The magic of Jamdani

One day, the Mughal emperor Auwrangzeb was astonished to see his eldest and favorite daughter, Princess Zeb-Un-Nissa, strolling naked in the garden. Outraged by her immodesty, the emperor demanded to know why she was walking outside without clothes. The princess calmly replied that she was wearing her “jamas”. In fact, she claimed she was wearing seven garments sewn from a jamdani so transparent and fine that to her father’s eyes they seemed invisible.

This 17th century story is one of the earliest known references to jamdani, a fine, hand woven figured muslin produced in Bengal. Thicker cotton threads are laid into the weft to produce the illusion of a suspended pattern on the surface of an almost transparent fabric. Intricate colored motifs seem to float upon the cloth. The word jamdani is thought to have derived from jaam-daar, a Persian weaving term for floral designs in cotton thread or possibly, jama, the Bengali word for dress.

Production of jamdani reached a pinnacle during the latter period of the Mughal empire. The ultimate test of its fineness was to pass a sari width through a small golden ring. Centuries before the arrival of the Mughals, the Bengali textile industry had exported fine cotton muslins to both Roman and Chinese empires. The Greek geographer Megasthenes described Bengali muslins in the 4th Century BC. The Romans were so inspired by the fabric’s diaphanous quality they called it “woven air”. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the fabric became a much desired and expensive trade good exported west to Kabul, Baluchistan, Persia, Arabia and Greece. Jamdani continued to be produced and exported during the days of the British Raj, but the British supported their own agriculture and textile industries at India’s expense, and the quality of Bengali jamdani declined. Recently, quality has returned with revived interest in traditional Indian textiles. Today, jamdani is produced more or less as it has been for centuries.

Making jamdani is very labor-intensive requiring specialization that is divided amongst workers by religion, village and, especially, gender. The work generally involves a community of artisans, often a family of weavers or dyers cooperating in accordance with years of tradition like a carefully calibrated clock. Work is scheduled according to the season of the year and the time of the day, choosing the most appropriate moments for the practice of various tasks. Most of the weavers are Muslims who believe figurative representations in art are a direct challenge to the omnipotence of God. For this reason, artisans create motifs drawn from nature or abstract designs with a geometric sensibility. Pit looms are still used, however, the original throw shuttle has been replaced by the fly shuttle, a faster and more efficient method of production that still depends upon the hand for guidance. Traditionally, the plain weave background was white, off-white or grey; today background colors are chosen from a vibrant array.

The best quality jamdani is produced with locally grown, fine cotton. It is always woven during the monsoon season from June to October when the air is humid and moisture prevents the fine threads from becoming brittle and breaking. Bundles of thread are dyed in a variety of colors. The dyed thread is strengthened and softened by soaking overnight in a solution of rice water starch, allowing the women to wind it more easily onto bobbins. It is tedious work done early in the morning, usually between 4 and 9, before the increasing heat dries the thread, making it more difficult to handle. The wound bobbins are sent to another worker who prepares the warp on a beam. Afterwards, the warp is sent to the weaver’s house where it is set up on a loom. Drawings are placed under the warp as a guide. The weaver, almost always a man, may or may not follow the drawing, often preferring to work from intuition alone. Colored thread is carefully inserted and hand tied into the fine weft to create patterns on the plain weave.

The entire system of production, from dyeing the thread to setting up the loom, is determined by the length of jamdani’s most marketable end product, the sari. For this reason, it is nearly impossible to convince weavers to produce different lengths of running yardage. Looms are set up with 11 meter warps, each warp yielding two saris, 5.5 meters in length. The patterns woven into these two saris will not be repeated by the weaver again.

The Art of Tie & Dye - Shibori

To understand the concept of #Shibori we’ll have to visit the ancient part of the world consisting of hand-made fabrics and techniques with the most basic materials available at the time. To start, Shibori is a type of Tie and Dye technique that is used in various parts of the world known by different names and comprising of their own traditional techniques of the same origin.

“ Tie and Dye is an ancient method of embellishing fabric. It is a technique that has been practiced all over the world, with every culture contributing its little quirks and traditional symbolism to the designs and motifs created almost magically by tying, folding or rolling fabric in a variety of patterns and then dyeing it with mostly vegetable dyes.”

In India alone there are several centers of tie and dyeing with their special techniques and dyes. Artisans have excelled in tie dyeing techniques known as ‘Bandhani’ and ‘Leheriya’. The term `Bandhani` is derived from the word `Bandhan` that means tying up. It is an ancient art practise that is mainly used in the state of Rajasthan and Gujarat. #Bandhani is the Rajasthani art of tying small dots on fabric with a continuous thread and dyeing it. The result is a vibrant and irregular mix of vermillion and saffron, emerald and sapphire or aqua and yellow. Bandhani is now done on almost all types of apparels from scarves to sarees, kurtas etc.

#Leheriya is a traditional style of tie dye practiced in Rajasthan, India that results in brightly coloured cloth with distinctive patterns. The technique gets its name from the Rajasthani word for wave because the dyeing technique is often used to produce complex wave patterns. Leheriya is distinguished by the natural, ripple effect in mesmerizing colours, using a colour resist dyeing technique. The leheriya was patronized in the nineteenth and early twentieth century by the local traders and merchants who wore turbans of bright Leheriya fabric. The wavy, diagonal stripes created through this technique look bewitching in brilliant colour combinations. Leheriya has been very popular in dupattas, and scarves but now it can also be found in sarees and various other forms of clothing.

Japan is one of the countries with a strong tie and dye tradition. #Shibori is the Japanese word tie and dyed textiles. Shibori is the Japanese word for a variety of ways of embellishing textiles by shaping cloth and securing it before dyeing. The word shibori comes from the verb root shiboru, “to wring, squeeze, and press.” Rather than treating cloth as a two-dimensional surface, with shibori it is given a three-dimensional form by folding, crumpling, stitching, plaiting, or plucking and twisting. Cloth shaped by these methods is secured in a number of ways, such as binding and knotting.

According to history, there are many theories and examples as to where the earliest shibori was found. A theory suggests, the pre-Columbian shibori alpaca found in Peru and silk found in 4th century tombs along the Silk Road in China are the oldest examples of silk shibori being found in the world. According to another source, the earliest known example of cloth dyed with a shibori technique dates from the 8th century in Japan and it was among the goods donated by the Emperor Shōmu to the Tōdai-ji in Nara; a Buddist temple. Another theory is that shibori traditions existed for centuries in the Middle East and in the Indian subcontinent, and another says that shibori entered Japan at least 1300 years ago from China, along with the Chinese style of dress, and was interpreted in a particularly Japanese fashion.

In feudal Japan, since many people could not afford to buy expensive fabrics like cotton or silk, clothes were often made of cheap hemp fabrics and shibori came up as an art for the poor. People could not afford to replace clothes regularly either, so they would repair and redye them, and the art of Shibori evolved as a means of making old clothes look new. Under the Tokugawa peace, many different arts flourished, and many different techniques and local forms of Shibori emerged. Shibori developed along two separate paths: as the method of decorating the silk used for producing kimonos for the aristocracy of Japan, and as a folk art differing from region to region.

SOME OF THE BASIC SHIBORI TECHNIQUES

Miura Shibori - named after a Doctor’s wife who brought the technique to Arimatsu from Shikoku. Whereas most Shibori is made by tying knots around points of material, Miura Shibori consists of looped binding, keeping out less dye. It produces softer effects and is much cheaper. Commonly used for common clothes like yukata.

Arashi Shibori (“storm” Shibori) - A length of cloth is folded and wrapped around a four-meter pole. The folding method produces a storm-like effect of lines and dashes, hence the name.

Kumo Shibori (“spider web” Shibori) – Arimatsu is famous for the quality of its handmade Kumo Shibori. While it is possible to produce a highly regular spider-web pattern by machine, artisans in Arimatsu are renowned for the regularity of their hand-made kumo Shibori.

Nui Shibori - (“stitched” Shibori). The material is sewn to form the pattern before dyeing.

Suji Shibori - hand folded over a rope core in a similar fashion to Arashi Shibori, then bound and dyed. The material is then dyed, dried, and then carefully untied. The untying is one of the most important phases – it is vital not to distort the material or the entire piece and months of work are ruined. Finally, the material is steamed and stretched to remove creases.

Fine Cotton Fabric - Mangalgiri

As a designer seeking to infuse some Indian designs to my collection of designer wear, I decided to visit the auspicious town of #Mangalagiri or #Mangalgiri. Located a mere twelve kilometres from the bustling city of Vijayawada, the humble town is home to temples built in the honour of Lord Panakala and Goddess Lakshmi, situated on a hillock. However, the main reason that I wished to delve deep into the heart of South India was due to the famous Magalagiri #fabrics and rich Zari borders. I commenced my train journey and within a few hours watched the landscape alter drastically with luscious, sprawling farms adorning vast tracts of land and large coconut trees being eclipsed with tufts of clouds and cattle grazing lazily.

“ Drawing its name from the town Mangalgiri in Andhra Pradesh, this age-old fabric has been incessantly crafted by the weavers for the past 500 years.”

From Vijayawada I took the bus and entered the little town of Mangalagiri. After refreshing in a hotel and payng obeisance to the great lord and goddess, I explored the various shops depicting a wide array of ethnic sarees. I noticed beautiful sarees, stoles, jholas, furniture, kurtis and other items adorned with enriching hues of red, fuschia, magenta, indigo, gold, sunset orange and other vivid colours. Each saree or stole was beautifully crafted and embellished with an intricately carved zari border, vibrant patterns and motifs.

As I touched the cotton fabric, I was impressed with the softness and superior quality albeit it was hand-made by skilled and experienced weavers who made it in the mere confines of their home. I was lucky enough to catch hold of a seasoned and professional weaver who explained to me the fascinating process. Ramlingam explained that each weaver would source high quality cotton from multifarious mills then boil the yarn in water laced with copious amounts of caustic soda. Once done, it is removed from the mixture and is now suitable for dyeing either by an artistic designer or by the weaver himself. However, for starch white sarees, the cotton is further bleached to produce a dazzling white effect over which a striking hued golden border and delicate zari work are drawn.

The stellar fabric and exemplary designs along with vibrant motifs enamoured me to a large extent. I was told by a local artisan that Mangalagiri #sarees and fabrics are highly durable owning to the emphasis of the weaver striving to accomplish a consistent texture. Simple sarees and stoles that contain a dazzling golden border as the attention seeker of the clothing item enable weavers to expend more energy into the weaving process and leave little room for gaps or inconsistencies. While zari work was omnipresent in plenteous sarees, distinct geometrical shapes and kitschy tribal designs were decorated on other clothing items. I purchased a range of stoles, kurtis and three sarees to accentuate my wardrobe and add a touch of ethnic Indian wear to my extensive collection of fashionable wear.

I did a little research by talking to numerous villagers in the region and found that the little town’s staple source of income lies in the burgeoning handloom industry. Over a thousand looms are singularly producing exquisite cotton yarns for supplying to a plethora of weavers. One of my sarees I purchased for my personal use was absolutely stunning. It has a nizam border that is only found in this village. The border is unique in the sense that it has numerous tiny zari temple tops on the border which provides a visual feast to sore eyes.

Inspired by my journey, I created western outfits inspired by the stunning borders and durable fabrics of the little village. Not only did it garner many compliments from my clients and at ramp walks, but I found myself doing a little bit in promoting this unqiue art of weaving and designing. Simplicity lies at the heart of all innovation.