Mysore silk
Variety of mulberry silk produced in the Indian district of Mysore
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Through Silk and Vijayanagara Empire
Karnataka produces 9,000 metric tons of mulberry silk, accounting for nearly 45% of the country's total mulberry silk production. In Karnataka, silk is mainly produced in the Mysore district and is a patent registered product under Karnataka Silk Industries Corporation Limited (KSIC), a government of Karnataka Public Sector Undertaking.
History
After the fall of Vijayanagara Empire the silk industry in Mysore region went into decline, the growth of the silk industry in the Kingdom of Mysore was reinitiated during the reign of Tipu Sultan nearly 1780-1790AC. Later, it was hit by a global depression and had to compete with imported silk and rayon. In the second half of the 20th century, it revived and the Mysore State became the top multivoltine silk producer in India. Mysore silk is also known as mulberry silk because the silk cultivators would generally use mulberry leaves for silkworms to feed over.
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About
Mysore silk is produced by the Karnataka Silk Industries Corporation Limited (KSIC). The factory was founded in 1912 by Sri Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, the Maharaja of Mysore. Initially, the silk fabrics were manufactured & supplied to meet the requirements of the royal family and ornamental fabrics to their armed forces. After India gained independence, the Mysore State Sericulture Dept. took control of the silk weaving factory. In 1980, the factory was handed over to KSIC, a government of Karnataka industry. Today, products include silk sarees, shirts, kurta's, silk dhoti, and neckties. Mysore silk has also received geographical identification.
Process
Mysore Silk factory located in the heart of Mysore is spread across acres of land and is mainly responsible for silk weaving and distribution of silk products. The main source of silk for this factory is from the Ramanagara district in Karnataka which is also the largest market for silk cocoons in Asia. Farmers from various parts of this district market the silk cocoons in this place every day. Silk cocoons are hand picked at this market from KSIC officials, who have expertise in Mysore silk, every day as part of government bidding process and are sent to the raw silk production factory located in T.Narasipura. At this factory, the silk cocoons are boiled to extract threads and converted into thread rolls which are sent to the weaving factory located in Mysore. These threads are used to produce various silk products among which Mysore silk saree is the most popular.
Since the saree zari contains 65% pure silver and 0.65% of gold, it is also one of the most expensive silk saree in India. This has led to production of duplicate Mysore silk saree production and sales by cheating the public in the name of KSIC. To avoid these issues, KSIC has implemented unique id, hologram based design and unique identification barcode woven on each Mysore Silk saree produced in its factory.