‘An Ode To Tamil Nadu’: FM Nirmala Sitharaman Dons Deep Maroon Kanjeevaram Saree To Present Budget 2026

Contemporary Delhi: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman arrived at the Kartavya Bhawan on Sunday (February 1) before the presentation of the Union Budget 2026-27 within the Lok Sabha within the course of the continuing Budget session of Parliament in a deep maroon Kanjeevaram saree. Sitharaman is made up our minds to recent her file 9th consecutive budget at 11 AM nowadays.

The finance minister was as soon as considered in a deep maroon saree with a sad, contrasting, detailed gold-toned border, also usually referred to as ‘kattam’, draped in a archaic vogue, keeping the purple ‘bahi khata’ or the archaic Indian accounting ledger outside the Ministry of Finance with her crew. She paired it with a golden blouse. This time, her saree perceived to have a fragile sheen, without a extra embellishments other than the brown chequered behold. The Kanjeevaram silk saree hails from Tamil Nadu, hailing the age-venerable weaving legacy of the poll-accelerate suppose. 

In her first Budget presentation in 2019, she wore a purple Mangalagiri silk saree with a gold border, in a symbolic nod to Andhra Pradesh’s weaving heritage. The same 365 days, her approach to lift the budget paperwork in a archaic purple bahi khata as a alternative of a briefcase made her attire on budget day a portion of the broader national dialog.

In 2020, the Finance Minister wore a yellow silk saree with a green border. 

For the length of the subsequent pandemic-hit 365 days 2021, Sitharaman wore a purple and off-white Pochampally Ikat saree from Telangana for her annual budget presentation. 

In 2022, she selected a rust-colored Bomkai saree from Odisha’s Ganjam district, detailed with valuable silver zari work. 

For 2023’s budget presentation, she opted for a purple Ilkal silk saree with a gloomy temple border and gold zari, which had its roots from Karnataka.

For the Period in-between Budget 2024–25, Sitharaman seemed in a blue Tussar silk saree with Kantha embroidery from West Bengal. 

Later in 2024, she wore an off-white Mangalagiri saree with magenta and gold borders.

Closing 365 days, within the course of the 2025 Budget, the finance minister had historical an off-white saree with Madhubani fish embroidery, gifted by Padma Shri awardee Dulari Devi of Bihar.

Over the years, Nirmala Sitharaman’s archaic sarees on the annual budget days, highlighting India’s handloom and rich textile craft, have turn into a custom drawing consideration that goes beyond the numbers to be charted out. What began presumably as a non-public desire for a archaic Indian attire, has now, by the 9th consecutive 365 days of her budget presentation, turn into a symbolic depiction, and more of a cultural assertion that stands out alongside the authorities’s financial agenda.