The one clothing item that every Indian woman wishes to have in her wardrobe is a silk saree as it symbolises purity, richness and elegance.

Fundamentally, there are four types of natural silks – Mulberry, Tussar, Mugi and Eri. From these, different varieties of silk fabrics are woven which in-turn are used to manufacture beautiful silk sarees.

The Matka silk, commonly known in India as a rough handloom variety of silk, is woven in the towns of Malda and Murshidabad in West Bengal. This particular variety of silk is made from Mulberry silk wherein short silk fibres that are still coated with gum (sericin) are spun by hand. In other types of silk fabrics, gum whose purpose is to hold the cocoon together is cleaned off the fibres before they are woven.

The texture of Matka silk is rough; it vaguely resembles linen though it does have the sheen that silk is so famous for. Depending on the amount of the yarn used to make Matka silk, the material’s thickness can be adjusted and the resultant fabric can be used to make different items. Matka silk can be sown easily and is the perfect raw material to make jackets/coats /furnishings/sarees.

Because Matka silk is easy to work with, a wide variety of embroidery and printing can be done on this fabric. Matka silk sarees are simple yet elegant looking and so are worn at home, to work or during a casual family/friends gathering.