Tussar Silk

Introduction

Bhagalpur city is famous for its historical importance connected with mythical stories from
Mahabharata and Ramayana. The city is also known for its Tussar silk production which has
the history of over 200 years. Bhagalpur weavers have modified their work as per the demand
and needs of the customers these days. Most of the regions are surrounded with the families
where all the family members are involved in the weaving of silk. India is the main producer
of Tussar silk with Bihar being the main state of its production. Producing Tussar is a rural
art. Traditionally, the women of the tribal and rural areas were trained in weaving Silk out of
cocoons and weaving fabrics out of the threads hence obtained.

The Tussar silk industry makes extensive use of rural and tribal labor. The women who are
absorbed by the industry are trained in the production of Silk. It takes them 3 days to finish a
single 10 meter Tussar silk cloth. For each employed labor, the task is to weave at least 10
Silk sarees in a month. Each Tussar silk saree is sold for Rs. 3000 to Rs 3500. While the rural
women who are involved in making the saree earn between Rs1500 to Rs2500 for a single
saree, the town women get a higher wage for the same job.

Amongst all the types of silk known, tussar distinguishes itself with its unique charm. Its rich
texture and natural gold colour makes it akin to a natural treasure which is passed on as
inheritance popularly by women of the household. Though traditionally worn mostly as
sarees, it can be worn in a number of ways as it looks beautiful in every way. From sarees to
kurtas, and zardozi skirts to stoles, tussar reflects the elegance every woman desires. Tussar
silk is made by the larvae of several species of silk moths. The scientific name of these moths
is AntheraeaPaphia and they are a part of the group known as Emperor Moths or Saturnids.
These moths are embellished by circular markings that look like a mirror. Unlike other silk
worms, they live in the wild forests and do not breed on mulberry, which is the common food
source for most silk worms. Hence, the silk formed out of their oval, single-shelled cocoons
secured the name, ‘wild silk’. When boiled, these extract thin, naturally gold threads.
Tussar Silk, also often referred to as ‘Wild Silk, Tassar Silk, or Tusar Silk is an exquisite
thread obtained from a wide winged moth that is yellowish-brown in colour. The scientific
name of these moths is AntheraeaPaphia and they are a part of the group known as Emperor
Moths or Saturnids. These moths are a true wonder of nature. Their wings are embellished by
circular markings that look like a mirror. Indeed, when you look closely into those circular
markings, you’ll be able to see a reflection of yourself.
Tussar, which is itself a variety of Silk, can be further divided into various subcategories like
Katia, Ghhichha, Thigh reeled and machine reeled. On further permutation and combination
of these varieties two distinct varieties named as TussarGhichha and Mulberry Ghiccha are
obtained.
History of Tussar Silk

Kosa Silk is the Sanskrit name of DesiTussar. Produced mainly in India, Tussar is highly
valued for its natural Gold colors, which it inherits from the AntheriaPaphia, AntheriaMilita,
and AntheriaProylei. As far as the history of the origin of Tussar Silk is concerned, there is
very little data regarding the time of its origin.

However, borrowing from the history of raw silk, it can be said that Tussar silk was a
discovery of the medieval times. Prior to that there wasn’t any trace of Silk being made out of
any other natural or artificial object in place of mulberry fed Silk works.

The cost difference between Tussar silk and other forms of silk arises from the fact that the
former is not fed on mulberry. In fact it is the rearing of the Tussar silk worms that makes
them a cheaper variety. That said, Tussah silk is as illustrious a variety as any other.
A lot more textured than mulberry silk, Tussar silk is used in creation of Tussar silk
sarees and silk suits. Indian attire inspired from traditions and values easily take shape in
Tussah silk. The dull gold texture that it radiates works as a suitable base for embroideries as
well as print motifs that have been inspired by nature. Floral patterns as well as those in the
shape of trees, bells, buds, leaves and leaflets are enough to spark creativity and serves as a
source of inspiration for Tussar silk.

MANUFACTURING PROCESS

The process of tussar weaving has the following steps -

Designing

The master craftsmen select the design that will be ultimately made. The design part does not
consist of complexity rather it consists of variations that can be done in the form of color and
weaving.

Raw material preparation: This is a long process that can also be divided into certain steps:

Figure: Silk worms

 Journey of Silk worms: The silk worms spend their life eating the leaves of Arjuna
trees. Once they become adult their body contains larvae from which silk threads are
yielded. Once they are at a right stage, worms start creating cacoon all over them and
over time this protective shell becomes very hard. Some of the worms are used for the
production of silk while the rest are kept for breeding in order to continue this
process.

Figure: Testing and Reeling of Silk

 Reeling silk: Cocoons are firstly sorted and then the good ones are boiled in water
with some amount of soda for 1/2 to 2 hours in order to get rid of any irritants and
allergies. For 1280 cocoons, 300gms of soda is used. In this process, the vessel is
pressed with a heavy lid, so that the cocoons do not come out. After boiling, the silk
strands are unwounded onto bamboo spools. Workers use their bare thighs to draw
out a single filament of silk from the cocoons. This silk is known as ghicca silk. In
khewa silk, the hands are used to unwind the silk filament.

Figure: Throwing Process

 Throwing: After this process the spools are transferred to skeins. After drying, these
skeins are reeled on bobbins to make a thicker, stronger, and multi threaded yarn.
Around 10 skeins are twisted together. In other words, it is twisting of threads of raw
 silk into a strand which is sufficiently strong for weaving.

 Dyeing: Natural dyes are commonly used for dyeing tussar silk. While the process of
dyeing is similar for all colors, mordants are used differently for specific colors.
Earlier natural dyes were used to give color to the fabric and the color natural colors
were extracted from nature mainly from flowers and leaves. These days chemical
colors have come into place for the dyeing of the fabric. But based on the demand the
artisans prepared the final product deciding upon the order if the consumer wants
Tassar in natural or chemical color.

Preparation of Weaving

In the weaving operation, lengthwise yarns that run from the back to the front of the loom
make the basic structure of the fabric and are called the warp. The crosswise yarn is the
filling, also known as weft. Before weaving the warp and weft yarn needs to be spun to the
required specifications. Then the yarn is wound onto large spools, which are placed on a rack
called a creel. From the creel, the yarn is wound onto the warp beam. This process is known
as spooling.

Weaving process

In the weaving process on the loom, the warp beam is mounted at the back and the warp
yarns are conveyed to a cylinder called the cloth roll, which is at the front of the loom.
Supported on the loom frame between the two cylinders, the warp yarns are ready to be
interlaced by the filling or weft yarns, to produce the woven fabric.

Handloom and Powerloom

Figure: Handloom and Powerloom

Just like all the clusters in Bhahalpur, Tussar is also prepared by handloom and powerloom.
Both the techniques are used and involves the family members of the artisans who contribute
in the making of the product as per their knowledge and skill. These skilled artisans weave
the saris into the loom and also use their creative minds to explore variations onto it.
Bhagalpur contains right atmosphere for Silk worm to have healthy life and therefore, this
results in the excellence and recognition of the craft because of the shine and the quality of
the final product.
Finishing

After the fabric is taken off the loom, it is washed with plain water and spread for drying.
After drying, water is sprinkled with a spray machine. This spraying should be uniform all
over the surface. Then the fabric is folded properly and beaten with a heavy hammer, called
kundi. This beating process sets the weave properly. The fabric is now ready for calendaring.
This is a mechanically produced finish, achieved by pressing the fabric between a series of
two or more rollers to smoothen it and produce a wrinkle free effect.

PRODUCT CATEGORIES

Both home furnishings and dress

material are made from Tussar fabric.
Under home furnishings, products are
cushion covers, pillow covers, curtains,
etc. For apparel, the products are
scarves, shawls, saris, dupattas, and
dress material. The products made from
Tussar are shipped all over the country
both online and offline. A team from
amazon has involved these tussar artisans from Bhagalpur who can promote and sell the
products to (Association, 2018) the customers at their platform. The core product of Tussar is
saris, selling the most both online and offline. Celebrating excellence in craftsmanship and
weaves done in very fine silk, these Tussar saris are rich and vibrant making every occasion
graceful.
Case Study: Shri Parmeshwar Kumar Ji (Handloom Weaver)

Bhagalpur is famous across the country and even abroad

for its magnificent Tussar silk handloom products, artisans
have got this unique skill of weaving from their ancestors
and as a legacy this practice has been carried through
generations.
One such great artisan from Champanagar, Bhagalpur is 37
years old Shri Parmeshwar Kumar Das Ji. Parmeshwar Ji is
the eldest son of his family of 5 members, his wife, sister,
brother and the head of the family Shri Ambrish Das Ji.
Like other artisans of the area he has learned this art from
his father as a part of the traditional business and his entire
family is engaged into the same.
Shri Ambrish Das Ji, 56, started this work year ago with
Handloom and gradually introduced the use of chemical
Dyes which was then trending owing to the increasing demand of handloom products in the
area which he learnt from his visit to Kolkata. Parmeshwar Ji says that ‘I don’t remember
when I completely started practicing this art, but from childhood I have seen bauji doing the
same and hence it became part of my life’. After he took the complete charge of running the
business as being the eldest child of the family, he has added values to the same by adopting
various technologies like use of power looms, also he has expanded the horizons of business
by stepping into the world of E-commerce where he is a registered as seller on Amazon India
under the label ‘PK Handlooms’.
He currently has in his home two Handlooms and three Power looms operated by all five
members of the family, handlooms are specially used for creating unique and well known
‘Bhagalpuri Tussar Silk Sarees’ and the power loom is used to manufacture dress materials
fabrics and Dupattas. In a month he supplies approx 1500 sarees to the local markets of
Bhagalpur and produces more if receives personal order directly from any customer. On an
average the family income per month ranges between 6000-7000 Rs. this can increase as per
the orders.
‘Timely fulfilment of all the orders is a challenge for us and that becomes the major problem
if orders are not fulfilled’ said Parmeshwar Ji, discussing about his supply chain. He
effectively handles this entire chain and ensures that his products reach to his customers at
different platforms across different cities. He works on two models of business where he has
as his clients both direct customers and retailers across the country who sells his products. He
doesn’t has a retail shop of his own but takes orders from the retailers in local market, once
he get the order he procures the raw materials like tussar yarn and silk from the local market,
his family and other two weavers under his guidance manufactures the required product and
supplies it back to the local market retailers, this is the main source of his income throughout
the year. Apart from this he takes orders from customers through calls who directly contact
him or visits him in Bhagalpur, Amazon is another platform where he has been registered and
manufactures when an individual order of any customer reaches to him.
Training is an important aspect which can enhance the artisan’s skill and Parmeshwar Ji
knows this well, he has undertaken training in handlooms in the year 2008-2009, held in
Bhagalpur for 180 days, also he has taken a 15 days training session on uses of dyes on fabric
in 2015-2017 under his Champanagar, Nathnagar cluster and he also enthusiastically attends
workshops and training programs like the Artisan Awareness Workshops organized by the
National Institute of Fashion Technology, Patna in November,2019. He also gave training to
budding weavers of his area under the institution Weaver’s Service Centre in the year 2018.

Parmeshwar Ji and his family members has been working hard to meet the changing market
trends and ensures that the products made by them reaches masses and hence they actively
put stalls in famous handicraft melas and haats of India like Delhi IN Haat, Surajkund Mela,
Haryana; Kaushali Mela, Bhubaneswar; Shilparamam Hyderabad and Taj Mahotsav Agra.
Apart from this he takes part in craft bazaar and exhibitions in National institutes like NIFT
registrations for which are done from the Weavers Service Centre (WSC) in his region.
“I once went to Chander, Madhya Pradesh to meet the artisans and know about their way of
making famous Chanderi silk sarees, we had a discussion on how the problem of cuts in
paper silk can be solved and I suggested them to do some changes in the yarn to increase the
strength of the fabric, I also met few retailers there for business purpose” says Parmeshwar Ji,
this shows that he always had a dedication for the craft he practices not only he likes to meet
new people ,search for new opportunities to learn but also believes in the concept of market
research to give the customers something of their taste and preferences.

He is completely aware of the government schemes and is a registered and certified weaver
under ‘India Handloom’ brand by ministry of textiles, government of India. He has applied in
the ministry to get the brand tags with his name and id number and the mark of 100% silk
which when will be attached with the products he makes, will add value of quality and
authenticity to the same.
Parmeshwar Ji and artisans like him set examples of keen learning and growth while doing
the business in the competitive market, he never took his craft as merely a family business
which he needs to carry for earning livelihood, he and his family members adopted latest
developments in technology like use of smart phones and internet and always looks for
opportunities to expand and add values to the business.
To promote and uplift this traditional heritage which he got in the form of Handloom silk
craft, he stepped into exports with the help of large retailers of Bhagalpur, Delhi and Mumbai
and wishes to focus more on it and he has his upcoming future plan to settle his own retail
shop in Bhagalpur in coming 1-2 years.
Case Study: Gulam Kadir Ji (Handloom Weaver)
NAME: GULAM KADIR
EDUCATION: - Only till madarsa
PRODUCT: - Home furnishing, saree and shirt
INCOME: - 4000/- per month
FAMILY MEMBERS: - Wife, 2 boys and 1 girl

Bhagalpur is a city of historical importance on the southern

banks of the river Ganges in the Indian state of Bihar. It is the
3rd largest city of Bihar and also the headquarters of
Bhagalpur district and Bhagalpur division. Known as Silk
City. Bhagalpur, the “Silk City “of Bihar, is famous for its
sericulture, manufacture of silk yarn, and Weaving of Tussar
silk.

Hussainabad is one of the areas that constitute the city of Bhagalpur. It is located at the
longitude of 86.962869 and latitude of 25.217474. It is one of the handloom cluster of
Bhagalpur . The total distance between Hussainabad and Bhagalpur is 3 KM (ki-lometers)
and 391.28 meters. The mile based measurement distance is 2.1 miles. Hussainabad is located
nearly south side to Bhagalpur.

The criteria for selection of case studies was made such that areas with dominant weaver
population could be analyzed, area where there is more demand for government interventions
for finding the reason why the demand for original tussar silk has reduces.

GULAM KADIR was born in a weavers’ community in Bhagalpur village, hussainabad

District of BIHAR State, India. His mother and father, used to work hard for the family.
They even helped there family in weaving. These weavers mainly weave tussar silk sarees.
This process involves moving hand across a panel for about 9000 times to make one saree .
On a typical day in the process of weaving, Gulam kadir father used to perform this for two
sarees and that involved heavy physical effort. By the end of the day, he experienced
unrelenting backache and severe pain in his hand. Seeing this, Gulam kadir at a very tender
age became determined to relive his father’ implacable pain. Observing the root cause of the
pain to be the weaving process, he himself indulge in this process and thought to take further
this work After working hard, carrying out lot of experimentation, he took over all business
and started doing this work by all himself and after understanding the value and importance
of this craft he totally devoted himself only for this work and slowly he started educating his
children’s about the importance of their family traditional work and now his whole family
which include his wife and three children’s all were indulge in his family work but beside all
this he also give importance to the education of their children’s and all three of them were
studying well, one is in matriculation and other two are in class 4 and class 1.

He started working at the age of 15 years and he puts a lot of efforts in his weaving work and
every this was going well but after some year problems started to begin as the price of silk
started increasing which gave a rise to the demand of fancy yarn. People started demanding
more of this fancy yarn and cotton mix and they don’t have any idea of working on this and
their difficulties were started increasing and most of the weavers started working on the fancy
yarns which reduces the demand for the silk in India. As according to Gulam kadir most of
the order which they receive was mainly from the foreign countries, buyer get the orders
from the foreign countries and those buyers give order to the local suppliers and then this
suppliers contact with the weavers and this is how they got the order and after having huge
amount of production only with this fancy yarns this reduces the demand of Tussar silk from
the foreign countries. This directly impacted the local weavers like Gulam Kadir who mere
mainly dependent on this orders which they get from the foreign countries.

Marketing strategies suggested to the handloom weavers from Bhagalpur:

Marketing plays a significant role in building the brand’s image in the mind of the customers;
it also helps in brand’s positioning. Companies pay special attention to this area because no
matter how great the product is, the target customers must know about its presence in the
market and only through proper marketing campaigns can a company communicate its values
in terms of products and services to the customer.
Handicraft is an area which is well known for its quality, magnificent deigns and great efforts
and dedication of artisans involved in creating those handmade products which are luxury in
their own way. During the discussions with the weavers of Bhagalpur who are experts in their
areas of handlooms, it was observed that the products needs to be marketed well and they
need to focus on this area more to sustain in the competitive market for the long run.
Following marketing strategies were suggested to them.
 Brand name/logo/label: While explaining them the value of the brand name, it was
suggested that they have great product of great quality but the customer cannot recognise it as
the brand name or logo is missing, in the market where everybody is engaged in the same
craft it is necessary to stand out with a brand logo and label so the customers can identify
who has made this product and can contact them in future for placing order.

 Build a story: Customer engagement is necessary when they interact with the product
and the artisan, they should have a reason to buy even if they don’t know much about the
product and its specialties, this is an important aspect that artisan must have to communicate
a story which gives customer an idea about the history of the product, why is it famous and
what all efforts are made to manufacture it. This story if is ready with the artisan they can
verbally share it or can get it written in a printed form which can be kept with the product.

 Visiting card/ pamphlet: Artisans were guided to make their own visiting cards, which
they can give to customers or people they meet or they were suggested to make a printed
Pamphlet where on the one side of it they can tell their craft story, about the product and its
significance and on the other side of it they can add their address and contact details and the
products and services they provide with some images. This will be kept with the product
inside the packaging.

 Packaging: Another important aspect artisans were guided with was that the
packaging of the products should be as good as their product is, as observed they were giving
their products to the customers wrapped in a newspaper, or directly in hand which doesn’t
suit the grace and glory of the handicraft product. Hence they were suggested that make the
packaging of the product worth the product itself, it will add value to the product, will keep it
safe and customer will feel good after receiving the product. A simple brown paper
packaging, with a tussar thread knot in between and the logo sticker in pink can immediately
enhance the aesthetic value and customer can carry it or gift it like the same.

 Social media marketing: Both the artisans are aware and well informed about the use
of smart phones and internet, hence they were suggested that today if they want to increase
their customer base and want that their products should reach masses then social media is a
tool of great use which not only connects them with many people but also communicates the
details of the products by which customer can order them sitting at any place across the city.
Both the artisans are active on whatsapp and share the images of their products to customers
and known persons through the same. In addition to this they were guided to create their
social media accounts on Instagram and Facebook. One of the artisans who already have
account on Instagram was explained as how to post pictures with good content by
demonstrating him with the same and how the content should be written along with the
pictures.

 Customer feedback : In the craft sector there are handful of people who truly
appreciates the craft and are ready to pay for the product understanding the importance of
hand weaving and hard work required behind it so the artisans must retain those customers
and should constantly ask for their feedbacks, reviews, communicate them with new
developments in the product and provide them with options to purchase in future, this can be
done through creating whatsapp groups of customers from a common platform, like they can
create a group named NIFT and can add all the people they know from NIFT in the same
group. This will be an easy way to connect with many at a same time.

 Digital methods of Payment : While purchasing the product from the artisan it was
observed that they do not use digital methods of payment, they have bank accounts but not
the quick payment apps like Google pay , Paytm, SBI yono etc which will create ease for the
customers to easily pay and they can shop as much they wish without thinking about the
paper currency they have in their pockets as these products are costly and customers usually
don’t carry this much of amount with them, hence the artisans were guided to use these
methods to help customers and also increase their sales.

Works Cited
Association, A. I. (2018, 06). Tussar weaving of Bihar. Retrieved from craftmark:
http://www.craftmark.org/sites/default/files/Tussar%20Weaving%20.pdf