Guide · 7 min read
বাংলাদেশের বুননের অভিধান: জামদানি থেকে পাবনার লুঙ্গি
A glossary of Bangladeshi weaves: Jamdani to Pabna lungi
একটা শাড়ির দোকানে দশটা নাম শোনা যায় আর সবগুলো একরকম শোনায়। এখানে প্রতিটা নাম এক অনুচ্ছেদে — কী জিনিস, কোন জেলার, চেনার উপায় — যাতে দোকানে গিয়ে বা অনলাইনে প্রশ্নটা ঠিকভাবে করা যায়।
Jamdani· জামদানি
Dhaka's figured muslin: fine cotton (or half-silk, or silk) into which the weaver adds each motif by hand with a separate thread while the cloth is on the loom. Woven mainly in Rupganj and Sonargaon, Narayanganj; UNESCO-listed since 2013. Tell it by the cut thread ends on the back and the slight hand-made unevenness of the motifs.
Tangail· টাঙ্গাইল
The everyday handloom saree of Tangail district: soft cotton or half-silk, a plain or lightly figured body, a contrasting border, small butis. Pathrail is the best-known weaving village. Lighter, simpler and quicker to weave than a Jamdani, and the saree most Bangladeshi women wear most days.
Katan· কাতান
Pure silk yarn twisted tight and woven close: a firm, lustrous cloth with body, the usual ground for wedding sarees. Katan is a fabric; a Katan saree may be plain, figured or carry Banarasi brocade.
Banarasi (Benarasi)· বেনারসি
Brocade weaving in the Varanasi tradition — zari figures, a dense pallu, a wide border — woven for generations in the Benarasi Palli of Mirpur, Dhaka, usually on a Katan ground. The Bangladeshi bridal saree. Heavy because of the zari.
Muslin· মসলিন
The legendary ultra-fine cotton of Dhaka, woven from the phuti karpas cotton at thread counts far above anything in ordinary use; the trade died in the nineteenth century and has been revived in a small way since 2014 with cotton grown again for it. A muslin saree today is rare and priced accordingly; most "muslin" on the market is a fine cotton or a synthetic and should be read as a description, not the article.
Monipuri· মনিপুরি
Sarees and shawls woven by the Manipuri community of Sylhet on frame looms: cotton, often in stripes and geometric borders in bright, clear colours, with a firm, crisp hand. Everyday and gift sarees, distinctive and long-lasting.
Rajshahi silk· রাজশাহী সিল্ক
Bangladesh's own silk, reeled and woven in Rajshahi: a soft, matte-lustre pure silk used for plain and printed sarees and for panjabis. Lighter and quieter than Katan; a good everyday silk.
Batik· বাটিক
Not a weave but a dyeing: wax is applied where the dye should not reach, the cloth is dyed, the wax removed. On cotton sarees and lungis it gives soft-edged, veined patterns. Colour settles after a few washes and fades in direct sun.
Pabna lungi· পাবনার লুঙ্গি
Handloom lungis from Pabna and Sirajganj in checks and plain colours with a woven border — softer, cooler and better-looking with age than a mill check, for a little more money. The lungi to buy for the days you wear one most.
Zari· জরি
Metallic thread used for brocade and borders. Tested zari is silver wire gilded with gold on a silk core, rare and priced like the metal; ordinary zari is a coated polyester or copper core, light and inexpensive, which darkens in damp. Ask which; the label should say.
প্রশ্ন · Questions
ঢাকাই আর জামদানি কি আলাদা? · Are Dhakai and Jamdani different?
Dhakai Jamdani is the Jamdani of the Dhaka region — Rupganj, Sonargaon — as opposed to Jamdani-style sarees woven in Tangail. People say Dhakai for short.
মসলিন কি এখনও পাওয়া যায়? · Can you still buy muslin?
In a very small way, from the revival, at prices to match. Most sarees sold as muslin are fine cotton or synthetic and should be judged as that.
মনিপুরি শাড়ি কোথায় বোনা হয়? · Where are Monipuri sarees woven?
In Sylhet, by the Manipuri community, on frame looms — cotton, striped and bordered, bright and crisp.
See the real thing · হাতে নিয়ে দেখুন
Every piece described here is on the shelf at Sha Ali Plaza, Mirpur 10, and on this site at the same price with cash on delivery anywhere in Bangladesh.
More guides · আরও
Written by RAFI SHAREES, Mirpur 10, Dhaka. Published 2026-09-27.