Review: Unbroken Thread @National Museum, New Delhi

Benarasi Brocade is the pinnacle of hand loom weaving and a treasure in every women's wardrobe (I am yet to add one to my collection!). A vacation up North and a hot day in New Delhi made us spend a day at the National Museum. I was thrilled when I saw this announcement at the entrance - the special exhibit on Benarasi Brocades अटूट डोर : Unbroken thread.

  

Richly patterned, grandiose in looks, the Benarasi Brocade came to the namesake town from Gujarat. Weavers who were leaving Gujarat due to natural calamities and decline in patronage, settled in Benares with their skills, technique and designs. Skill and talent from the subcontinent as well as Persia and central Asia led to innovation in weaves and technology, creating the distinct Benarasi Brocade look.

Take a look at this exquisite brocade below. It has decorated elephants for center motifs, horses running diagonally like a grid, paisley in the border and a large detailed paisley motif in a corner. 

Benares Brocade

Traditionally, the design of the brocade was first worked out on paper and then an expert, known as a naksha bandha would render the design into cotton threads on a naksha (the indigenous thread device that performs the same function as the Jacquard). Below is a paper version of a design which would then be translated to thread.

Brocade Design on Paper

With the advent of the Jacquard loom, brocades are no more a rarity and are prevalent nowadays in various types of silks including the Kanjivarams. Below are some more brocades on display in bright colors, very Persian in design and detail oriented.

Benares Brocades

It was disappointing that amidst the various pieces on display, there were none with multi-color motifs, even though the Benares brocades mostly comes in a single color.


Please Note:
The National Museum is well worth the visit if you visit Delhi. It is one of the largest museums in India and has artifacts to engage varied personal interests like miniature paintings of India, coin collections, Buddha's ashes and relics, jewellery, bronze sculptures, outfits of the North East, textile gallery, Armory collection, etc. to name a few. Do not miss the guided tour - Museum in 90 minutes - which is free and very informative. We enjoyed our tour!!

Madras, Margazhi & Mulberry Silk Musings

As the cool evenings set-in in Madras (Chennai), we are gently reminded that #Margazhi will be here soon! Margazhi is the season of Carnatic Music in Madras, when women folk flaunt their Kanchivarams (Silk sarees from the temple town of Kanchipuram)!!

Kanchipuram silk is considered the finest and strongest of silks since it is made of Mulberry Silk - silk worms that are exclusively fed mulberry leaves. I remember childhood days in Neyveli where there used to be a mulberry tree and we would get to see the occasional cocoon which was all shiny and glistening in the sun! How I would have loved to capture that memory with a picture :)

Mulberry tree with fruits
 Image Courtesy: EdiblePlantProject

 

 

This is a brief post is on what I look for when I shop for Kanchipuram silks in a saree shop. To me what matters are quality, variety and price; exclusivity is not a high priority since there is so much variety available everywhere and you rarely see someone wearing the same saree as you!!!

Quality comes automatically when you get a 'Silk Mark' saree, which is given by the Central Silk Board of India. Other way to get authentic silk sarees are from the many Khadi Bhavans around the country.

For variety and price, the best deal is always if you can go to the weaving town. For bulk purchases, I always take a road trip to Kanchipuram. In Chennai, one of my favorite haunts is Pothy's. They have a wide selection of silks from all around the country and also feature a lot of Silk Mark sarees, which gives the buyer a lot of confidence!

I leave you behind with a lovely Kanchipuram Silk in shades of Mulberry! i love the jewel tone colors, the leaf motif, traditional border (Nizam border also seen in Mangalagiri yardage), multiple patterns in the pallu (Chevron, stripes, Rudraksh and creeper) and the korvai - hallmark of authenticity of a Kanchipuram silk!!

Jewel Tone Colors and Lovely Leaf Motif

Exquisite Pallu

Multiple patterns in the Pallu

Korvai

It was purchased at a 150 year old traditional silk family owned shop in Kanchipuram, currently being run by the 5th generation. Can you guess the shop? Clue: They have shops in Mylapore and Mambalam in Chennai too!!

Wishing you a great month of Music, Pongal and Thiruppavai!
 

Sambalpuri Ikat

The eastern state of Odisha is endowed with many silks and cotton weaves, but there is one weave that LOUDLY proclaims Odhisha - that is the ikat weave, more specifically from the Sambalpur region of Odhisha known as the Sambalpuri Saree. The other famous saree from Odhisha is the Bomkai.

The ikat is a tie and dye method just like the Bandhani of Gujarat, but there is a difference. In Bandhani, the yarn is woven first and then the resulting cloth is dyed whereas in the ikat, the yarn is dyed and then woven to create a beautiful piece of cloth.

But bandhani or ikat, the end product is unique and cannot be visualized until it has been created!

In the case of ikat, the master craftsman designs a pattern and the yarn is dyed for specific lengths so that when woven together it will create a pattern that was designed. Also, the dyeing pattern for the entire height of the saree has to be defined in full and the interval at which the motif is repeated is also decided. Then the dyeing has to be repeated.

For example, in the ikat shown below, 2 columns of checks for the entire height of the saree is a pattern and it keeps repeating. The close up also shows you how the imperfect dyeing can lead to jagged edges in the pattern.

Sambalpuri Ikat

Also notice that when it is dyeing of the yarn, the front and back have the same pattern in same colors. If it was printing of the design, then the reverse will not be the same as the front.

A lot of the ikats' close cousin from Telengana - the Pochampally - are prints as against weaves.

The above is a very coarse and cheap cotton saree picked up from Boyanika, Bhubaneswar for the typical Odisha colors!

Here is an elegant beauty which always gets me compliments when I wear it, in a lovely olive green with a purple border and pallu. This was thrice as expensive as the white and red above due to the intricacy of the pattern and the precise dyeing of the yarn. As you can see there are far fewer imperfections in the pattern edges!

The geometric pattern in the body is like waves and look closely - the pallu has FISH!!! This saree was purchased at a winter exhibition in Bhubaneswar where I got to see first hand weaving of an Ikat and the shuttles which had the dyed yarn (too bad, I do not have a picture - didn't think I would be a future saree blogger!).

Sambalpuri Ikat

 Both sarees have the same wheel inspired border - orange color in the first and deep purple in the second - which is so telling of the other landmark of Odisha, the Konark sun temple chariot wheels!

Gamthi Prints

Gamthi as the name indicates comes from Gaam or Graam (ग्राम) - the village! It is a block printing technique from the western state of Gujarat and is widely available throughout the state.

As with all things historic, this printing method also used natural dye colors obtained from Indigo, turmeric, henna leaves, roots, barks of trees etc. But as to whether the process still remains the same, is a question that I do not have an answer for.

The most difficult part is in creating the intricate motif on a piece of teak wood. The reason to use teak wood is because it is one of the strongest hard woods available in India and lasts for a long period of time. The longevity of the block is worth the time spent in crafting the block design. Below is a picture of a block print design.

Block print motif (Image: gaatha.com)

Seen below is an image which shows block printing in progress. A beautiful writeup on the Gamthi block printing process can be found here. Yet another wonderful writeup of the block printing process (by an excellent photographer) can be found here.

Gamthi Block Printing (Image: lojadela.wordpress.com)

I am sure we all wear these prints, but never realize that it is Gamthi. Many of the cotton salwar kameez material with block print designs from Surat, Mumbai etc. are all Gamthi. The base material on to which the printing will be done has to be slightly thick so as to bear the brunt of the dye. And when block printing is done, you can see that the dye penetrates all the way to the reverse of the cloth, unlike screen printing where it will be visible only on one side.

All my Gamthi prints were picked up at Amdavad. As you can see there are lot of imperfections and that's what makes it hand made!

Gamthi Prints from Amdavad

Kantha work

From the state of West Bengal, comes the Kantha handicraft. In its simplest form, it is nothing but the humblest of stitches - the running stitch!! In olden days, this stitch was used in quilt making. Layers of worn out clothes would be covered by a soft, old, used cotton saree and these stitches were run all over the quilt so as to hold the layers in place.

Slowly, they started getting used in more decorative pieces such as table cloths, pillow covers etc. Now it has moved into the wider market, but is still made by hand. Many of us I am sure have a Kantha blouse or a Kantha purse or a Kantha saree!

Kantha on Murshidabad Silk

My Kantha saree was purchased at the Murshidabad Silk House - Khadi Gramodyog Bhavan, in Gariahat Market, near Rash Behari Avenue in the City of Joy. The saree is a chocolate brown Murshidabad Silk (which is very light and almost like Tussar, aiding in both flexibility to do the embroidery, as well as keeping the saree weight low; as the embroidery tends to make the saree heavy) onto which the Kantha work was done by women trained from villages in and around Shanthi Niketan. The estimate on the time taken to do the entire saree is about 2 months by a single person. 

There has been a lot of though process in the design. The motif repeated through the saree is that of flowers and creepers, all over the border and the pallu. Leaves form the pattern in the body of the saree. The height of the embroidery above the border continues to grow from the inner end of the saree, and as it reaches the pallu, it has reached the entire height of the saree. This gradual increase in the border reflects so very beautifully in the pleats in the front.

Here is a closeup of the pallu. Pretty much covered by thread work, there is hardly any free space left behind! I can't but imagine the patience of the person doing this work. It is a true labour of love in just two colors - pink and white.

The intense & intricate Pallu

I wanted to show how neatly the work has been done to keep the thread to a bare minimum on the reverse. By doing this, they have made sure that the maximum thread shows in the front. The stitches have to also be small enough in length so as to give flexibility in design. This truly is a work of art and a possession very close to my heart!

The silk retails at 500/- a meter and mine came with a blouse, totaling to 6 meters (Rupees 3000/-). How much do you think the Kantha work added to the cost of the saree?

Pattachitra

We move to the heritage and craft rich state of Odisha for this post. Wonderful weaves (ikat, bomkai), silks (Berhampur) and crafts (pipli patch work) dot this region. Yet another handicraft that Odisha is famous for is the Pattachitra - literally translating to drawing (chitra) on a canvas (patta).

Made originally on canvas using naturally obtained dyes and brushes, this has slowly moved to other mediums also such as palm leaf and cloth. On a green palm frond, the art work is generally done with a nail. When it dries, the exposed portion become black and looks like ink work on palm leaf. This is known as Tala-Chitra or palm leaf paintings. Generally the paintings conveyed mythological stories like the Ramayana or the zodiac calendar or the Puri deities - Jagannatha, Balabhadra and Subhadra.

Image Courtesy - gaatha.com

Slowly from canvas, it also moved to other forms of textile to spread the craft and for sustenance. The dyes used continue to be made from natural substances and hence there isn't much variety in color. Prominently used colors are red, black and white. The cloth has to be light so as to not absorb too much of the paint as well as to aid in the free movement of the brushes. So pattachitra work is generally done on Tussar silk. The only downside to this is that it creases very easily (as can be seen in some pictures :()!!

Mine is a lovely pistachio green tussar with tribal art pattachitra. It was purchased in Bhubaneshwar. While the borders are lined with huts and humans, the body has an interesting array of every day activities! This reminded me so much of the Warli art which is predominantly done in white color, once again depicting scenes from everyday life.

The pallu is a grand depiction of life in a village and a few pictures are required to showcase the vibrant pictures that have been hand painted so elegantly in just 2 colors - black and red.

The lovely pallu

Here is a closeup of some of the elements of the left and right panels.

This is the middle panel and if you look closely you will see the concentric circles that have been drawn to make sure that the paintings form a pattern perfectly!!!

Paintings derived from village scenes

Bandhani or Bandhini

Bandhani is our own indigenous tie and dye method from the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat. Bhandhna ( बाँधना ) means 'to tie' and hence the name bandhani for this craft form. It is a simple craft form where in the areas that need to resist the dye are covered (by tying with strings) and the fabric then dyed. This results in spectacular patterns that are unique and cannot be replicated perfectly. Here is a crepe silk from Gujarat that has varying shades of blue due to the bleeding of colors in the washing process, but the inner patterns remain white. This was purchased at Pothys a decade ago.

Bandhani Crepe Silk

People from the Saurashtra region who migrated to the Madurai region during the Nayak period carried this craft form with them. The base color of the fabric is generally white or beige so as to let the pattern show through in the end product. The design is imprinted on the fabric and then the knots are tied (to resist the dye) as required to form a pattern and finally the cloth is dyed. Remove the threads and viola! You have a unique final product!!!

Bandhani - 1) Tied fabric 2) String removed 3) Fabric pressed to reveal pattern 4) Final product

I picked up this Bandhani cotton saree from Madurai. It has a chevron pattern pallu and a concentric circle pattern in the body with hand embroidery.

Bandhani Pallu of a Cotton Saree

 Body of the Cotton Saree which has Bandhani Pattern with embroidery done

 
As you can see, this is a labour intensive process as each knot has to be tied with hand. The more the number of knots, the more labour intensive it is and hence the price is also high. This has led to a decline in this craft form as patronage is low.The Crafts Council of India is working towards preserving this craft form.

A poor and cheap imitation of this art form is the local cousin Sungudi, for which Madurai is widely known.  This is created using screen printing method where in the pattern is created for the width of the saree and is printed repeatedly for the length of the saree. This is a Ranee Sungudi that I picked up from a recent Madurai trip - fell for the color combination!

Sungudi Saree

Wishing my (very few) readers a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2015!