Dense multicoloured floral embroidery in the Parsi tradition, originally Chinese-influenced work on saree grounds. It reads well on both light and dark cloth, which is unusual.

Brocade weaving from Varanasi, characterised by zari figuring and dense pattern. Used loosely in the trade for any border in that vocabulary.

What is the difference between gara and banarasi?

Gara: Dense multicoloured floral embroidery in the Parsi tradition, originally Chinese-influenced work on saree grounds. It reads well on both light and dark cloth, which is unusual. Banarasi: Brocade weaving from Varanasi, characterised by zari figuring and dense pattern. Used loosely in the trade for any border in that vocabulary.

Gara or Banarasi border?

Two saree border traditions: dense Parsi floral embroidery, or Varanasi brocade figured in zari.

Written by Jugal Kachiwala, who runs the retail arm

Last updated 24 August 2026

	Garaalso: Parsi gara	Banarasi
What it is	Dense multicoloured floral embroidery in the Parsi tradition, originally Chinese-influenced work on saree grounds. It reads well on both light and dark cloth, which is unusual.	Brocade weaving from Varanasi, characterised by zari figuring and dense pattern. Used loosely in the trade for any border in that vocabulary.
Designs counted	24by category: Multicolour Parsi Embroidery Border	31by category: Indian Banarasi Saree Borders
From	₹600	₹260
Widths	25–104 mm	30–205 mm
Colours stocked	28Red, Blue, Multicolour, Pink +24	31Green, Red, Black, Blue +27
See them	Parsi embroidery borders	Banarasi saree borders

Every figure is read from the catalogue as this page is built, across all designs carrying the attribute named — not a sample of them, and not the category totals in the menu, which count a shelf rather than a technique. The descriptions are the trade definitions from our glossary.

In short

What is gara?: Dense multicoloured floral embroidery in the Parsi tradition, originally Chinese-influenced work on saree grounds. It reads well on both light and dark cloth, which is unusual.
What is banarasi?: Brocade weaving from Varanasi, characterised by zari figuring and dense pattern. Used loosely in the trade for any border in that vocabulary.
What is the difference between gara and banarasi?: Gara: Dense multicoloured floral embroidery in the Parsi tradition, originally Chinese-influenced work on saree grounds. It reads well on both light and dark cloth, which is unusual. Banarasi: Brocade weaving from Varanasi, characterised by zari figuring and dense pattern. Used loosely in the trade for any border in that vocabulary.

About the author

Jugal Kachiwala

Retail, Lami Trims

Jugal Kachiwala has worked with the output of Lami Trims' looms since 2023, and runs the mill's retail arm. The designs on this site come off the company's own jacquard and embroidery machines in Surat; these guides are the answers the shop gives buyers who write in asking how much to order, how to attach a border, or how to wash what they have bought.

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