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New Delhi, Jan. 10 (PTI): Saas-bahu serials from India have led to a craze for saris in Pakistan and traders say the obsession has grown so big that women there have named the saris after the characters in the popular serials.

People visiting India are thus told to get Kumkum, Ramola, Tulsi and Parvati saris, said Arshad Ali Khan, a Karachi trader.

?Till a few years ago, there were not many takers for saris in Pakistan but suddenly you see women all around wearing saris, even at parties and social gatherings,? said Khan.

Benarasi saris are always in demand in Pakistan and are given in weddings and as gifts and people are willing to pay any price for them, he said.

?The trade is still not totally open and most of the time these saris are taken by either small traders or people for their personal use or for giving to relatives,? said Shaukat, another trader.

Saris can become a major item of export to Pakistan and some varieties from there can also be sent to India, if the trade becomes open, he said.

Pakistani saris, said Khan, are a big hit in South Asian countries, the US, the UK and Canada ? wherever Asians live. He noted that ?their USP is the hand work done on them by the tribal women? and said ?it takes from a week to a fortnight to complete a sari?.

Khan said it takes around a fortnight to complete one Benazir sari. These saris are priced between Rs 8000 and Rs 10,000 each and in great demand abroad.

?Hundreds of tribal women in the interiors of Sindh province and artisans in Karachi are involved in the hand work. Though the industry is all in small-scale, it is big business there,? he said.

Experts, keeping in tune with the changing trends, have now started doing designs on computers. The prints are taken and given to the tribal women who do the hand work.

?Our speciality is Kamdani, Jamewar, Badla and shadow work,? he said. ?For the last few years, we have been bringing these saris and showing them at exhibitions. They have been very well received here as they are totally different and exclusive to our artisans,? Khan said.