Aari work in Kottar
ஆரி வேலை · கோட்டாறு
The old quarter of Nagercoil, and the most traditional work in the district.
Ask about your designWork is done by hand in Nagercoil and finished pieces are returned to customers in Kottar. Send a photograph of the design on WhatsApp and you will get a straight answer on what it takes and what it costs.
Kottar is the oldest commercial part of Nagercoil, and what is asked for here tends to be the most traditional in the whole district.
Old gold rather than new stone
Customers here ask more often for gold zari, mango borders and temple motifs than for anything trending, and often bring a piece of family jewellery to match the work to. That is a good instinct. Matching the tone of the zari to the gold a bride will actually be wearing is a decision worth making before the design is agreed, not after, and it can only be done with both in front of you.
Heirloom sarees
The other thing Kottar sends is old silk. A mother's or grandmother's saree, kept well, that wants a new blouse worked to match rather than replacing. Old fabric will not always take a heavy design, and forcing one onto it is how a good saree gets ruined - if that is the case you will be told before anything is started.
Being minutes away, bring the saree and the jewellery and it can all be settled in one visit.
How an order works
Nothing here needs a shop visit to begin. Most orders start and finish on WhatsApp.
- 01
Send the design
A photograph on WhatsApp is enough - something you have seen, saved from Instagram, or drawn. Tell us the date you need it by.
- 02
Get a straight answer
What it will take, what it will cost, and whether it can be done in the time you have. If it cannot, you will be told that rather than strung along.
- 03
Measurements or a blouse that fits
Come and be measured, or send an old blouse that fits you well. Bring your own material - most customers do, and it costs less.
- 04
The work itself
The design is traced, the fabric stretched on a frame, and every bead, stone and length of zari worked in by hand. Two to three weeks for bridal work.
- 05
Collected or delivered
Ready to collect in Nagercoil, or sent to you anywhere in Kanyakumari district.
Anything you want to ask
Cost, timings, bringing your own material, how the work gets to you and back - answered plainly.
Send the design and get a straight answer
A photograph of what you have in mind and the date you need it by is enough to quote from.