Bhagalpur Tussar: Wild Silk with a Golden Slub

The story

Tussar is silk with the forest still in it. Unlike mulberry silk, reeled from domesticated worms, tussar comes from wild silkworms that feed on asan, arjun and sal trees across the forests of eastern and central India. Tribal communities in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh — where the fibre is called kosa — have long gathered and reared the cocoons, and Bhagalpur on the Ganga turned that wild thread into a weaving civilisation. Known as India's Silk City, Bhagalpur has traded silk for centuries; its weaving families have passed looms, throwing skills and dye recipes down the generations, and the town's fabric travelled the old trade routes long before it filled modern export catalogues. Tussar itself carries an ancient pedigree — wild silks are among the oldest fibres named in Indian textile tradition. What defines Bhagalpuri tussar is its texture: a natural golden-beige colour, an earthy sheen, and the slubs — small thickenings in the yarn — that mark it as a wild, hand-reeled fibre. Coarser and more breathable than mulberry silk, cooler in summer and warmer in winter, it became the connoisseur's choice for sarees, stoles and furnishing fabric with a quiet, organic character.

How it is made

Tussar cocoons arrive from forest collection centres and are boiled to soften the sericin gum, then reeled — traditionally thigh-reeled by hand in the producing regions — into a yarn that keeps its irregular, slubbed profile. Because the wild fibre is shorter and less uniform than mulberry silk, the yarn carries natural thickenings that become the fabric's signature texture. In Bhagalpur the yarn is degummed, sometimes dyed — though many weavers keep the natural gold — sized, and dressed onto handlooms. Weavers throw the shuttle for plain body yardage and add extra-weft borders and butis for sarees. A saree takes days on the loom; the finished cloth has tussar's dry, crisp hand and honeyed shine.

Buying guide

Run your fingers across the weave: true tussar shows irregular slubs and a dry, crisp hand, with a muted golden sheen rather than mulberry silk's glassy shine. A burn test on a loose thread smells of burnt hair — but the honest shortcut is buying from GI-verified Bhagalpur sources. Beware 'art silk' (viscose) sold as tussar at implausible prices. Stoles and yardage typically start around ₹2,000, with fine handwoven sarees ranging up to ₹60,000.

Care

Dry cleaning is safest, especially for sarees. If you hand-wash plain tussar, use cold water and a drop of gentle shampoo, never wring, and dry flat in shade — wild silk weakens when wet. Iron on low while slightly damp, on the reverse. Store in muslin, away from damp; tussar's crispness returns beautifully with light steaming.

Frequently asked questions