TECHNIQUE ARE USED FOR PATTERNS DURING THE WEAVE?
FOR PATTERING DURING THE WEAVES TWO DIFFERENT ARE USED IKAT AND BROCADE.
IKAT : IKAT, OR IKKAT, IS A STYLE OF WEAVING THAT USES A RESIST DYEING PROCESS SIMILAR TO TIE-DOWN ON EITHER THE WARP OR WEFT BEFORE THE THREADS ARE WOVEN TO CREATE A PATTERN OR DESIGN. A DOUBLE IKAT IS WHEN BOTH THE WARP AND THE WEFT ARE TIE-DYED BEFORE WEAVING.
IKAT MEANS "TO TIE" OR "TO BIND" IN THE MALAY LANGUAGE AND HAS THE SAME ROOT AS THE WORDS DEKAT (CLOSE), LEKAT (TO STICK), PIKAT (T CATCH) ETC. THE WORD KATT HAS THE SAME MEANING IN ALL OF THE SOUTH INDIAN LANGUAGE BUT THERE MAY KATT HAS THE SAME MEANING IN ALL OF THE SOUTH INDIAN LANGUAGE BUT THERE MAY BE NO RELATION. THROUGH COMMON USAGE, THE WORD HAS COME TO DESCRIBE BOTH THE PROCESS AND THE CLOTH ITSELF. IKATAS HAVE BEEN WOVEN IN CULTURES ALL OVER THE WORLD. IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA, IKAT IS STILL COMMON IN ARGENTINA, BOLIVIA, ECUADOR, GUATEMALA AND MEXICO. IN THE 19 THE CENTURY, THE SILK ROAD DESERT OASES OF BUKHARA AND SAMARKAND (IN WHAT IS NOW UZBEKISTAN IN CENTRAL ASIA) WERE FAMOUS FOR THEIR FINE SILK UZBEK IKAT. INDIA, JAPAN AND PRODUCTION. DOUBLE IKATS CAN STILL BE FOUND IN INDIA, GUATEMALA, JAPAN AND THE INDONESIAN ISLANDS OF BALI AND KALIMANTAN.
LIKE ANY CRAFT OR ART FORM, IKATS VARY WIDELY FROM COUNTRY TO COUNTRY AND REGION TO REGION. DESIGS MAY HAVE SYMBOLIC OF STATUS, WEALTH, POWER AND PRESTIGE. PERHAPS BECAUSE OF THE DIFFICULTY AND TIME REQUIRED TO MAKE IKATS, SOME CULTURES BELIEVE THE CLOTH IS IMBUED WITH MAGICAL POWERS.
BROCADED TEXTILE : IT IS SAID WHEN BUDDHA ATTAINED NIRVANA, HIS BODY WAS WRAPPED IN BANARAS FABRIC, WHICH EMITTED RAYS OF DAZZLING BLUE, RED AND YELLOW. INDIAN FABRIC, WHICH EMITTED RAYS OF DAZZLING BLUE, RED AND YELLOW, INDIAN FABRICS ENJOYED UNDISPUTED SUPREMACY ALL OVER THE WORLD FOR OVER 2000 YEARS. EVENT THE RIG VEDA REFERS TO HIRANYADRAPI OR A SHINING GOLD-WOVEN CLOTH, THE MAHABHARATA TO MANICHERA AND VALIMIKI'S RAMAYANA DESCRIBES RAVANA, THE DEMON KING, AS DONNING A GOLD FABRIC. PALI LITERATURE MENTIONS THE KASEYYAKA (SILK OF BANARAS) WORTH A HUNDRED PIECES OF SILVER.
THE TRADITION : BROCADE WEAVING, ESPECIALLY WITH GOLD AND SILVER, HAS BEEN AN AGE-OLD TRADITION IN INDIA. THERE ARE TWO BROAD CLASSES OF BROCADES. BROCADES OF PURE SILK AND COTTON BLENDS AND ZARI BROCADES WITH GOLD AND SILVER THREADS.
THE MOST IMPORTANT MATERIAL IN BROCADE WEAVING IS SILK, IT FACILITIES LOVELY WEAVES, IS DURABLE, STRONG, FINE AND SMOOTH. THERE ARES SEVERAL VARIETIES OF RAW SILK OF WHICH THE CHIEF ONES USED FOR BROCADES ARE TANDURI, BANAKA AND MUKTA. TANDURI IS IMPORTED FROM MALDA AND OTHER PLACES IN BENGAL, BANAKA IS THINNER AND FINER VARIETY AND IS MOSTLY USED TO WEAVE SOLF FABRICS SUCH AS TURBANS AND HANDKERCHIEFS. MUKTA IS A COARSE AND DURABLE SILK USED FOR KIMKHABS, AS FINE SILK WOULD NOT WITH STAND HEAVY GOLD PATTERNS.
REFININGS SILK FOR BROCADE MAKING : RAW SILK IS SPECIALLY TREATED FOR BROCADES. IT IS FIRST TWISTED (CALLED SILK THROWING) AFTER WHICH THE THREADS UNDERGO REELING AND CHECKING FOR UNIFORMITY AND ROUNDNESS. WHEN THE YARN HAS BEEN PROCESSED, IT IS BLEACHED AND "DEGUMMED" AS RAW SILK HAS A GUM LIKE SUBSTANCE (SERICIN) IN ITS COMPOSITION. THIS HAS TO BE REMOVED IN ORDER TO BRING SUBSTANCE (SERICIN) IN ITS COMPOSITION. THIS HAS TO BE REMOVED IN ORDER TO BRIBG OUT THE SHEEN ANS SOLFTENESS AND TO ENABLE PENETRATION OF THE DYE. THE TASK HAS TO BE DONE WITH GREAT CARE AS THE FIBERS CAN WEAKEN OR GET DAMAGED. THE SILK IS BOILED IN SOAP WATER FOR A CERTAIN DURATION AND THEN SENT FOR DYING.
IMPORTANT OF COLOR : COLOR PLAYS A VITAL PART IN WEAVING BROCADE. THE CHARM AND SUBTLE BEAUTY OF THE BROCADE DEPENDS UPON COLOR SYNCHRONIZATION. COLORS ARE SURCHARGED WITH NUANCES OF MOOD AND POETIC ASSOCIATION IN FABRICS AND WEAVING AS MUCH AS IN PAINTING.
RED - THE COLOR OF LOVE. THE THREE TONES OF RED EVOKE THE THREE STATES OF LOVE.
YELLOW - IS THE COLOR OF VASANT (SPRING) OF YOUNG BLOSSOMS, SOUTHERN WINDS AND SWARMS OF BEES.
HARI NILA - THE COLOR OF WATER IN WHICH THE SKY IS REFLECTED.
GERWA (SAFFRON) - THE COLOR OF EARTH AND OF THE YOGI THE WANDERING MINSTREL, THE SEER, THE POET WHO RENOUNCES THE WORLD.
EARLIER, VEGETABLE DYES WERE USED DURING WEAVING. THESE PRODUCED FAST COLORS, LASTED FOR ALMOST A GENERATION, AND REMAINDED AS BEAUTIFUL AND VIVID AS EVER. NOWADAYS ANILINE DYES HAVE GAINED POPULARITY AS THEY AS CHEAPER, LESS TIME-CONSUMING AND PRODUCE A LARGER VARIETY OF COLORS.
MAKING NAKSHAS (DESIGNS) ON BROCADES : MAKING OF NAKSHAS (DESINGS) FORMS AS IMPORTANT PART OF BROCADE WEAVING. BANARAS IS THE MAIN CENTER WHERE THE NAKSHABANDHA (DESGINGER) TRADITION PREVAILS. THE SKILL AND IMAGINATION OF NAKSHABANDHA PLAYS A PROMINENT PART IN MAKING OF DESIGNS. DESIGNS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH LEGENDS AND SYMBOLISM. THE MOST POPULAR MOTIFS ARE DRAWN FROM NATURE.
IN BANARAS, IT IS SAID THAT NAKSHABANDHA FAMILIES WERE BROUGHT TO THIS COUNTRY DURING THE REIGN OF MUHAMMED TUGHLAK . THEY WERE SUPREME MASTERS OF THE ART OF TYING DESIGNS INTO THE LOOM. LOCAL ARTISIANS AND WEAVES LEARNED THIS ART FROM THESE GREAT CRAFTSMEN.
SOME OF THESE CRAFTMEN WERE ALSO GREAT POETS-PERHAPS THEY WOVE THEIR POETRY INTO THEIR DESIGNS. ONE SUCH REMOWNED POET WAS GHIAS-I-NAQSBAND, MENTIONED IN ABUL FAZL'S 'AIN-I-AKBAR'. THE NAKSHAS ARE FIRST WORKED ON PAPER. THIS PART OF THE WORK IS CALLED LIKHAI (WRITING). THE NAKSHABANDAN THEN MAKES A LITTLE PATTERN OF IT IN A FRAMEWORK OF COTTON THREADS LIKE GRAPH. THIS PATTERN GIVE GUIDANCE TO THE WORKING OF THAT DESIGN INTO WEAVING.
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF EMBRODERED TEXTILE ?
EMBROIDERED TEXTILES :
KANTHA : THE KANTHA, PATCHED CLOTH, WAS MAINLY MADE OUT OF WORN OUT AND DISUSED SAREES AND DHOTIS. BORDERS OF THESE USED SARIS ETC. WERE CUT PATCHED AND EMBRODERY. WOMEN OF ALL CASTES, BUT BRAHMIN INCLUDING MUSLIM WOMEN DO THIS EMBRODERY. THE STITCHES USED ARE OF SIMPLEST KIND. THE RUNNING STITCH I THE MAIN. RED AND BLUE COLOURS ARE GENERALLY USED. THE DESIGN IS MOSTLY IN THE SQUARE OR RECTANGLE, AT THE CENTRE SPACE IS OCCUPIED BY A LOTUS FLOWER AND AND ITS PETALS WHICH MANIFEST ANCIENT INDIAN SYMBOL OF UNIVERSE. FOUR TREES MARK THE COMERS SYMBOLIZING FOUR DIRECTIONS. THEMATICALLY ITS AN ENRICHED TEXTILE VERSION OF THE ART OF THE ALPHONA. THEMES FROM ANCIENT MYTHOLOGY AND LEGENDS ARE TAKEN. IN SOME KANTHAS ONLY THE FIGURES OF ANIMALS ARE USED. HOWEVER, MUSLIM KANTHAS LACK FIGURES, ETC. INSTEAD THEY USE SCROLL.
THE ART OF KANTHA DIED AFTER THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE 20TH CENTURY. IT IS NOT KNOWN WHEN IT BEGAN AGAIN, THE NEW KANTHA, THOUGH SAME IN TECHNIQUE, WITH WIDELY SPACED DESIGNS RESEMBLES MORE WITH CERTAIN TYPE OF PAINTINGS IN BIHAR AND BENGAL.
CIKAN : IT IS DONE MAILY IN WHITE COTTON THREAD ON WHITE COTTON. THE EMBROIDERY IS COMPOSED OF LARGE AND SMALL, SIMPLE OR INVERTED SATIN-STITCH, BUTTON HOLDING, DARN STITCH, KNOT-STITCH, NETTING AND APPLIQUE. THE ART DEVELOPED AT LUCKNOW UNDER THE PATRONAGE OF THE RULERS OF AVADH. BOTH, HINDU AND MUSLIM CRAFSMEN ARE SKILLED IN THE CRAFT. AT PRESENT FIVE DIFFERENT STYLES OF CIKAN WORK ARE COMMON. TAIPCHI, KHATWA, BAKHIA, MURRI AND PHANDA AND JALI.
APPLIQUE WORK : THE TRADITIONAL HOMES OF APPLIQUE AND PATCHWORK ARE KUTCH, SAURASHTRA, ORISSA (PIPLI), BENGAL, BIHAR, U.P ANDHRA PRADESH AND TAMILNADU. THE PEOPLE OF BANNI IN KUTCH MAKE A VARIETY OF DHADKI, SPREAD-CUM-QUILT BY USING THE APPLIQUE TECHNIQUE. SIMILARLY, KATHIS, RAJPUTS, MERS, KUNBIS, VANIA, ETC. OF SAURASHTRA USE BOTH APPLIQUE AND PATCHWORK TECHNIQUE.
IN APPLIQUE TECHNIQUE MOTIFS ARE CUT OUT FROM COLOURED FABRIC AND APPLIED TO A PLAIN GROUND, NORMALLY WHITE, TO CREATE A RANGE OF PATTERNED SPREADS, QUITS, COSTUMES, ETC. MOTIFS LIKE HUMAN FIGURES, ANIMALS AND FLOWERS ARE ALSO CUT OUT AND APPLIED TO THE GROUND / PLAIN CLOTH.
PHULKARI (FLOWER WORK) : IT IS A FORM OF EMOBRODERY OF PUNJAB DONE IN DARN-STITCH OVER COUNTED THREAD BY USING FLOSS-SILK THREAD ON A COARSE MADDER RED OR INDIGO BLUE HOMESPUN COTTON. IT IS TRADITIONALLY DONE BY HINDU JAT WOMEN ON ODHNIS SKIRTS AND BLOUSES. NOW-A-DAYS, BESIDES THE TRADITIONALLLY PHULKARI "BAGH" TECHNIQUE IN WHICH DENSE SILK EMBROIDERY IS USED, PATTERNS WHICH ONLY EDGES ARE COVERED AND SISADES ON MIRROR WORK EMBROIDERY USE ALSO COMMON.
ARI BHARAT : IT IS A CHAIN STITCH EMBROIDERY DONE PRIMARILY BY GUJARAT WOMEN. IN THIS FLORAL MEDALLIONS AND PEACOCKS PREDOMINATES. THE MEGHVALS, AHIRS, RABARIS, KATHIS AND GARASIAS ARE FIGURATIVE MOTIFS, LOCAL NARRATIVES AND PURANIC LEGENDS UNLIKE THEIR COUNTERPARTS THE ISLAMIC BANIAS.
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