What is tasar? (various spellings: tassar, tussar)  It's wild tussah from India.  According to my intelligent and very trustworthy silk guy in India, there are TEN types of wild tasar silk worms in India.

Raily tasar (Raily is sometimes misspelled as "relly" or "rally"): this variety is reared deep in the forest in the Bastar tribal region and is totally dependent upon nature.  The tribal people watch over the silk worms, to protect from predators.  When ready to spin cocoon, these silk worms first spin the peduncle (brown silk "stem"). There is just one crop/generation per year.  Raily tasar silk is stronger than daba and a deeper gold.

Both Daba & Raily tasar are "hard" cocoons.  If you compare these cocoons to Bombyx, Chinese Oak Tussah, Eri or Muga cocoons, you will understand how "hard" they are.  This is first time these tasar cocoons have been used to make mawata cakes--a process developed by our India Silk Supplier and exclusively available at Treenway Silks.

As mawata cakes, it can be a challenge to see the difference in color between Daba Tasar & Raily Tasar. I teased out one mawata of each variety--now the difference in color is quite apparent.  See photo (Daba on left, Raily on right).  "Puffing" a single mawata before teasing the fiber helps.

You can feel the "wildness" of this silk compared to bombyx silk mawata hankies.  The tasar silk take a bit more effort to tease out, partially because the remaining seracin makes the tasar silk stiff.  And you may find bits of leaves, pupa, etc., that need to be carefully picked out.

But to get two gorgeous colors of tasar silk to spin and use in your project--worth every bit of effort!

25 grams (0.9oz) package

Color:  natural

Photo 1:  Raily Tasar Mawata Cake with single teased mawata in the front
Photo 2:  Daba Tasar (left) & Raily Tasar (right) single teased mawata.  Daba is lighter; Raily is darker
Photo 3:  Raily Tasar silk moth and eggs on  tall Arjuna Tree.