have been renowned since last
bygone centuries for its striking beauty and also
demonstrates a cultural Parsi tradition of embroidery and
ethos.
• These saris come in many colors, are offset by delicate
embroidery in pastel shades and pale white and are
testimony to the superior craftsmanship of the Parsi
embroiders.
• Realistically pictorial, lyrically composed, aesthetically
colorful and delicately embellished Parsi Gara embroidery
is an emblem of style and elegance.
Uniqueness

7. These sarees are indeed worth a treasure and take almost 9
months for completion as the embroidery work is crafted on all
the four sides of the saree making it one of the most tedious
and intricate task.
The khaka stitch is so fine that women who do the needlework
start suffering from failing eyesight, which has given it the name
of the forbidden stitch. Mostly the threads used for embroidery
are violet and pink combination.
Parsi sarees are comparatively more costlier but their appeal
and style are so immensely enchanting that it overcomes all the
hurdle of price tag for a avid buyer.

8. History:
Although Parsi embroidery traces its origins to Bronze Age
Persia, the gara itself is not more than 150 years old. Its concepts
and symbolism, which lay in the Zoroastrian psyche coupled with
an innate sense of aesthetics, were translated into embroidery
on sari and apparel by Chinese master embroiderers.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries there was brisk trade
between Parsis of Western India and China. Back then, Chinese
pherias, or craftsmen, travelled with big chests of embroidery
across the seas to Persian lands and sold them to Parsi women.
Some of the Parsi women were also taught the craft by these
pherias, and the women later skilfully interwove the new style
with their own.

9. • The story of the gara, goes back to 633 AD when the Arabs
invaded Iran.
• Parsis were driven out of Persia and they used the sea route
to reach the western coast of India, with the largest group
reaching Sanjan in Gujarat.
• The Hindu king there, Jadi Rana, was willing to give them
refuge in his kingdom, on the condition that the newcomers
adopted the dress and language of the land.
• That is how, initially, the Parsis came to wear the sari and
speak Gujarati.

11. Heirloom
The rich gara embroidery, originally considered a Parsi
family’s heirloom, has become rare, collector’s items
because of the intricate work and beauty.
Since it’s not a machine embroidery one of the most
prized possessions of Parsi families (read women) is their
Gara saree or sarees! Not only are they possessions of
pride and boy, these beautifully embroidered sarees are
often worth more the rest of the entire family wardrobe
put together!

13. Motifs
• Parsi embroidery incorporates motifs that have deep
meanings.
• The reverence of the Parsees towards nature is evident in
their embroidery work.
• The fleeing Parsis brought Persian symbols like the cypress
tree, chakla chakli or contradictory birds, represented with
delicacy. A tree called the divine fungus is used as a symbol of
longevity and immortality.

14. • Lotus and peacock brings the fragrance of the Indian soil in
which Parsi culture blossomed.
• Raj flavour incorporated floral baskets, the Chinese pheria
stitched in vignettes of Chinese court life, beautiful gardens
and flowers such as peony, rose, and chrysanthemum.
• Some or all these motifs fill up a typical gara or jhabla with an
overriding feel of harmony, richness, grandeur and delicacy.

16. EMBROIDERY
• For many it is the exquisite and intricate hand-embroidery
work that makes a gara a gara. The embroidery work is often
so fine that it is often difficult to distinguish which side is right
side up. A gara can contain a woven design in addition to the
embroidered design.
• Embroidery is the surface decoration placed on a fabric by
stitching using needle and thread. Embroidered designs are
therefore different from designs woven into the body of the
fabric itself. One form of weaving in a design creates a self-
patterned or figured fabric cf. Printing a design on to the
fabric is not an option for a gara.

17. Silk, cotton and sometimes gold thread, sometimes in as many as
20 to 30 different colours or shades within a single pattern, are
used in the embroidery.
While some garas only have the borders embroidered, other
'over-the-top' (this authors words) garas called akho-garohave
hand-embroidered work on the entire body of the sari - or at the
least on all the visible portions including the pallav (meaning
leaf) or pallu - the portion or panel that drapes over the
shoulder and chest - and the exposed bottom half of the gara.

19. FABRIC
• In a section above, we introduced the reader to Chinese hand-
woven silk called gaaj and paaj. In addition, we also
understand that a type of silk used for the gara was called
'gajja'. Perhaps 'gaaj' and 'gajja' are synonymous and may
have had some influence on the name gara.
The texture of these silks include crepe, satin and self-
patterned or figured silk . A particular variety of figured
handmade silk made in India is called tanchoi.

21. • “The gara saris are hand embroidered, on a rich, thick silk -
sometimes on chamois silk (a very soft satin than has the look
and feel of chamois) - sometimes, self-patterned silk was
used." [Orthodox satin was made from warp-dominated silk
giving it a glossy surface. Regarding self-patterned silk used
for the body of the sari .
Since the original Chinese fabric was originally woven on
narrow looms, the gara sarees were made up of two separate
pieces stitched together to make the required width. These
saris were referred to as dor-pat or do-patti or two-strip gara
sarees.
• The use of modern artificial silk make the gara look-alikes
more affordable and also easier to clean and maintain.

22. FABRIC COLOUR
Garas come in various solid colours. The original Chinese silks were dyed with
vegetable colours which would run if the fabric were to be washed. Shirinmai
Mistry states, "the colours used would bleed and so washing them was out of the
question - garas were aired after use and in extreme cases dry cleaned only.“
purple is one of the most sought after colours."
Indigo has universally been the 'royal' colour and the shades around it are a good
substitute.
Red has always been acknowledged as the most fugitive of colours and my own
four bordered one has already got some streaks along the waist from too close a
contact with the skin.
One would think that a hundred years ago, the darker shades would be favoured
for natural silk sarees especially because of the inability to wash or otherwise
clean them before the advent of dry-cleaning.

24. Thank You