Bomkai Sonepuri Cream Cotton Saree Magenta Pink Buti Border

A handwoven Bomkai Sonepuri saree from the western Odisha weaving belt around Subarnapur The cream cotton body is set with rows of small magenta pink extra weft buti tiny floral and figurine motifs that catch light at every fold The contrast border runs in deep magenta with a fine woven pattern band and the pallu carries dense rows of supplementary weft floral and human figure work that finishes in a row of natural cotton tassels Three quick tells that this is real Sonepuri work not a printed look alike turn any buti over and you will see the loose pink weft floats on the back of the cream cotton supplementary weft brocade always leaves this signature while a print is identical on both faces Run a fingertip across a motif the buti sits raised above the body because the weaver has added a separate magenta thread not laid colour on the surface Watch the border under daylight the magenta has tonal depth and slight yarn to yarn variation because the cotton was dyed in hanks before weaving where a powerloom print delivers a flat uniform pink Bomkai weaving lives in a tight cluster of family looms around Sonepur and the craft is GI protected A piece like this is the work of ten to twelve days with most of the time going into the pallu where the weaver picks each figure motif by hand The figure vocabulary is borrowed from the same temple art lineage that produced Pattachitra painting in Puri which is why the dancing forms in the pallu and the small buti share an instantly recognisable Odia visual grammar This drape sits well at sangeets mehendi afternoons Diwali pujas an office Diwali do or any festive occasion where cream with pink reads as both classic and current Style it with the blouse piece in tone or anchor it down with an off white or oxblood blouse Antique gold jhumkas a fresh strand of jasmine in a low bun and the simplest leather kolhapuris will let the weave do the talking