New Delhi, Asharq Al-Awsat – India has always been a source of inspiration for designers in the west with its colors and embroidery and today, it is home to the most expensive sari in the world that was designed and made in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

This sari is laced with various precious metals and stones including 59 grams of gold, diamonds (3 carat), 120 milligrams of platinum, 5 grams of silver, ruby (2 carat), emerald, yellow sapphire, sapphire, cat’s eye, topaz, 2 grams of pearl and 400 milligrams of coral.

Depicted on the sari are replicas of Raja Ravi Verma’s famous works including ‘Lady Musicians’ that features female musicians from various cultural backgrounds. The picture was intricately woven onto the material.

“The use of gold and precious stones not only makes this sari valuable but also unique,” explained Chandran, one of Chennai Silk’s directors.

The sari took 4680 hours to complete by a team of skilled weavers using 7440 Jacquard hooks and 66,794 punch cards.

The sari has entered the Limca Book of Records and is aiming to enter the Guinness Book of Records as the most expensive sari in the world. It has been priced at $100,000 US and is on display in Chennai Silk’s showroom. The sari was unveiled by the popular actor/director Suhasini Mani Ratnam.

In June 2007, Beena Kannan, a designer and managing-director of the Kerala based Seemati textiles designed the world’s longest sari that measured 486 metres. It succeeded at entering the Guinness Book of Records as the longest sari and weighs a staggering 72 kilograms with the embroidery weighing 15 kilograms. Eighty weavers worked around the clock to produce the sari in two months and 18 days.