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The Story of Mysore Silk: From a Caterpillar's Thread to a Royal Saree

The Story of Mysore Silk: From a Caterpillar's Thread to a Royal Saree

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Hold a single silk cocoon in your palm and you are holding a thread close to a kilometre long, spun by a caterpillar in just a few days. Unwind thousands of them, weave them with threads of silver and gold, and you have a Mysore silk saree, one of the most coveted textiles in India.In this episode of Incredible India Travel, we follow the story of Mysore silk across four thousand years. We begin with silk threads hidden inside beads in the Indus Valley cities of Harappa and Chanhudaro, the earliest evidence of silk anywhere outside China. We meet Tipu Sultan, the warrior ruler of Mysore who wrote to his agent in Muscat in 1786 asking for silkworms, and who waited twelve years for a deputation to return from China. We step into 1912, when Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV imported 32 power looms from Switzerland and founded a silk factory in the same year his magnificent palace was completed.Then we travel into the living silk country of Karnataka. We visit the mulberry fields and rearing houses where farming families raise silkworms on bamboo chandrikes. We walk the floor of Ramanagara, widely regarded as Asia's largest cocoon market, where tens of thousands of kilograms of cocoons change hands every day in an electronic auction. Finally we sit beside the weavers who turn raw silk into sarees bordered with zari of 65 percent silver and 0.65 percent gold.This is a story of obsession, patience and craft, and of the families who have kept one thread unbroken for nearly two and a half centuries.What You Will DiscoverWhy silk from the Indus Valley overturned the belief that silk was an exclusively Chinese invention.How a gift of silk, by tradition from a Chinese envoy, set Tipu Sultan on a mission to bring sericulture to Mysore.What the 1786 letter to Muscat reveals about Tipu's determination, and why his China deputation took twelve years.How Jamsetji Tata and a silk farm in Bangalore joined the story at the turn of the twentieth century.Why 1912 matters twice over in Mysore, for the silk factory and for the palace.How a silkworm spins a single filament of up to 1,500 metres, and how reelers turn cocoons into thread.What happens inside a cocoon auction, and why white bivoltine cocoons fetch more than yellow ones.What makes a genuine Mysore silk saree, from its Geographical Indication to its gold and silver zari, and how to spot an imitation.The challenges facing silk farming families today, and how thoughtful travellers can support them.Experience the Story of Mysore SilkFollow the thread from cocoon to saree on our private Mysore Silk Tour from Bangalore. You watch the cocoon auction at Ramanagara, meet a silkworm rearing family and a silk weaving family, walk through the Mysore Silk Weaving Factory, explore the old Mysore bazaar and end at the Mysore Palace, all in one day with a private guide, vehicle and South Indian lunch.https://5sensestours.com/tour/mysore-silk-tour-from-bangalore/Explore more of the old kingdom on our private Mysore tour from Bangalore. https://5sensestours.com/tour/mysore-tour/Journey into the Vijayanagara capital on the Hampi Bewitching Ruins Trail. https://5sensestours.com/tour/bewitching-ruins-trail-hampi-6-days/Discover all our Karnataka tours. https://5sensestours.com/home-karnataka-tours/Read the full storyThe Story of Mysore Silk on the 5 Senses Tours blog. https://5sensestours.com/story-of-mysore-silk/Related stories from KarnatakaThe Udupi cotton weavers of Talipady. https://5sensestours.com/udupi-cotton-weavers-talipady-handloom-karnataka/Chitradurga Fort and the legend of Onake Obavva. https://5sensestours.com/chitradurga-fort-onake-obavva-karnataka-heritage/Shankarapura Mallige, the jasmine that wakes before dawn. https://5sensestours.com/shankarapura-mallige/Incredible India Travel is presented by 5 Senses Tours, a Ministry of Tourism approved cultural tour operator offering private, immersive tours across India. Discover more at https://5sensestours.com
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