Place · silk-weaving town · India
Dharmavaram
Also known as Dharmavaram
The historic silk-weaving town of Dharmavaram in Anantapur district (now Sri Sathya Sai district), Andhra Pradesh, 90 kilometres from Anantapur city. The town was founded in 1153 CE by Kriyashakti Vodeyar, chieftain of the Vijayanagara-period Araviti dynasty, and takes its name from his wife Dharmamba. The Dharmavaram silk sari — the GI-tagged (2008) handloom tradition with distinctive broad borders, gold zari and interlocked body-pallu technique — remains central to South Indian weddings; about 20,000 weaver families still work the Dharmavaram looms. The 2022 Sri Sathya Sai district formation (carved from Anantapur) made Dharmavaram a sub-district headquarters. Dharmavaram adjoins Puttaparthi (16 km east), the Sri Sathya Sai Baba ashram village.
- Function
- Trade & production
- Patron dynasty
- Vijayanagara · Indian Union
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
- Location
- 14.415, 77.726
Connections (1)
- Site withinAnantapur
Dharmavaram sits within Anantapur district until the 2022 Sri Sathya Sai district carve-out that gave Dharmavaram its own sub-district. The historic 1153 CE silk-weaving town was 90 kilometres from Anantapur city, under Anantapur district administration from 1858 to 2022. The Dharmavaram silk sari (GI 2008) and the adjacent Puttaparthi Sri Sathya Sai ashram (16 km east) together anchor the Sri Sathya Sai district's cultural identity.
Sources
Standard reference; district gazetteer and Wikipedia.
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