There is a moment — and if you have ever held a pure Banarasi saree in your hands, you know exactly what we mean — where time stops. Your fingers feel the cool, heavy silk. Your eyes follow the gold zari as it catches the light. And something deep inside you recognises it. Not because you have seen it before. But because it has always existed. In your grandmother's wedding photographs. In the temples of Varanasi. In the stories your mother told you. A Banarasi saree is not fabric. It is memory woven into thread.
Chapter One
Where It All Began
The story of Banaras Kothi does not begin with a website or a Shopify store. It begins in the narrow, winding lanes of Varanasi — the oldest living city on earth — sometime around 1970, when a family business was quietly and faithfully keeping alive one of India's most precious crafts.
In those days, the business had a different name. A different face. But the same soul. Tanmay Agarwal's grandfather and father were deeply embedded in the world of Banarasi sarees — buying from weavers, understanding the craft, carrying it forward. That family name, that old identity, stayed in Tanmay's memory as something worth honouring.
And so, when Tanmay started his own chapter of this story, he chose a name that carried the weight of that legacy: Kothi — a word that speaks of a family home, a place of substance, a seat of tradition. Banaras Kothi was born not just as a brand, but as a tribute.
“Impossible itself says — I am possible. We read that line on a hostel wall once, and never forgot it.”
— Sonal Agarwal, Co-founder
Chapter Two
The Man Who Came Home
Tanmay Agarwal is not your typical entrepreneur. He holds an MBA from Pune. He built a successful international trade business from Mumbai, creating traditional embroidered outfits for the Nigerian fashion market. He was cosmopolitan, ambitious, and by every measure — doing well.
But something kept pulling him back.
Not obligation. Not necessity. But a quiet, insistent call from the looms of Varanasi. From the weaver families his grandfather had worked with. From the craft he had watched, as a boy, being born thread by thread on a handloom. From the knowledge that something irreplaceable was slowly being forgotten — and that he was perhaps the person meant to remember it.
And so Tanmay left Mumbai. He came back to Varanasi. He started over — not from comfort, but from conviction. He opened a small shop in Golghar. He rebuilt relationships with the weaver families his father had known. He began, once again, from scratch — this time with clarity, purpose, and the courage that only comes from knowing exactly who you are and what you stand for.
That courage cost something real. There were years of difficulty, of adjustments, of quietly rebuilding what had been lost. Most people would have stopped. Tanmay did not. He is, above all else, a man who keeps his word — to his family, to his weavers, and to himself.
Today, Banaras Kothi ships authentic handloom sarees to customers across India and to the United States, United Kingdom and beyond. Every single saree is personally overseen by Tanmay — from design conception to weaver selection, from yarn dyeing to final quality check before packaging. He is not just the founder. He is the creative soul, the quality guardian and the keeper of every promise Banaras Kothi makes.
Chapter Three
The Hands That Create
Behind every Banaras Kothi saree are hands you will never see — but whose work you will feel every time you wear it. These are the hands of the weavers of Varanasi. The bunkars. The master craftsmen who have been weaving the same ancient patterns, on the same handlooms, generation after generation.
Tanmay does not simply buy from these weavers. He visits them. He sits with them. He discusses designs, chooses patterns, selects zari. Many of these weaver families worked with his father before him, and with his grandfather before that. Their sons now work with Tanmay — a continuity of trust that spans decades and feels less like a business arrangement and more like family.
New weavers, too, have joined this circle — drawn not just by the work, but by the man himself. Tanmay is known, in the weaving communities of Varanasi, as someone who is fair, who pays the right wages, who values the craft as much as the craftsman.
Chapter Four
Rooted in Varanasi
Banaras Kothi is run by a family that lives and breathes this city. Varanasi is not a backdrop for us — it is home. The ghats, the temples, the morning mist over the Ganga, the sound of looms from narrow lanes — this is the air we grew up breathing, and it is woven into every decision we make about our sarees.
Varanasi moves at its own pace. People here are warm, unhurried, deeply rooted in tradition. And yet the work that emerges from this city — the sarees, the weaves, the intricate zari work — is among the most technically demanding craft in the world. That contrast between the city's calm and its craft's complexity is the soul of a Banarasi saree. And it is the soul of Banaras Kothi.
Our team brings together a deep knowledge of the historical and cultural significance of Banarasi textiles — understanding not just how a saree is made, but why each motif exists, what each technique means, and what story every six yards of silk is quietly telling. This historical understanding shapes everything — from the designs we commission to the stories we tell our customers.
Our Collection
Sarees That Speak
What We Stand For
The Banaras Kothi Promise
Three things. Non-negotiable. Always.
🧵 Pure & Authentic
Every saree is pure handloom, pure silk, woven in Varanasi. No power loom. No synthetics. No imitation sold as real.
💎Best Price, Always
We buy directly from weavers. No middlemen. You get the quality of premium brands at prices that are genuinely fair.
🤝You Get What You Pay For
Every rupee you spend is exactly reflected in what arrives at your door. That is our word. That is our reputation. That is everything.
“We do not sell fake Banarasi sarees in the name of pure ones. Not for any price. Not for any customer. Not ever.”
— Tanmay Agarwal, Founder
The Craft
What makes a Banarasi Saree Real
A genuine Banarasi saree cannot be rushed. Depending on the intricacy of its design — the density of the zari, the number of colours in the Meenakari work, the complexity of the weave — a single saree can take anywhere from two weeks to several months to complete.
At Banaras Kothi, every saree begins with a design — drawn by hand, refined by Tanmay, translated onto graph paper before it ever touches a loom. Then the silk yarn is dyed in the chosen colours. The zari — copper-based tested zari, the authentic standard for pure Banarasi sarees today — is selected. And then, on a handloom, thread by thread, the saree is born.
When it is finished, Tanmay personally inspects it. Every piece. Every time. Before it is folded, wrapped in tissue, placed in a branded box and sent to you — with a care card, a thank-you note, and the quiet pride of everyone whose hands helped create it.
This is not mass production. This is craft. And craft, by its very nature, cannot be faked.
