Aditi Rao Hydari celebrates the revival of the historic Wanaparthy saree, a tribute to her royal lineage

Mumbai, Oct 13 (IANS) Bollywood and South star Aditi Rao Hydari, who hails from the royal family of Wanaparthy in Telangana, has always been extremely proud of her lineage.

The actress recently took to her social media account to share a deeply personal post on the revival of the Wanaparthy saree, a weave that carries both depth and familial legacy. Sharing a series of pictures from an exhibition dedicated to her saree, Aditi wrote, “The revival of the Wanaparthy saree! A saree that has multicultural roots, much like me!”

Elaborating on the culture and heritage, Rao wrote, “My grandfather Raja J Rameshwar Rao worked towards this revival as a young man. He encouraged the weavers and ordered for the family from them. Had old designs sent to them to relearn and recreate.” She added, “His ancestors, the art-loving rulers of Wanaparthy, had brought Pathani weavers to settle in their kingdom, and the saree and weaving then adapted to the region as it evolved.”

She further wrote, “I remember one specific saree that my grandmother, mother and her sisters have, inspired by a famous Ravi Varma painting, the black asharfi saree. And now I realise that I was inspired by that saree too. Firmly locked and sealed in my subconscious mind, and it all emerged when the genius Sabyasachi was creating the half saree for Siddharth and my wedding at the Wanaparthy temple!”

She wrote further, “There is so much to write, and family histories are so interesting; I’ll have to ask my Amma for more! For now I’ll leave you with this exhibition… I’m so proud to bring this to you all. I hope the weavers of Wanaparthy reclaim their rich legacy."

She elaborated on all the pictures she had put up in the carousel post, highlighting the legacy. “ Slides 1, 2, 3, 4 – The exhibition Slide 5: The Raja Ravi verma painting of the lady in the asharfi saree with the striped brocade blouse Slide 6 – @sabyasachiofficial created this half saree for our Wanaparthy temple wedding. Slide 7 – my mother with her mother, my Ammamma, in a Wanaparthy saree (this was a colour picture that I enthusiastically converted to black and white and can’t find the original). You can’t see the saree properly. It’s a classic ivory and kumkum border saree. Slide 8 – Moi wearing a wanaparthy saree in high school The music is a collaboration of my Ammas singing and a French musician….”

She concluded the post by expressing pride in bringing the Wanapathy saree back into the spotlight and wished that its weavers continue to reclaim the legacy. For the uninitiated, Aditi Rao Hydari’s maternal grandfather, J. Rameshwar Rao, was the raja of Wanapathy and a primary nobleman to the royal court of Nizam in Hyderabad. --IANS rd/