A silk sari with 32 different motifs of the Chola Empire is on display at the recently inaugurated Co-optex’s international showroom in Egmore.

The sari took nearly three months to create and costs ₹3 lakh. S. Mani is a third generation weaver who learnt the art from his father. He is a member of the Thirubuvanam Silk Handloom Weavers Co-operative (THICO) Silks for the past 31 years.

The sari is resplendent with images that Thanjavur, the seat of Chola empire, is known for.

Three weavers, including Mr. Mani, have woven into the sari images of Raja Raja Chola, the Big Temple gopuram, the Chola flag, bullock carts, dancers, palanquins, a yazhi, the Big Bull (nandi), pillars, among other things.

Mr. Mani procured the ‘zari’ for the sari from Surat. The motifs have been woven using silk threads. The sari weighs 1,800 g. “We were trying to create a sari around the theme of Big Temple and the history surrounding it,” he said, when asked if the hype over the movie Ponniyin Selvan had influenced him to design a sari on the same theme.

Incidentally, Co-optex has also launched a range of silk saris with motifs from the Chola period.

However, unlike Mr. Mani, his two sons are not planning on pursuing weaving.

His eldest son works in Bengaluru, and his brother is pursuing an M.Tech degree in artificial intelligence at a college in Chennai.