The breathtakingly beautiful gara is the traditional attire worn by the Parsi bride and ladies. Gorgeous and in great demand, every lady who wears sarees, will want a gara to be part of their trousseau.

In fact garas are now collector's items, the value of a gara increases with each passing year.

This exquisite art form originated around 300 years ago, when Parsi businessmen sailed to China to set up their trade. This particular delicate embroidery was then a home industry in China. In exchange of opium, spices and other goods, Parsi traders brought home embroidered Chinese robes and other clothes. Fascinated by the intricate work done on these Chinese garments, some enterprising Parsis thought of getting their sarees embroidered in a similar fashion. Embroidered from top to bottom with a single thread by Chinese artisans. And the embroidery was not mere decoration; it told a tale. Amidst the exquisite needlework was a fable narrated with the help of designs to suit Indian tastes. The name garas was derived from the Gujarati word garo meaning to strain. Since the fabric on which the embroidery was very fine so as to allow straining the embroidered silk gauze.

"According to the old Chinese technique, each artisan would specialize in the embroidering of a particular design and it would take approximately eight to nine months to complete one gara. Though the garas were much in demand for almost four to five decades since they were discovered, they were expensive attire that only the rich could afford and hence died a natural death by the middle of the twentieth century.

The original Chinese garas were considered quite bulky to wear since they had embroidery done all over. Several years after the introduction of the gara in India, craftsmen in Surat managed to duplicate the embroidery. There was a marked difference between the embroidery done by the Chinese craftsmen and that done by our local karigars in Surat. An evenness and intricacy found in garas made by the Chinese was absent in the ones made in India.

Since initially only the rich Parsi women were in a position to buy a gara, the colour of the fabric would either be rich violet, purple or red, as these three colours are associated with royalty and aristocracy. A gara could be fully embroidered or have a border with embroidery sprinkled all over or just partially. The earliest garas were embroidered on all four borders, a custom which gradually gave way to two, given the manner in which sarees are draped. The Persian influence made it felt in the fruit, flower, and bird motifs interspersed on a distinctly Chinese background. Each gara has its own story in the form of pictures embroidered across the length of the saree with distinct scenes of Chinese life, shrines, boatmen, river banks, soldiers and cranes. The most common stitches found on a gara are that of the satin and French knot.

"A particular kind of stitch called crewel was found in the earlier garas. This extremely intricate stitch was so minute that it caused blindness among the craftsmen. The English rulers on learning about the effects of this kind of embroidery made them stop producing the crewel stitch. The popular choice of thread is off-white. Pastels were also favored to a large extent and this was due to the European influence. Shading done by different colors of thread to give it a painting like effect was a specialty too,".

Traditionally, the gara was worn over the head, exposing only one ear. This is the reason why many old sets of Parsi jewelry have only one earring. Modern versions of the traditional gara incorporate traditional motifs with Swarovski crystal and touches of gold and silver interweaving. Perhaps due to the extreme care required to maintain and preserve a gara, its popularity declined. Now with the modifications brought about in the design and the reproduction of embroidery similar to that of the Chinese, garas have regained their lost glory and are the most sought after garments among the Parsi elite. These rare pieces of Parsi legacy are now serious collector's items!

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