Lakshmi Devi
Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu 4.9 (213)Est. 2011
Six yards of silk. A lifetime of devotion.
Lakshmi learned the loom at nine, seated beside her grandmother in a courtyard scented with mulberry. What began as childhood imitation became a calling.
Today she leads a collective of fourteen women, each weaving the temple borders that have defined Kanchipuram for centuries — now reaching homes in Tokyo, Toronto and Dubai.
Kanchipuram silk has been woven since the era of the Pallava kings, its motifs drawn from temple architecture and the natural world.
Women employed
Sarees woven yearly
Years of practice
Patience, by hand.
- 01
Dyeing
Mulberry silk dyed by hand in small batches using colour-fast natural pigments.
- 02
Warping
Threads counted and stretched across the pit loom — often 60 hours of preparation.
- 03
Weaving
The zari border woven separately and interlocked, the signature of a true Kanchipuram.