KOLKATA: Three varieties of handloom sarees - tangail, korial and garad from West Bengal have received the GI tag, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday. The tangail sarees are woven in Nadia and Purba Bardhhaman districts, while korial and garad are woven in Murshidabad and Birbhum.
The hugely popular tangail cotton sarees have finer count and are decorated with extra warp designs using coloured yarn.
It is a simplification of the jamdani cotton saree but with minimal designs in the body portion.
The korial sarees are lavish silk ones in either white or cream base and have the characteristic heavy gold and silver embellishments of Benarasi sarees in the border and pallu, which is the ornamental end of the sari normally worn thrown over the shoulder.
Garad silk sarees are characterised by a plain white or off-white body, an unornamental coloured border and a striped pallu and were earlier worn for performing pujas.
With the change in taste, various colours and woven patterns have been introduced.
"Three handloom saree items of West Bengal, namely tangail of Nadia and Purba Bardhaman, and korial and garad of Murshidabad and Birbhum have been registered and recognised as GI products," Banerjee, who is currently recuperating from a minor shoulder injury at home, posted in X.
She congratulated the artisans saying that the achievement was due to their hard work.
"I congratulate the artisans for their skills and achievements. We are proud of them. Our congratulations to them," she posted.
The exquisite baluchari silk saree of West Bengal, famous for depictions of mythological scenes on the pallu and border, was granted geographical indication status in 2011.