TRADITIONAL INDIAN TEXTILES

HISTORY OF INDIAN TEXTILES

India has a diverse and rich textile tradition. The origin of Indian textiles can be traced to the Indus
valley civilization as early as 5th millennium BC. The people of that civilization used homespun cotton
for weaving their garments. Excavations at Harappa and Mohenjo Daro, have unearthed household
items like needles made of bone and wooden spindles, suggesting that the people would spin cotton at
home to make yarn and finally garments.

The first literary information about textiles in India is available in the RigVeda, which refers
to weaving. The ancient Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata mention a variety
of fabrics. Information about ancient textiles of India can also be garnered from the various
sculptures belonging to the Mauryan and the Gupta ages as well as from ancient Buddhist
scripts and murals.

India had numerous trade links with the outside world and Indian textiles were popular in
other countries of the ancient world. Alexander the Great in 327 B.C mentions “beautiful
printed cottons” in India. It is believed that the erstwhile Roman emperors paid fabulous
sums for the prized Indian cotton. Indian silk was popular in Rome in the early centuries of
the Christian era. Several fragments of cotton fabrics from Gujarat have been found in the
tombs at Fostat (older areas of Cairo city, the country’s capital). Cotton textiles were also
exported to China during the heydays of the silk route.

Silk fabrics from south India were exported to Indonesia during the 13th century. India also
exported printed cotton fabrics / chintz to Europe and the Asian countries like China, Java
and the Philippines, long before the arrival of the Europeans.

In the 13th century, Indian silk was used as barter for precious commodities from the western
countries. Towards the end of the 17th century, the British East India Company traded in
Indian cotton and silk fabrics which included the famous Dacca (Bengal) muslin besides
substantial quantities of the same fabric made in Bihar and Orissa. The past traditions of the
textile and handlooms is still discernible in the motifs, patterns, designs, and weaving
techniques, employed by the weavers even today.

Surat in Gujarat was one of the oldest centres of trade in cotton textiles. This textile reached
Surat from different parts of India which would be sent back after processing (refining,
dyeing, stain removing etc).

Manufacturing of cotton and silk fabrics was the main industry in Surat, which attracted the
Dutch as well as the English in the 17th century. During the 16th century, there was a vast
market for textiles of Surat in South-East Asia, the Gulf countries and East Africa. During the
Mughal period, products like pagdi (turban/headgear) made with golden thread, cloth for
sashes and veils, were very well-known.

The traditions of textile making and the handlooms have been passed on through generations
of weavers, some of the techniques used have not changed much over the centuries. Almost
every region in India has developed their own patterns and style for a Sari (which is a 1m x
6m of fabric). This series of posts will explore the various traditional textiles such as the Sari
in cotton and silk from various parts of India.
 Gujarat

EMBROIDERY OF GUJARAT:

Region: The embroidery of gujarat is colourful and vibrant practiced by

different communities
of the state. The most popular embroidery styles originate from Kutch and
Kathiawar region of
gujarat.

Technique: The embroidery is done with multi-coloured threads, usually cotton

or silk embroidery
threads. different stitches are used depending on the style of embroidery,
namely chain stitch,
herringbone stitch, satin stitch, interlace stitch, buttonhole stitch and darning
stitch. There is also
use of mirrors that are fixed on the fabric with an embroidery stitch.
Another technique used in Gujarat is appliqué where scraps of fabric
are cut into a form and
stitched onto the base fabric.

Motifs: The motifs used in Gujarati embroidery aremostly taken from floraand
fauna. Some
typical motifs are flowers, creepers, trees, peacocks,
parrots and elephants. Besides flowers
and animals,human figures in different poses like dancing women
and men are also seen in
some styles of gujarati embroidery.

Style of embroidery: There are different embroidery styles carried out by tribal
communities of
gujarat. Some of the styles are as follows:

Mochi Bharat: The embroidery style from Kutch is practiced by the mochis of
shoemakers.
The ari or the hook is used to embroider designs with chain stitch .

Soof Bharat: The embroidery is executed with untwisted silk floss

and geometric patterns are created using the darning stitch.

Abhla Bharat: The embroidery style is defined by the use of

mirror work along with other embroidery stitches to create designs on fabric.
Moti Bharat: The craft is characterized by the use of white and coloured beads
that are connected with thread to develop colourful motifs on a white
background of beads.

Kachcho Bharat: The embroidery uses interlace stitch called sindhi taropa. The
motifs are
mainly geometrical comprising of squares, hexagons and lozenges.

End use: A range of embroidered articles are produced in various regions of

gujarat. Some
Examples are quilts, doorway hangings, pouches, bags, ghagra,choli,
wedding costumes,
animal trappings etc.

BANDHANI :

Bandhani, derived from the word ‘bandha’ which means to tie, are tie-dyed
textiles primarily
From Rajasthan and Gujarat. Tie-dye is a resist dyeing technique in which
pre-determined areas
on the fabric are tied tightly with thread to protect them from the colour,
followed by dyeing and
removal of threads to reveal an interesting pattern on fabric.
The earliest reference to bandhani dates back to 6th-7th century ad at the ajanta
cave paintings
that portray women wearing bodices with resist dyed designs. There is a literary
reference
to bandhani textiles in Harshacharita written by Banabhatta in 7th century ad.
The biography
quotes the wedding of King Harsha’s sister, Rajyashri
and details the tie-dyeing of the bride’s
odhani.
The word ‘chunari’ is a commonly used term that refers to
patterns created by fine tie-dyed dots.
Since the resist dyeing is done on head-cloths, chunari is also the name of the
garment worn by
women in rajasthan
The basic steps of creating a bandhani textile are as follows:

Pre-preparation of fabric: The fabric generally used for tie

and dye is finer variety of
cotton and silk, so that dye can penetrate deep into the layers of tied fabrics. It is
soaked
in water overnight and washed thoroughly to remove the starch in order to
improve its dye
uptake. The fabric is bleached by drying it in the sun.

tracing of design: The fabric is folded into four or more layers for convenience
of tying
as well as to achieve symmetry in design. The design layout is marked on the
folded fabric
with wooden blocks, dipped in washable colours like neel or geru.
tying of fabric: as per the design, the folded fabric is raised with a pointed metal
nail worn
over the finger. A cottonthreadcoated with wax is
wrapped tightly around the raised area
to create a simple fine dot: bundi or bindi, which is the basic
motif of the design.
dyeing of fabric in the lightest colour: after tying, the fabric is dyed in the
lightest colour
first from the selected colourscheme. After dyeing, fabric is
washed, rinsed and dried.
renewal of tying and dyeing in next-darker colour: Parts of the fabric to be
retained
in the lighter colour are covered with tying and then the fabric is dyed in the
next darker
colour. The Process of re-tying and dyeing is continued till the darkest colour in
the scheme
is applied.
Washing: Following the final dyeing, the textile is
washed to remove excess dye and
starched.
opening the ties: The ties of the tie-dyed fabric are kept tied till purchased by a
consumer
in order to differentiate between a bandhani textile and a printed imitation. only
a portion
of the bandhani textile is opened to display the colour scheme to the customer.
To unravel
the ties, the bandhani textile is stretched crosswise to open all ties at the same
time.

BANDHANI OF GUJARAT:
The tie-dye from Gujarat called Bandhani is regarded for its fine
resist dots and intricate designs.
Traditionally the tie-dye is done on silk, cotton and wool. The motifs created by outlining with tiny
dots are animal and human figures, flowers, plants and trees. The products
range varies from
odhanis, saris, shawls to stitched garments like kurta and skirts
The major centres of bandhani in gujarat are Jamnagar, Bhavnagar, rajkot and Porbandar.
 tracing of design: The fabric is folded into four or more layers for convenience of
tying
as well as to achieve symmetry in design. The design layout is marked on the
folded fabric
tying of fabric:blocks,
with wooden as per dipped
the design, the folded
in washable fabriclike
colours is raised
neel orwith a pointed metal
geru.
nail worn
over the finger. A cottonthreadcoated with wax is
wrapped tightly around the raised area
dyeing
to of fabric
create a in the lightest
simple colour:
fine dot: bundithe
after tying, fabric which
or bindi, is dyedisinthe
thebasic
lightest
colourof the design.
motif
first from the selected colourscheme. After dyeing, fabric is
renewal of tying
washed, and dyeing in next-darker
rinsed and dried. colour: Parts of the fabric to be
retained
in the lighter colour are covered with tying and then the fabric is dyed in the next
darker
colour. The Process of re-tying and dyeing is continued till the darkest colour in
Washing: Following the final dyeing, the textile is
the scheme
washed to remove excess dye and
is applied.
starched.
opening the ties: The ties of the tie-dyed fabric are kept tied till purchased by a
consumer
in order to differentiate between a bandhani textile and a printed imitation. only a
portion
of the bandhani textile is opened to display the colour scheme to the customer. To
unravel
the ties, the bandhani textile is stretched crosswise to open all ties at the same
time.