16th Century Craft
pure silk is essential to making an authentic banarasi sari they can only be made here in the town of varanasi where the craft was born weavers use methods that go back 600 years and even add gold and silver threads to their designs at one point they were so expensive only royals and the wealthiest families could afford them but cheap imitations made with synthetic silk have flooded the market in recent decades forcing many weaving families out of business so how is this centuries-old tradition.
