The Pasapalli motif takes its name from the ancient Indian board game Pasa, its checkerboard grid a symbol of strategy, balance and togetherness passed down through generations of Sambalpuri weavers.

Woven entirely in the resist-dye tradition of Bandha, each square is pre-dyed on the yarn itself before it ever touches the loom — a process that can take a weaver’s family weeks to plan and execute with precision. No two Pasapalli sarees are ever quite identical, because no two hands tie the threads exactly the same way.

To wear a Pasapalli today is to carry forward a pattern that has outlasted kingdoms, still read as clearly on the loom as it once was on a palace floor.