The saree refuses to leave the spotlight. After hitting the headlines because its handloom avatar has enticed both the celebrity and the millennial, it is now at the center of a controversy. A report published in the New York Times, titled, In India, Fashion Has Become a Nationalist Cause, has stirred the hornet's nest because it spoke of the Banarasi saree in the same breath as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindutva agenda. Journalist Barkha Dutt called it "stupid" on Twitter, and crafts activist Laila Tyabji alleged that the article's writer Asgar Qadri conveniently omitted her comment after he realized it wasn't going with his theory. Qadri wrote that Modi's plan to infuse Indian-ness in Indian fashion was executed by the likes of BJP spokesperson and fashion designer Shaina NC, who launched the Banarasi Textiles Revival Movement in 2015 to promote a weave that is "primarily worn by Hindu women".

A report published in the New York Times spoke of the Banarasi saree in the same breath as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindutva agenda. Pic/Getty Images