Handloom saree house · est. 1974

TANT GHAR

তাঁত ঘর

Woven in Shantipur, worn everywhere. Six looms, eleven karigars, and a shuttle that has not stopped since our grandfather strung the first warp.

Scroll: the shuttle lays a pick with every pass Each finished band of cloth carries a page

Loom shed Shantipur, Nadia Showroom Kolkata Warp count 100s cotton Zari half-fine

On the loom · the weaves

Four cloths off four looms

Every weave runs its own thread colour. Press one to hold its weft lit across the band.

In the shed · the weavers

Each saree leaves the shed with the karigar's name on the tag. These three have been with us the longest.

34years at the loom

Phulia, Nadia

Runs loom no. 1. Does the Dhakai borders nobody else will attempt, and refuses to weave after sundown because the count suffers.

21years at the loom

Shantipur, Nadia

Our fastest Jamdani hand. Sets her own buti layouts on graph paper the night before and has never repeated one.

12years at the loom

Ranaghat, Nadia

Warping and sizing for the whole shed. If a saree hangs straight for twenty years, that is his beam, not our weaving.

Off the beam · how a saree is made

The band narrows as the cloth does — from a street full of stretched yarn down to one folded saree.

Stage 1Warping

Yarn is stretched along the lane between two poles, sometimes 200 metres of it, and counted into the exact number of ends the saree needs.

Stage 2Sizing

The stretched warp is brushed with rice starch and dried in the sun so the threads stop fraying against each other on the loom.

Stage 3Drafting

Every single thread is drawn through its own heald eye and reed dent by hand. Four thousand threads, two people, most of a day.

Stage 4Weaving

The pedal lifts alternate warp threads, the shuttle crosses, the reed beats the pick home. Repeat about 40,000 times per saree.

Stage 5Finishing

Cut off the beam, knot the fringe, wash out the starch, check the body against daylight for a dropped pick, fold, tag, done.

After the wash · care & drape

First wash: Cold water, by hand, alone. The starch and a little loose dye will come out; that is normal and it stops after the second wash.
Every wash after: Mild soap, no bleach, no machine, no wringing. Press the water out between two towels.
Drying: Shade, never direct sun. Silk in particular loses its colour in one afternoon on a Kolkata terrace.
Storage: Fold along a different line every few months so the crease does not become a cut. Cotton bag, not plastic.
Drape: Cotton tant holds pleats on its own. For silk, one safety pin at the shoulder and one at the waist is all it needs.
Repairs: Bring it back. A pulled thread or a torn paar is mended at the shed for a small charge, whatever year you bought it.

At the counter · order & visit

14B Hindustan Park, Gariahat
Kolkata 700029, West Bengal
Open 11am–8pm, closed Monday
+91 33 4000 0000

Sutrapara Lane, Shantipur
Nadia 741404, West Bengal
Visits by appointment, weekdays
+91 98300 00000

Handloom Mark registration XXXXX · Silk Mark licence XXXXX · GSTIN XXXXX · Weaver co-operative registration XXXXX