KNOW YOUR TUSSAR

TUSS
AR

WEST JHARKHA BIHA CHATTISGA ORIS MAHARASHT

o
BENGAL o
ND o
RBhagalp RH SA RA
Murshidabad Bhagaiya o Champa o Gopalpur o Vidharba
o Bishnupur o Kharsawa ur o Raigarh o Nuapatna
o Raghunathpur o Chaibasa o Nawada o Seoni
o Gaya o Bilaspur
o Chandrap
ur
 West Bengal
Regions: Murshidabad,Bishnupur &
Raghunathpur
 Bihar & Jharkhand
Region: Bhagalpur & Nawada in Bihar
Bhagaiya in Jharkhand

• Products: Saree, Yardage, Home Furnishing

etc
• Jharkhand is leading producer of Tussar in the
country which produces 62% of Tussar Silk.
FINDINGS

BHAGALPUR
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION
 HISTORY

Bhagalpur was on the ancient silk route that connected

Famous for Tussar silk - Bhagalpur was considered an
India with countries such as China in the east and
important trade centre in eastern India by the 7th century
Europe in the west and also became one of the most
Chinese travellers Hieun-tsang and Fa-Hien
famous trade centres of the East India Co
 SILK VARIETIES

Mulberry Silk/Cultivated
(Mulberry leaves)
Non-mulberry/
Wild Silk

Desi Tussar OakTussar Eri Muga

(Sal, Arjun, Saja (Oak Leaves) (Castor Leaves) (Som and Sualu Leaves)
leaves)
BHAGALPUR USP - TUSSAR
• Also called Kosa Silk in sanskrit

• Wild silk - local trees: Sal, Arjun & Saja

• Copperish Colour

• Rich Coarse Texture

• Light & Airy

• Convenient for Draping

TUSSAR SILK VARIETY
Balkal/Dant

Jhuri

Khewa

Ghicha

Katya
Balkal/Danti – Spun Yarn prepared Khewa – Yarn reeled from tussar cocoons that are
from the peduncles of the tussar not damaged. Also called Desi Tussar
cocoon

Katiya – Yarn spun from the portions of

tussar cocoons leftover after 60% of
reelable silk Ghicha – Yarn prepared from thigh
reeling of tussar cocoons that are
damaged or left after the moth escapes

Jhuri – Spun yarn prepared from the left

overs of the tussar cocoon
 TUSSAR GRADING
⮚ 1st grade : Reeled Tussar (Khewa)

⮚ 2nd grade: Ketiya

⮚ 3rd grade: Jhuri / Ghicha

⮚ 4th grade: Danti

TRADITIONAL BHAGALPUR SAREES

Plain body & pallu

Plain body &

Striped pallu

Twill Weave
Mostly Natural;
Black, Red,
Yellow
Desi Tussar /
Desi Tussar
 CONTEMPORARY BHAGALPUR SAREES
Block prints, Extra Weft
Designs, Interwoven Designs,
d
Big Borders, Zari

Buti Designs
d

ChineseTussar/
d Desi Tussar

d
Plain Weave

Red, Maroon, Violet,

Firoza, Yellow, Orange, All
d
shades of green and Pink
 YARN VARIETY
Tussar variety that is imported from China. 2 variants – 33 /37 D , 50/70 D
China Tussar

Thickness of tussar in the cocoon varies. The middle portion comprising of 60% of fibre is of
Khewa/ Desi similar thickness. This 60% fibre reeled from 5-6 undamaged tussar cocoons is called Khewa
tussar

Katiya Yarn reeled from remaining 40% of undamaged tussar cocoons

Thigh reeled yarn from 20 pierced tussar cocoons

Ghicha

Mulberry silk reeled from double cocoons; It is rough and irregular

Dupion –Malda & Malda Dupion is light in weight, more fluffy and higher in price by 300/- compared to Bangalore Dupion; So used to
Bangalore make light weighted dupion sarees

Bhagalpur Eri Silk yarn prepared from a mix of reeled mulberry silk and spun mulberry silk
 CONT.
Spun china tussar yarn is called moonga in bhagalpur; Not to be confused with assam muga silk
Moonga

Viscose - Regenerated cellulose fibre is referred to as staple in bhagalpur

Staple

Linen Linen of count 60 s and 80s, 1/2 ply is used in Bhagalpur sarees

Mercerised cotton of 100s count is used in Bhagalpur sarees

Cotton

Noil
Silk yarn spun from the short fibre waste produced during the making of spun silk

Spun yarn prepared from the pierced cocoons /wastage of mulberry silk.
Earlier they used to spun the yarn with the help of a matka and so the name
Matka
 CONT.
- Khewa / Khewa: This combination is extinct today because today’s reelers
have lost the knowledge of reeling fine even yarn out of the tussar cocoons.
Earlier days the yarn so finely reeled that the khewa could be use both as
weft and warp
- The below combinations with khewa in the warp is now made by using an
unusual amount of starch and making the yarn very stiff and even for
weaving. After weaving, a wooden hammer called ‘kundi’ is used to beat the
saree to remove the stiffness and make it soft
- Khewa / Staple
- Khewa / Noil
- Khewa / Ghicha
- Linen / Linen: This combination is now only made in power loom because of
the demand for high production and to reduce the costs.
 COSTING
- Most bhagalpur sarees use tussar and its variants as raw material
- Noil silk, zari are usually used in the extra weft designs
- Each saree costing is different and is based on its composition , design

Cost contributing /Time consuming factors : Design intricacy, Type of Yarn

Raw material per unit (1 kg) cost :

China Tussar – 5200/-
Desi Tussar – 3900/-
Dupion – 3950/-
Ghicha – 2500/-
Staple – 600/-
Cotton – 800/-
Tested Zari – 1800/-
 CONT.
Cost Sheet
Raw
Material(Dyed
a) Yarn)
Yarn Consumption(g) Price/kg Cost
Tussar 100 4000 400
Dupion 300 3950 1185
Ghicha 70 2800 196
M.Cotton 100 800 80
Zari 50 1800 90
b) Finishing 100
c) Labour Cost 500
d) 2551
e) Margin 10-15% 382.65
cost price 2900
 PRODUCTION
Time taken to weave one saree –
Plain: 1.5days
Pallu Design: 2 days
Pallu & Body Design: 3 days

Warp size: 30 sarees

The production per loom for a month is 20 sarees on an average

Time taken for production of replenishment or design development orders is

nearly same