West Bengal has a rich heritage of handloom weaving, and sarees occupy an important place in this cultural legacy. From an economic standpoint, handlooms come second only to agriculture in providing livelihood to the rural population of the state. Every district has weaving ‘clusters’, which are home to artisan communities, each specializing in specific varieties of handloom weaving.

The map illustrates the key regions of origin of the famous cotton and silk sarees from West Bengal. Here is an overview of the well-known handloom products of each district in the state:

1. Darjeeling: Woollen shawls, coarse cotton sarees
2. Jalpaiguri: Cotton towels (also called ‘gamchha’), coarse cotton sarees
3. Koch Bihar: Tant sarees, fine and coarse cotton sarees
4. Uttar Dinajpur: Tant sarees, fine cotton sarees
5. Dakshin Dinajpur: Tant sarees, fine cotton sarees
6. Maldah: Cotton towels, lungi, coarse cotton sarees
7. Murshidabad: Pure silk sarees, Garad & Korial sarees, silk fabric & shirts, cotton towels, coarse cotton sarees
8. Birbhum: Tussar sarees, Tussar fabric & shirts, Kantha work
9. Bardhaman: Tant & Jamdani sarees, fabric for scarves, stoles & home furnishings, coarse sarees, cotton towels, lungi, dhoti, handspun cotton shirts
10. Nadia: Tant, Jamdani & Muslin sarees, dress materials, fabric for scarves & stoles, coarse cotton sarees, cotton towels & lungi
11. Purulia: Tussar sarees, Tussar fabric & shirts, coarse cotton sarees, cotton towels
12. Bankura: Baluchari & Tussar sarees, silk & Tussar fabric, shirts & scarves, cotton towels, fabrics for home furnishings
13. West Medinipur: Tussar sarees, fine & coarse cotton sarees, cotton shirts & towels
14. East Medinipur: Coarse cotton sarees, cotton shirts, furnishings & towels
15. Hooghly: Tant sarees, fine cotton sarees, dhoti, coarse cotton sarees
16. Howrah: Tant sarees, cotton shirts, dhoti, furnishings & towels, coarse cotton sarees
17. North 24 Parganas: Coarse cotton sarees, cotton towels & lungi
18. South 24 Parganas: Tant sarees, fine & coarse cotton sarees, cotton towels
19. Kolkata: Not a weaving center, but has the largest markets for all handloom products from West Bengal

Note: At Parinita, we offer a rich variety of all these handloom cotton and silk sarees online.

Reference:  “West Bengal Handloom Map”, Retrieved 26 June 2015, from http://www.westbengalhandloom.org/htm/h_map.html