YEOLA, Aug. 16 -- Shantilal Bhandge tugs ever so slightly at a gold filament, adjusting a bobbin on a hand loom he has worked for 65 years. It's week five and the 85-year-old master weaver has yards to go before he completes his work of art, a sari so exquisite it was called "dev vastra" or "fabric of God" 2,000 years ago, when the shimmering fabric made its way across ancient trade routes, fetching its weight in gold. Now a ripple of nervousness has gripped the 600 master weavers in Yeola in Nashik district as they ponder an existential question: When does a Paithani sari stop being a Paithani sari? The debate centres on a unique fusion drape that has emerged in Yeola, the hub of the Paithani sari, whose origins go back to Paithan, the capital of the Satavahava dynasty, now in modern Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. This hybrid, which blends the signature Paithani border and pallu with techniques drawn from other textile traditions such as Kalamkari, Bandhini and Jamdhani motifs on the body of the drape, is putting traditional weavers at odds with changing market forces. Driven by commercial gains - a fusion Paithani sari can fetch between Rs.1 lakh and Rs.5-6 lakh - the blending of styles is being pushed by retailers in Yeola town. But the weavers are fighting back, hoping that upskilling within the traditional framework will help them avoid conceding ground. Soon, they will be tying up with the Mumbai chapter of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) to adapt the classic Paithani craft to modern tastes. Shrinivas Soni of Soni Paithani, one of Yeola's largest retailers, says the fusion Paithani sari began to take shape five years ago, when customers started showing retailers sari designs on their mobile phones and asking them to recreate them in Paithani style. "We are businessmen first. We must take care of our customers' tastes since we cannot afford to lose business," remarks Soni, asked whether blending textile styles dilutes the classic Paithani craft. The fusion sari is big business, and the trend is gaining momentum. Dilip Khokale of Kapse Paithani, another prominent retailer, says around 500 Paithani saris are sold in Yeola every day. "Around 15% of them feature a fusion of traditional styles from other states, against just 7-8% three years ago," he says. Traditional Paithani saris are hand-woven using mulberry silk, their signature motifs such as narali (coconut), kamal pusha (lotus), tota-maina (parrot), bangadi-mor and amarvel (flower) woven across the drape. Zari, a metallic thread, is used to weave the distinctive, double-sided gold or silver patterns on the borders and the pallu. In contrast, the motifs in Jamdani, which traces its origin to Bengal, are generally floral and geometric, with soft colours. Kalamkari, from Andhra Pradesh, involves painting or block-printing designs onto fabric, while Bandhani from Gujrat and Rajasthan is characterised by patterns of dots, stripes and motifs. To achieve an authentic hybrid, a handful of Yeola's biggest retailers send the drape in one of two forms to weavers in Gujarat, Bengal or Andhra Pradesh, depending on the blend being sought. Either the entire sari with a Paithani border and pallu but without motifs on the body is dispatched to crafts persons elsewhere, or just the Paithani border-cum-pallu is shipped to other states, where weavers stitch it onto a body fashioned in either Kalamkari, Bandhani or Jamdhani style. A traditional Paithani sari, entirely handwoven and taking weeks, even months, to produce, can cost between Rs.15,000 and Rs.10 lakh. In contrast, the fusion drape is priced at a minimum Rs.1 lakh, going up to Rs.5-6 lakh," says Rajesh Bhandge of Bhandge Paithani, another prominent retailer. The traditional Paithani sari is the handiwork of 25,000-odd weavers across Yeola tehsil, the bulk of them based in Yeola town. There are more than 150 retail outlets here and annual sales of the traditional sari is estimated at over Rs.600 crore. Now Yeola's weavers are at a turning point. A "fusion" Paithani is unthinkable to them but they know their designs will have to keep up with changing tastes if they are to hold their ground against hybrid versions of the sari. To that end, the Yeola Weavers' Association is in the process of forging a collaboration with the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) in Mumbai, to bring fresh ideas and designs to Paithani while staying within the craft's traditional framework. Pravin Pahilwan, the association's director, says batches of Yeola weavers would be trained to develop more contemporary and trendy designs while making Paithani saris. "Yeola's traditional Paithani sarees will continue to be popular although newer designs are emerging. The greatest challenge for our weavers is to be extremely creative while designing the product so that they can ensure that customers do not opt for newer designs such as Jamdani," said Pahilwan. "The programme is likely to begin by the end of this year," he said. Assistant professor of textile design at NIFT-Mumbai, Sandip Kidile says the institute has a long association with Yeola's weavers. They would need to focus on several areas, including the latest design trends and colour combinations for motifs, he says. "They should also experiment with different varieties of silk, such as Bhagalpur silk, Tasar silk from Odisha and Eri silk from the North-East, along with the mulberry silk traditionally used to make Paithani sarees. The combination of silk varieties can make the texture and colour of the Paithani sari more attractive," says Kidile. But, changing mindsets won't be easy. "During a training programme in rural Yeola, we realised the weavers were not ready to usher in change. For instance, NIFT trainers had suggested altering the pointed upper portion of the leaf motif into a circular shape to make it more contemporary but they encountered resistance," he says. "Similarly, we suggested that instead of always using bright colours, they try lighter colours such as off-white, shades of grey and light maroon," he said. "Again, some weavers were not prepared to accept this. We had to explain that a woman going to work, for instance, may prefer light colours instead of bright ones." The challenge will be getting the older weavers to move with the times. Dattatray Mungikar, a master weaver, learnt the craft when he was 14. "I have been involved in making Paithani sarees for 55 years and now lead a team of six weavers," he says. A master weaver decides the designs to be woven on the border, pallu and body of the sari. He selects the silk, decides the colour combinations and composition of the zari, sets up the loom and monitors the work of young artisans working under him. For senior crafts persons like Mungikar, giving up any of that can feel less like adaptation and more like giving up control over the craft. But they are trying to adapt. "Those opting for a fusion of Paithani with other designs, such as Jamdani and Kalamkari, are few and far between. Most of our customers still want traditional Paithani products. Our aim is to make them even more exquisite," says Mungikar....