Pune Lavani Tamasha Dance Paithani Weaving Deccan Culture

Pune district is the cultural capital of Maharashtra — the seat of the Peshwa court, the city of Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Gopal Krishna Gokhale — and home to the Lavani folk performance tradition where women performers in nine-yard saris (nauvari) perform high-energy songs with suggestive lyrics and intense rhythm at tamasha folk theatre events. The Lavani tradition's most popular form (dholki phat Lavani) is performed at state festivals and has been revived in recent years as an important part of Maharashtra's intangible cultural heritage. Pune's Yeola handloom cluster in Nashik district (adjacent) produces the Paithani sari — a silk sari with gold zari border woven on Nizam-era looms — considered Maharashtra's premier bridal sari.