Types of Silk
There are 4 commonly known silks:
(1) Mulberry - Brilliant white color silk; silkworms feed on mulberry leaves; used in Kanchipuram, Mysore and Banarasi silk sarees which are famous globally.
(2) Eri- Warm silk; silkworms feed on castor oil plant; used in Assam sarees. Pupae develop into adults and only open ended cocoons are used in silk production, hence known as ahimsa silk
(3) Muga - Golden color silk; known for its glossy and durable texture; used in Assam sarees and mekhala chadors.
(4) Tussar - dull gold color and porous texture; also known as Kosa silk (in sanskrit) silkworms live in wild forests and eat leaves of oak/ juniper plants. Mainly used in Bhagalpur sarees from Bihar, also in west bengal and Odisha.
Ghicha silk is sub category made from the ruptured cocoons not included in the process of reeling in Tussar silk. The cocoons are segregated and separately dealt with by pulling out threads slowly by hand and reeling onto earthen pots. Ghicha silk fabric is coarse,but surprisingly smooth to the touch. Ghicha has the same characteristics of cotton and yet it exuberates the lustrous silk sheen.