Maheshwar, a temple town situated 40 kilometres from Mandu in Madhya Pradesh, is renowned for two things. They are the Ahilya Fort, named after its former illustrious queen, and exquisite handloom saris. The borders of these traditional saris are adorned with motifs inspired by the fort’s walls, and a wave pattern paying homage to the Narmada river.

In the 1700s, Queen Ahilyabai Holkar welcomed poets, scholars and artists. She invitated skilled weavers from Surat, Gujarat, and commissioned saris paying tribute to the local architecture. This gave rise to the Maheshwar textile, woven through a painstaking technique; it takes five days to complete a single sari.

The vibrant Maheshwari saris, mostly woven with cotton, have a pallu on both ends for versatility. The sari’s body features light checks, while the pallu has three or five characteristic stripes in two complementary colours.

Weavers traditionally use fixed pit looms, as well as metal looms these days. They also add silk yarns with cotton, with abstract motifs and occasional zari borders. The diverse range of natural dyes come from the palash flower, satalu peach plant and harada, a kind of tropical almond.

In 1978, Richard and Sally Holkar, social entrepreneurs, activists and advocates of handlooms, established the Rehwa Society for Maheshwari weavers.

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