The Ilkal saree is presumed to have originated in Maharashtra during the 8th Century AD. The town is named after the Kannada translation of the word ‘lakallu’, meaning slope. It is a direct reference to its levelled and hilly surroundings. When a community of weavers passed along the western border, they settled in the ancient handloom centre of Ilkal. Due to the abundance of raw material (specifically cotton) in this small town, the weavers’ traditional handicrafts migrated along with them. Weaving these sarees is typically done by female family members and is a skill that is passed on through generations of women. 

These weavers have carried forward their culture, and have made their extraordinary sarees a secondary source of income for Ilkal. Apart from the weavers’ efforts, the growth and rising popularity of the sarees can be indebted to the support and patronage of the local chieftains in and around Bagalkot and Bellary. However, change is inevitable, and today, these handwoven sarees are being produced with a power loom. 

A number of steps need to be completed to produce Ilkal sarees. To begin with the production process, the procured cotton and silk yarns are dyed. Two main methods are used to dye yarns — cold water and hot water dyeing. 

Cold water dyeing starts with separating rolls of yarn and soaking them into a solution of soap to which liquid dye is added later. The yarns are left to absorb the colour and removed after submerging them for at least eight hours or more. Excess water is squeezed out from the yarns, following which they are dried out in the sun. On the other hand, hot water dyeing involves submerging the rolls of yarn in a boiling tank which contains hot water combined with powdered dye. After two hours, the rolls are taken out, squeezed, and soaked in cold water; this procedure is repeated once more before drying the yarns under the sunlight.  

The next step is weaving, which starts according to the requirements of the ultimate design or received order. Dyed cotton or silk yarn is wound onto bobbins which are transferred to the pit loom locally named ‘kuni magga’, in the form of either the warp or weft. In a second step called ‘piecing’, the warp yarn is tightly knotted with a local substance known as ‘minusari’. Handloom weaving requires ‘looping’, or ‘tope teni’, wherein the separately woven pallu and body warp threads are connected. These elements are attached using a series of loops and the saree is created. The sarees are produced in various lengths of six, eight, and nine yards to suit the needs of different women.