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Handwoven pure silk sarees from Thirubhuvanam · Free shipping on orders above ₹5,000
Thico Silks

Silk History

Colourful golden sarees, they kept on growing, impossible to count; they were without number.

Mahakavi Subramania Bharathiyar

Through the centuries

  1. 5th millennium BC

    The first looms

    Simple frames hold two sets of parallel threads. The heddle and the shuttle follow.

  2. Chola era

    Thirubuvanam weaves silk

    Under the great Chola rulers, the temple town of Thirubuvanam becomes known for silk weaving.

  3. Early 1800s

    The Jacquard loom

    Joseph-Marie Jacquard builds the first loom that weaves patterns automatically.

  4. 1955

    Thico Silks is founded

    Thirubuvanam's weavers form the co-operative society that becomes Tamil Nadu's largest.

  5. 1992

    National Award

    Vanasingaram sarees, woven in gold-gilded silver zari, win the National Award.

From cocoon to saree

  1. Cocoon

    Bombyx mori silkworms, fed on mulberry leaves, spin the finest silk.

  2. Reeling

    Cocoons are softened in hot water and 5–10 filaments are reeled together into one thread.

  3. Dyeing

    The silk takes colour deeply, giving tones rarely seen in other fibres.

  4. Weaving

    On the hand loom, body, korvai border and pallu come together with pure zari.

Silk weaving

Silk is stronger than any other natural fibre and, when dry, compares well with nylon and polyester. Silk garments are light yet warm, absorbent and naturally resistant to creasing. The fibre takes dye exceptionally well, giving rich colours rarely seen in other textiles.

Besides clothing such as sarees, kimonos, suits, dresses, scarves and neckties, silk has been used for bolting cloth, sewing thread, surgical sutures, fishing lines, electrical insulation, bicycle tyres and typewriter ribbons.

Silk

Silk comes from the cocoon of the silkworm, a caterpillar of the genus Bombyx that spins a protective case around itself. The domesticated Bombyx mori, which feeds on mulberry leaves, gives the finest raw silk.

Wild silkworms give tussar (brown to silver-grey), eri (white to reddish) and muga (golden or creamy white) silk. Wild silk is usually thicker and often cannot be unwound from the cocoon.

Looms

The earliest looms, from the 5th millennium BC, were simple frames holding two sets of parallel threads. Two inventions changed weaving: the heddle, which lifts alternate warp threads, and the shuttle, which carries the weft across. A hand loom today works in essentially the same way. In the early 1800s Joseph-Marie Jacquard built the first loom to weave patterns automatically, using punched cards.

The silk process

Unwinding the silk filament from the cocoon is called reeling, and it takes place in a filature. Cocoons are softened in hot water and brushed to find the end of the filament. One cocoon holds about 13,000 feet of filament, but only about a fifth of it becomes continuous silk. Five to ten cocoons are reeled together to get the right thickness; the filaments are crossed so they bond, then wound into hanks. Reeled silk is bundled into "books" and packed into bales for trade.

Silk sarees

Six yards long, the saree is the one garment to which the Indian woman remains bound by tradition. Tamil Nadu's handloom sarees, kaithari, keep that tradition most alive, and our weavers continue to answer every new fashion with imagination, dedication and skill.

Seven motifs of Thirubuvanam

Look closely at a Thico saree and you will find these, woven in pure zari.

  • Mango

    The weavers' favourite, woven in countless variations.

  • Kalasam

    The sacred vessel with mango leaves and coconut, central to Tamil rituals.

  • Temple

    Gopuram borders that celebrate our temple heritage.

  • Rudraksham

    Sacred beads, picked out in gold thread.

  • Diamond

    The bridal jewel, from Tamil wedding tradition.

  • Neli

    A flowing design taken from nature.

  • Kodi visiri

    Creepers and grapevines winding along the border.

Korvai borders

Borders woven in a contrasting solid colour and interlocked with the body, decorated with zari bells (chalangai), peacock eyes, arm jewels (vanki), grapes, creepers and mangoes, often with coloured "meena" thread work.

Colours

Parrot green, coffee brown and golden yellow, and two-tone shades such as peacock-neck (mayilkazhuthu) blue-green, lion red-orange and violet-green mango leaf.

Pallus

The rich end piece is woven separately and joined to the body with "pitni" work, so skilfully that the joint cannot be seen.

Traditional colours

Two-tone colours are woven with a warp of one colour and a weft of another, so the silk shifts as it moves.

Every motif and colour on this page is still woven on our looms in Thirubuvanam.

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