Size: 2 meters * 1.5 meters

Design: Jari Chakri

Use: Pooja Chunari

Chunri has been used auspiciously in many Hindu festivals for multiple Gods and Goddesses. It is a sign of auspiciousness and respect. It also is a sign of blessing and power. Chunari means a cloth, basically red in color, with designer patterns in embroidery, stitching or in print. These designs represent sanctity of different beliefs, customs and cultures. Chunari can be of different colors like Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Pink or Golden. Mostly all these Chunris are fitted with Bakri or Jari laces to enhance there look. They can be netted cloth, Tool cloth, Cotton cloth or normal Bandhani cloth. Chunari is made generally by hands and is a work of art and craft in the field of handicrafts and culture.

Chunari is so auspiciously worshipped due to its importance in the Vedas. Chunari is symbolic representation of a women's self-respect and self-esteem. It represents the dignity of a women. It is used to prevent the womanhood and the assets that make a woman. Chunari is treated with a lot of respect as it is believed that Chunari makes for a great blessing for the devotees of the Goddess. It is a sign of providing adherence to one's respect and one's dignity.

As per Hindu mythology, there is a story in Mahabharata, where the importance of Saree, Pallu, Chunari and the likes has been explained in great detail. It is believed that when The Pandavas and The Kauravas were playing a game of Chausar, a game of riches where betting is made on one's wealth and possession and is played with dices but strategy and tactics play an important role. It is like a game of Poker where a part of the game is dependent on luck and the other part of game is dependent on strategy. The Kauravas were not very good with strategy. The Pandavas were ace strategy makers. They had regrouped to play a friendly game with an intention to equally divide the entire Saurashtra region amongst the 105 brothers (100 from The Kauravas and 5 from the Pandavas). When the Kauravas started to loose, they turned towards their wicked player, Shakuni Mama. He was an expert in ruling dices and changing its outcome. Shakuni Mama rigged the dices and made it roll in favor of the Kauravas with each throw. Each time this happened, he provoked the Pandavas with tough remarks and influenced them to raise their stakes. The issue was that with each raised stake came a double loss and slowly, The Pandavas had lost all their revenue. But by now, they had built a hang of the game and they were in greed to recover all they had lost. They bet their entire kingdom, then their army, and slowly everything they had, all thanks to the rigged dice by Shakuni Mama. At the end, when they had nothing to loose, they were about to give up on the game when Shakuni Mama told them that it was against the rules to keep a priced possession and still leave the game. The Pandavas then were asked to bet their wife, Draupadi, in the game as their final. This was a point when they should have stopped the game and retreat from their stance. But greed took the better of them and they agreed, just so that they can have what they had lost. Little did they know that they were being prey to the vices and Shakuni Mama will again rig the dice big time. They lost Draupadi to the game of Chausar. After this, Duryodhana, the biggest Kaurava brother asked Draupadi to please him in front of everybody. This was utter disrespect to the womanhood and feminist gender. Draupadi denied the same and stated how loyal she was for her husband, The Pandavas. Duryodhana couldn't take no for an answer and he grabbed the Pallu of Draupadi and pulled it towards himself, away from Draupadi, performing an act of Cheerharan (illegally undressing someone of their clothes to diminish their self- respect and self- worth). Draupadi called for Shri Krishna at that point and prayed for help and her safety. Lord Krishna complied and kept adding lengths to the Saree pallu in a manner that it never seemed to end. This made Draupadi safe from loosing her self worth and she was then given a way back to her husbands. This story in Mahabharata then concludes with Lord Krishna saying, "To all those who offer Chunri to Devi and respect the female gender, will have countless blessings of power, confidence, dignity, happiness, success and morality in their lives".

Thus, Chunari holds a very special significance in the lives of females and thus, the auspicious nature and relevance of Chunari should not be underestimated.

This is a handmade chunari from the lands of religion and culture, Varanasi. It is a Jari design work and it is to offer to Goddess Durga and all her forms to seek their blessings. Kindly buy from us to support the handicraft industry workers. The proceeds from the sale of these handicraft products will be taken to improve the standard of living of the makers of these products. Please save the handicraft industry dealing with items of cultural importance and promote an Indian celebration to an Indian festival vibe. Happy Shopping..!!