Handcrafted Textiles of

India
Made by
Ritwik Trivedi

Dhotis
Dhotis are produced
on handlooms in
different widths and
lengths, and using
different counts of
cotton yarns in wrap
and weft.
In Northern India,
these sashes are
almost always made
of wool and are of
different degrees of
fineness.

Floor Covering
The woolen pile carpet,
began in India in the
16th century. Though its
origin may have been
Persian, once the Indian
weavers picked up the
craft, they made it their
own.
A definite feature of the
Indian carpet is its
specified border that is,
framing the borderline
with different patterns to
match similar patterns
to have a symmetry and
balance in the middle of

Furnishings and made up

One of the principal items
of
items
household textiles is bedlinen,
comprising of bedsheets,
bedcovers, pillowcases, duvets
and other quilt coverings. The
other important item of
household textiles is table linen
including tablecloth, table
covers, napkins, place mats, etc.
Furnishing fabrics include heavy
figured and jacquard fabrics used
for drapery and upholstery
purposes and are mainly woven
on flyshuttle frame looms. The
tapestry construction is used for
hangings, sofa, rugs,
upholsteriesy, table covers etc.

Furnishings and made up

items

The famous Himroo cloth now produced

in Warangal (AP) and in Hyderabad, falls
in the category of brocade weaving.
Another characteristic furnishing fabric is
mushru cloth in satin weave, with silk
or rayon warp and cotton weft, having
brightly coloured stripes and geometric
designs.

Lungis
Lungi is a traditional
handloom item exported
mainly to markets like
Singapore, Malaysia and
Middle East Countries.
Lungis and other similar
varieties like kailis,
sarongs, and comboys
are generally woven in 4
yards long pieces,
which are joined to make
a length of 18 yards.

Lungis
The principal handloom production
centers for lungi production are
Bhuvangiri, Naduveerapatti,
Kurinchipadi, kadayanallur,
Anakaputher, Gudiyatham in Tamil
Nadu and Ammavari kuppam,
Yemminaganur, Visakapatnam
Vizianagaram, Nedunur in Andhra
Pradesh and few handloom centres
in Uttar Pradesh.

Saris
The birth of the art of weaving was first in India. In
ancient times the Indian fabrics were famous all over
the world.
The cloth was studded with pearls and jewels raising
the value of these fabrics to million pieces of silver.
For many centuries it has been the custom for Hindu
women to wear saris with border and pallavs on
auspicious occasions. The border and pallav have
been specific and main attraction of saris.

Balarampuram saris

Balarampuram (Kerala) saris are generally

done in 100s X 100s in kora white with
elaborate gold and heavy denting in the
borders. Nowadays these saris have
introduced colour in the body with zari
borders, plain grounds with coloured border
and the use of silver. The principal type of
hand-woven fabric produced in Kerala is

Banaras Brocade Saris

Banaras brocades are said to be the finest in India. The brocades are most
gorgeous and highly ornamental of all Indian textiles. The designs are
produced by warp and weft threads of different colours and materials,
suitably woven. The most famous in legend and the history are the Kinkhabs
- woven flowers, veritable cloths of gold. The gold wire was lavishly used in
the ancient days to work out delicate patterns or the Kinkhabs which used to
be manufactured mainly in Banaras. The design looks different in the front
and back of the material. The designs and colours used are varied. Banaras
brocade saris were once famous for Shikargarh brocades, which were
considered to be master-pieces of weaver's art. The most traditional patterns
are beldar.
In early days gold and silver was drawn into extremely fine wire which was
used both for warp and weft and woven into fabric. After the gold is beaten
out to the needed length and size, it is passed through eye holes of ever
decreasing size till it becomes as fine as a cotton thread and then woven on
a handloom.
Though Banaras is the chief centre of brocades, this art spread to other

Dhacai Saris
The fabric is generally grey cotton
embellished with bluish back
designs and sometimes in
brilliantly coloured cottons or gold
and silver threads when the fabric
is intended for a sari, ends may
have large bold motifs in the
corners mostly variations of
corner patterns.
The field of sari will have small
sprays of flowers either all over or
arranged in a diagonal patterns.
In the scattered patterns the sari
is called Butidar but fercha if
the sprays from a regular net
work, the Jamdani is known as

Ikat Orissa Saris

The remarkable Ikat technique, a
precision handwork, is a thriving
handloom manufacture operation
in Orrisa. The Bjulia Mehar,
Gaudia patra and Asani patra
weavers of Orrisa are known for
single and double Ikat technique
both in cotton and silk. One of the
most popular motifs used in the
fabrics of Naupatna area is the
elephant (Gaja). Orrisa Ikats are
very popular all over India and
outside. They are used as saris
bedcovers, bolsters and cushion
covers, table cloths and mats,
napkins, scarves, stoles, door and
window screens, skirt materials

Kanjeewaram Saris
Kanjeewaram saris are always
woven with full bright colours and
shot effects with an effective
display of zari thread in borders
and pallavs, and are nowadays
very popular throughout India. A
special feature of this
Kanjeewaram sari is the contrast
pallav. The expression
kanjjeewaram saris indicates a
particulars level of excellence in
the pattern texture and colour of
saris.

Patola Saris
Patolas from Gujarat considered to be one of the most amazingly beautiful
saris that have been produced anywhere in the world. It was this cloth which
was taken by Indian merchants of Java and Bali in the middle where it was
honoured as a special bridal garment on account of its exquisite floral
designs and beauty. Patola is seen in its best in the silk wedding sari of the
women of Kathiawad. The fabric is woven with warp and weft that have been
separately dyed by a special colouring process known as "Bandhana" or knot
tying and dyeing. After silk warp has been dyed in the lightest colour, the dye
keeping in mind the designs to be produced, draws across it some lines in
pencil at measured distances.
The marked spaces are tied tightly with waxed cotton thread through which
the dye does not penetrate. The design is already pre-planned and
accordingly the design is further dyed with the second colour. This process is
repeated and continued till the darkest shade is reached.
The weft is also treated in the same manner. Then the threads are stretched
and arranged on the loom by the weaver and woven into artistic patterns of
elephants, peacock, parrots, flowering shrubs in red, white or yellow on a

Santipur Saris
Assam is famous for silk and is noted for silk
sari production. Santipur, Rajbalkat,
Autpur, Vishnipur and Tangoil are important
handloom sari production
centres in West Bengal. Santipur saris are
mostly of above 80s cotton count and are
with coloured strips, checks or spots on a grey
or white (bleached) background.
Sometimes a coloured weft is also used with a
grey warp. Silk yarn and gold and silver
threads are used for dobby and jacquard
borders in the finer types of saris.
The borders extend from 2" to 6" in width.

Tangail Saris
Tangail saris are usually
made from cotton yarns of
80s to 120s count and in the
olden days even up to 200s.
The borders are about 3 to
4 in width, for which
artificial silk and gold and
silver laces are used. Saris
with coloured wrap and
coloured weft are not
uncommon.

Baluchari Saris
Baluchar is a silk weaving centre
in Murshidabad, West Bengal.
Baluchar was famous for its silk
brocade saris. The designs in the
pallav are outstanding. Motifs
include Indian courtiers and
European officials of the 17th and
18th centuries shown smoking
hookah, riding on horse back etc.
These saris are woven in Charka
silk. No gold is use. The colours
are deep maroon, madder purple
and turmeric yellow.

Chanderi Saris
In these saris gold ornaments enamelled in soft muted tones are
woven into the pallav, border, and body of the sari. The designs forms
are linear and bear close resemblance to the marble jewel inlay work
found in Mughul architecture and artefacts. This chanderi has for long
been the reputed production centre of superfine saris, whose border,
pallav and traditional buttis have won admiration of fashionable
women all over the country.
Most chanderi saris are of silk warp and sometimes woven with fine
raw warp and cotton weft. The special feature of these saris is broad
cross border or pallav which is woven in cotton, silk, zari with floral
and other stylized ornamentation which require special traditional
harness known as Nakshas.
A cascade of chanderi border and pallavs contains small mango motifs
which occur in concert with Bugadi motif or earring in the body of
the sari. In some borders a fine use has been made of the fish scales
or khavali as motifs. The chanderi sari is one of the finest products
of the handloom weavers.

Ikat , Andhra Pradesh Saris

In the state of Andhra Pradesh the ikat process
is known as pagdu bandu buddavassi and
chitki. In oldest ikat centre in this state is
Chirala. In the early 19th century that Chirala
began the weaving of the rumals and because
of the brisk demand of export markets, the
production expanded to nearby towns and
villages. The introduction of tie and dye
technique into ponchampalli area was as late as
the beginning of the century. Today Nalgonda
district near Hyderabad with Pochampalli,
Puttapaka, Koyyalagudem, Velanki, Sripuram
and other localities the main centres of ikat
production in Andhra Pradesh. The fabrics
include saris, bedline, bedsheets, bedcover,
tablecloths, napkins, placemats, yardage
materials etc. These items of tie dyed fabrics
are capturing the expanding export markets in
West European countries, Japan and USA.

Kancheepuram Saris
Kancheepuram, the golden city of thousand temples, was
successively the capital of the Pallavas, Chholas and Rajas of
Vijaynagar. The tradition of weaving in this city is difficult to
trace but in the Pallav period there were weavers in the
capital city specially employed to weave the cotton fabrics
for the royal family. Today Kancheepuram is almost a
weaver' city and its name has been made famous all over
India because of saris. These saris have broad pallavas
having all religions motifs and temple designs and are worn
on festive occasion.
The weavers came from Saurashtra or Mudaliar community
weaving their traditional art. The main raw materials used
are silk and gold thread. The gold thread comes from Surat.
Silver thread is coated with gold and the price of the thread
depends upon the price of gold and silver. The raw silk that
comes from Mysore, is pale and dull in colour being
contaminated with a yellowish gum. The yellow impurity has
to be removed before the silk is dyed and this process is
called de-gumming.

Pathani Saris
Paithani saris of Maharashtra are
highly stylized patterns of swans,
parrots, peacocks with a golden
tissue of pallav. The sari that is
renowned and famous for its
workmanship and wonderful creation
well known from generations is the
Paithan sari from Maharashtra. This
has been famous from Dwapar era.
These saris are done in hand process
through out and are not woven on
looms. The pallav and border are
woven with gold and silver either
mixed or individually. The main
feature of these saris is different
borders with an elaborate pallav.

Poona Saris
Handloom woven saris of Poona are
quite famous for their superior quality
of fabric construction, constant inflow
of new designs and for their
reasonable ranges. Today the industry
of weaving is flowing. Workshops are
found in Gunjpeth, Bhawanipeth and
the other areas of the old city of
Poona. Among the master craftsmen
M/s Kunden, M/s Methapelli and
Vilasagar of Padmashali caste are
there. Padma means lotus and Shali
means weaver. New poolrooms are
fast replacing handloom and the
industry is flourishing. Almost every
instrument is mechanised.

 Tanchoi Saris
This saris is famous for delicate and
tiny weaving patterns all over. This is
the only sari which has the spots all
over and is warn with double colour
warp. It is said that three Paru
brothers had learnt this art from Choi
from China. As these saris had some
Chinese influence in designs and
patterns they were known as Tanchoi
as these three brothers had claimed
this art from Choi from China. The
main Character of these Tanchoi saris
having their background in satin
finish and the speciality of these
saris, the patterns being small flying
birds, small arcs of flowers, pairs of
peacocks and parrots in swing. The
Tanchoi from Gujarat has a Chinese

Varanasi Saris
Varanasi or Kashi has an ancient history of textile designing. The
most exquisite brocades in silk and gold are woven by the
weavers on silk pit loom. The weavers of Varanasi are best
known for their skill in brocade weaving and known as Kinkhabs.
There are many exquisite designs in this variety and it is even
impossible to copy or imitate the saris as the loom is very
intricate in construction.
The designs are translated by "Naksha Bandas" on to frames or
Kakshas. The Naksha is tied to the loom. At times, more than six
shuttles are used to get multi-colours in 'buttas' ornaments used
in the body of sari. There are some famous brocade saris
showing the cowherd god Krishna and his cow and another
playing on flute. Varanasi weavers have re-oriented this to bring
out a fine cutwork pattern.
In Ajanta frescoes similar designs are shown and contain all over
buttas woven with gold thread. In some saris designs human
figures land animals motifs are used. This delicate work of
Kinkhab saris is famous all over the world. Some of the patterns
like peacocks, parrots, decorative leaves and flowers are used as
corner designs.

Applique Work

Known to have been introduced in India in

the 11th century, appliqu work has become
a popular craft used in almost every ritual
celebration or festival in the country. In
Bihar, there are styles of appliqu: one,
intended for domestic use, which carries
stylized motifs with one piece of cloth with
cut patterns being stitched to another, the
pattern thus emerging in two colours; the
second type of appliqu is prepared for
tents, shamianas and canopies as also
tented walls.
Appliqu work of remarkable creative value
has been created in Orrisa where this craft is
used for festive decoration in the temple of
Lord Jagannath as well as in homes.
Specimens of great artistic merit are also
done in the same style in several centres in
Gujarat and Tamilnadu to be used as wall
hangings furnishings fabrics, garden
umbrellas and dress material. In Kashmir the
gabba (floor covering) is a form of appliqu

Brocade
There are two kinds of brocade, cotton
brocade and zari brocade. In brocade, the
warp and the weft are supplemented by
special threads in gold, silver or silk.
These form the pattern when weaving and
also determine the nature of the brocade.
Cotton fabric is brocaded with cotton and
zari threads to create one of the most
delicate products of the loom. Another
form of brocading is created by the inlay
of white threads over an organza jail to
give an appearance of delicate filigree
patterns cut out on a sheer almost
transparent background.
In zari brocades gold and silver are used
alongwith silk threads, either as the
special warp or weft, to create glittering
raised ornamentation. The main centres of
brocading are located in Varanasi, Surat,
Chanderi, Bangalore, Kanchipuram,
Chennai, Bengal and Venkatagiri.

Block Painted Textiles

A popular and well known method of
creating ornamental designs on cloth is
block printing. In Bagru, Rajasthan, a thick
cloth is used as the base. Geometric and
floral designs are printed on both sides of
the cloth though these are not always the
same. The colour palette is restricted to
black, maroon and buff. Bagh in Madhya
Pradesh is another traditional block
printing centre with colour similar to
Bagru: red and black. The base cloth is
treated to make it receptive for printing.
Ajrakh from Dhamadka in Kutch, Gujarat,
is a technique by which patterning is
created by resist printing. Both surfaces
of the fabricare printed, with a perfect
placement of blocks to make the designs
on either side identical. The colours are
mainly red and blue.

Handloom Leno Fabrics

The weaving of leno brocades and
leno cut-work (throwster) on
handloom had been developed
during the last three decades in
the handloom centres around
Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. There
is unlimited scope for the
production of a variety of effects
in striped, checked and figured
fabrics by combining gauze or
leap with practically any other
system of interweaving.

Ikat, Tie and Dye

Tie and Dye is one of the oldest

textile techniques where portions
of cloth are tightly tied before
dyeing. These resist the dye and
form the pattern. In India, the
specialized skill of ikat weaving
exists in three areas, Orissa,
Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. The
Patola from Patan in Gujarat is
especially well known. In a double
ikat silk saris, both the warp and
the weft are separately tied and
dyed so that they blend perfectly
when woven and give the textile
its rich colour and form. There are
other forms of tie and dye but
unlike ikat these are not pre loom
process where only the yarn is
resist dyed. Bandhej, the tie
technique includes bandhinis of
Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Phulkari

The word Phulkari literally means

flower-craft or floweing work and
it certainly creates a flowery
surface through the process of
embroidery. It connotes a
particular form of needle-craft
practiced in the Punjab region by
the peasant women for decorating
their shawls, veils, etc. The
principal centres for this art were
Rohtak, Gurgaon, Hissar, Karnal
and adjacent areas of Delhi in the
east and Peshawar, Sialkoot,
Rawalpindi and Hazara in the
west (now in Pakistan). The
Phulkari was initially a home-craft
and were made only for use
within the family. It was only in
the later part of the nineteenth
century, in times of famines and
hardships that the phulkaris were
put to sale to the collectors of

Phulkari contd..
The social-ritual significance
attached to the Phulkari art
added new dimensions to it
and elevated a mere artform to a philosophy. This
accounts for its pursuance
with great devotion,
perseverance and passion.
Embroidery thus was
perpetuated and formed a
part of social rituals and no
ceremony was perfect unless
the auspicious Phulkari,
embroidered shawls were
worn by the women.

Pigment Painted Textiles

Amongst the most noted in the

old days were the hand-painted
resist dyed cloths known as the
Coromandel chintz which made
history in the then known world.
Originally made in Golconda, near
Hyderabad City, they spread
along the eastern coast up to
Tamil Nadu taking its name, with
Masulipattam as its chief port.
These were made on cotton with a
dazzling array of exotic flowers
and foliage mostly in red, blue,
purple, yellow and black.
Kalahasti in Andhra Pradesh is
noted for its kalamkari now called
after the place.

Shawls

The most coveted is pashmina,

made out of the wool from the
under belly of the Himalayan
pashmina goat, which this animal
grows. The finest is shatush, a soft
dreamy fabric that almost melts
to the touch. A shatush can be
drawn through a ring and is,
therefore, called ring shawl, and
though extraordinarily light, it is
nevertheless amazingly warm.
Shawl is one of Indias west wool
products. Amongst shawls,
Kashmir holds the world title. The
most complex of shawls is called
jamavar, from jama, a robe and
var, yardage. The woven designs
are often enhanced by
embroidery and one finds the
main woven motifs in the
background later connected by

Towels
The towel-manufacturing sector of the
handloom industry in India has been one
of the main employers of handloom
weavers, catering to the needs of
consumers both in and outside the
country.
Handloom towels are manufactured in
different weaves; plain, honeycomb,
huck-a-back, terry pile; dosuti and
dedsuti, etc. Basically, terry towel,
which comes under the category of
made-ups, is used as a fabric for bath
towels, bathmats, car seat covers,
interlining material, base for coated
fabrics, kitchen gowns, pot holders etc.
Dobby and jacquard terry towels are
exported in substantial qualities.

Turbans
The Turbans chief
function is the
protection of the head
from the heat of the
sun.
It is usually of a fine
muslin-like texture
which when folded is
at once light, bulky
and porous thus
admirably fulfilling its
main purpose.

Turbans

The turban in its unfolded

condition ordinarily
consists of a strip of cloth
varying in width from 9 to
12 and length from 15 to
25 yards. In some cases,
however the width extends
to 36 inches while the
length occasionally
reaches 60 yards.
Sometime, gold or other
decorative material is used
and the end of the turban
is made to extend
longitudinally a little way
up from the end, so that
the ornamentation is