SHARJAH, 26 May 2007 — Seematti, a well-known shopping destination in Kerala, displayed the world’s longest pure Kanchipuram silk sari at Sharjah’s Ansar Mall on Wednesday.
The 486.60-meter sari, which incorporates a pictorial mosaic of India ’s rich cultural legacy, weighs 72.58kilo. It took 78 days to finish the sari, which is half a kilometer in length and 4.33 feet wide.
“Eighty artists were involved in the production. The red sari has 51 pallavs depicting India’s cultural and historical heritage. Pictures woven on the pallavs include famous Indian personalities, cultural festivals, architectural landmarks, dance forms, animal and bird pictures, the Kutab Minar, the Taj Mahal, wedding scenes, musical instruments of India, and scenes of Kalaripayattu, etc.,” explained Beena Kannan, Seematti’s visionary CEO and celebrated designer.
“We have been the trendsetters since 1910 and this sari has entered the Guinness Book of World Records and the Limca Book of Records. We have a loyal customer base of four generations across South India,” she added.
“It is a pure handloom Kancheepuram silk sari. We assigned a dedicated team headed by Thiru E. Selvan, who has a wide portfolio in silks spanning designing, weaving and marketing silk saris across India. He was assisted by a team of gifted weavers, skilled designers and craftsmen. The pallav is hand woven on a wooden loom using 410,000 jacquard cards,” explained Beena Kannan, the chief designer and producer of the sari.
“Although we don’t have outlets in the Gulf, a large chunk of our customers are NRIs. We want to honor their support, that’s why we are displaying our longest sari here in Sharjah,” she added.
The show will continue until Wednesday. Fashion personality Reeta will be present at the venue where she will teach different ways of wearing saris. Weaving long saris has become a prestige production among leading textile firms in southern India.
