For brides in Rajkot
Half the home of bandhani, and far enough that most orders run on a video call. Both of those shape how a piece is made for a bride in Saurashtra.
Rajkot is about 300 km from the studio in Vadodara — far enough that most brides in Saurashtra order on a WhatsApp video call, with measurements taken together in about twenty minutes and the finished piece couriered. Bandhani, the tie-resist dye of Kutch and Saurashtra, is one of the five crafts worked by hand in this studio, so a Rajkot bride is often asking for the craft of her own region, cut to her own body.
Bandhani is tied by hand, dot by dot, before it ever meets dye, and Saurashtra is half of where it comes from. A bride in Rajkot has usually grown up with it — in her mother’s wardrobe, in a gharchola, in the dupattas that come out for every wedding in the family.
It is one of the five crafts worked in this studio, alongside zardozi, gota patti, aari, and mirror and thread. So the conversation with a Saurashtra bride tends to start further along than most.
राजकोट और सौराष्ट्र की दुल्हनों के लिए: ब्राइडल लहंगा, पानेतर, घरचोळू और शादी के सभी कपड़े वडोदरा के हमारे स्टूडियो में आपकी नाप पर बनते हैं और हाथ की कढ़ाई से सजाए जाते हैं। ज़्यादातर ऑर्डर विदेश के ऑर्डर की तरह चलते हैं: बातचीत और डिज़ाइन व्हाट्सऐप पर, नाप वीडियो कॉल पर, और तैयार कपड़े कूरियर से।
રાજકોટ અને સૌરાષ્ટ્રની દુલ્હનો માટે: બ્રાઇડલ લહેંગા, પાનેતર, ઘરચોળું અને લગ્નના બધા કપડાં વડોદરાના અમારા સ્ટુડિયોમાં તમારા માપ પ્રમાણે બને છે અને હાથના ભરતકામથી શણગારાય છે. મોટા ભાગના ઓર્ડર વિદેશના ઓર્ડરની જેમ ચાલે છે: વાતચીત અને ડિઝાઇન વૉટ્સએપ પર, માપ વીડિયો કૉલ પર, અને તૈયાર કપડાં કુરિયરથી.
The craft of your region, cut to you
Bandhani is not decoration applied to a finished garment. The cloth is tied into thousands of tiny points, dyed, and opened — which means the pattern and the piece have to be planned together, and a garment built around bandhani is a different design problem from one embroidered after the fact.
For a Gujarati wedding that also means the two saris: the panetar worn for the pheras, white with a red border, given by the bride’s mama; and the gharchola worn after, red and gridded in gold, given by the family she is joining. Both are traditionally bandhani, both are made here, and both can be made new or rebuilt from a mother’s.
Rebuilding an heirloom is some of the work the studio likes best. Send photographs first and we will say honestly what can be kept, what cannot, and what it would become.
Three hundred kilometres, and why it does not matter
Rajkot is a long day by road, so this is not a place where three fittings in person are realistic for most families, and pretending otherwise would waste your time. Almost every Saurashtra order runs the way an overseas one does.
The conversation and the design happen on WhatsApp. Measurements are taken with you on a video call of about twenty minutes — Nirali watches where the tape sits and corrects it as you go, rather than sending a sheet and hoping. Progress photographs come to the same thread as the embroidery grows. The finished piece is couriered, built with seam allowance so a local tailor can make a small adjustment if one is ever needed.
Brides do come, and it is worth the trip to see hand work up close if you can. It simply is not required.
What gets made for Saurashtra families
Bridal lehengas, panetar and gharchola, and the outfits for the rest of the wedding week — for the bride, her sister, the bridesmaids, the mothers and the men. Chaniya cholis for Navratri, which in this part of Gujarat needs no explaining.
Everything is cut to one body and hand-embroidered in the studio on Old Padra Road. Nothing is made in advance, and nothing is made twice.
When to start
A bridal order is four weeks at most start to finish, and six to eight weeks before the wedding is comfortable. Add a little for the courier and plan to the date you want the piece in hand, not the wedding date.
For Navratri, order well before the season — the studio takes a limited number of orders at a time.
From the collections
Every collection
Questions from Rajkot
Do you make bridal lehengas for brides in Rajkot?
Yes. Rajkot is about 300 km from the studio, so most Saurashtra brides order on a WhatsApp video call: the design is settled in messages, measurements are taken together in about twenty minutes, progress photographs come to the same thread, and the finished piece is couriered. Brides do travel in as well, but it is not required.
Can a bridal lehenga really be made without me visiting?
Yes, and it is ordinary for this studio — a good share of the work goes to families in the US, UK, Canada and Australia who are never measured in person. What makes it work is that the measurements are taken with you on a call rather than posted to you as a form, so a badly held tape is caught while it is still in your hand.
Do you work in bandhani?
Yes. Bandhani — the tie-resist dye of Kutch and Saurashtra, tied by hand dot by dot before it is dyed — is one of the five crafts worked in this studio, along with zardozi, gota patti, aari, and mirror and thread work.
Can you make a panetar and gharchola?
Yes, both, made new or rebuilt from your mother’s. Send photographs of an heirloom first and we will tell you honestly what can be kept and what it would become.
Is there a studio in Rajkot?
No. There is one studio and one designer, on Old Padra Road in Vadodara. Saurashtra brides are fitted on a video call and the pieces are couriered.
How long does the courier take to Rajkot?
We do not quote courier times, because they are not ours to promise. What we do instead is plan backwards from the date you need the piece in hand — tell us that date rather than the wedding date, and the schedule is built around it.
Also for
This page speaks for Jamnagar, Junagadh, Morbi, Gondal and Amreli too — the journey and the process are the same. Elsewhere in the state:
Tell us the occasion and the date
From Rajkot that is a message, not a journey. We will tell you plainly what can be made properly in the time, and whether you need to travel at all.