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Tags: saree sarees silk cotton tussar silk silk saree wedding style golden zari threads tussar silk sarees

Handwoven Kanchipuram silk sarees are renowned as weaves steeped in tradition, but at RmKV, they’re the basis of our most iconic innovations. So in 1998, with the centenary of Raja Ravi Varma’s oil painting ‘Hamsa Damayanti’ around the corner, we were inspired to capture this sublime portrayal in a silk saree. What followed was a journey threaded together by belief and persistence, perhaps an echo of Damayanti’s own. The legend behind Hamsa Damayanti Raja Ravi Varma’s painting captures a pivotal moment in the story of the protagonist, Damayanti. Her legend is one of the many strands that compose the Mahabharata, and is remembered for its attributes of loyalty, love, conviction and persistence. Damayanti, the princess of the Vidarbha kingdom, was famed for her beauty. Her mother hoped that the princess would be the bride of a god; she sent a swan (hamsa) to Lord Indra, inviting him to seek Damayanti’s hand in marriage. Destiny had other plans. The swan got swept up in a storm and sought refuge in Nishada, the kingdom of Nala, a skilled charioteer and capable ruler. Impressed by how King Nala cared for it, the swan flew back to Damayanti instead of soaring into the clouds to meet Lord Indra. The swan sang Nala’s praises, Damayanti fell in love, and the god to whom she was promised was not pleased. Despite the gods’ many deceits, Damayanti chose to marry Nala and lived happily as his queen in Nishada for years. Yet, the gods did not forget. They tricked Nala into gambling away his kingdom, forcing him and Damayanti into exile in the forest. Guilt-ridden and ashamed, Nala believed that Damayanti was better off without him and abandoned her in the forest. Devastated but undeterred, Damayanti searched for Nala, convinced that they would one day be reunited. She faced every challenge with poise and, 12 years later, they met again. Nala won back his kingdom from his younger brother Pushkara, and all the wiser from their many hardships, King Nala and Queen Damayanti ruled Nishada admirably till the end of their days.