Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

HANDICRAFTS

being of the same fineness as those used in the fabric - was brought to West Bengal by weavers who migrated from East Bengal (now Bangladesh) and is used in weaving Daccai saris. Varanasi craftsmen have also borrowed the Jamadani technique. Woollen fabrics are no less enchanting. The famous Kashmiri shawl is made from wool ( Pashmina ) from the underneck part of a rare breed of Tibetan antelope. The shawl is supposed to pass easily through a ring but yet is warm enough to hatch a pigeon’s egg- The shawl industry in Kashmir received an impetus from the Mughals. Akbar and his successors wore Kashmiri shawls. Af- ter Napoleon presented a rare shawl to Em-, press Josephine France went crazy over shawls. Jannwar shawl is rare; threads of the wrap and weft are dyed before weaving. Special charm of this shawl is the harmoni- ous blending of colour schemes depicting architectural and mythological figures inter- woven with landscape design. Designs have to be worked evenly on both sides to make the shawl attractive. A good Pashmina shawl may cost a few hundred to thousand rupees depending upon the workmanship involved and time con- sumed for its completion. The major output in shawls today is of the embroidered type with the base cloth woven out of raffal - 40 and 60 counts wool- len yarn. These handwoven shawls are em- broidered with hand motifs. HANDPRINTED TEXTILES Printed textiles are fabrics on which a pattern is produced after the cloth is woven. There are different ways in which this can be done. 1. The direct or application process — known as block printing or screen print- ing. The wooden block or silk screen is applied directly on the fabric. 2. The resist process — portions of the cloth are covered with wax, clay, gum or other resist so that when the cloth is subsequently dyed the colour does not penetrate these portions. Batik is a re- sist process. In the Bandhani tech- nique, the flow of colour is restricted by tying certain portions of the fabric with thread before dyeing. The weavers of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa tie and dye yarn in this way before weaving. The patolas of Patan are similarly treated.

3. The mordant-madder, alizarin and indigo process. The cloth is prepared with vari- ous mordants so that when it is im- mersed in a dye bath, the reaction pro- duces different colours on the cloth. Only the prepared portions take the dye. 4. The discharge process. In the modern process the cloth is first dyed in the background colour with dischargeable colours. The design pattern is then printed on with chemicals which dis- charge the background colour and fix the colour which is printed along with the chemicals. The design can then be fur- ther processed. 5. Application of thick pigment or roghan to the fabric. This produces patterns which appear to be encrusted on the fabric. Hand printing is extensively done in Ra- jasthan. Barmer has a special print called Ajrakh, printed on both sides, which con- sists of blue and red geometrical patterns. This is used for turbans and shawls. In Nathdwara printed sarees, wraps, large kerchiefs and quilt covers are available. Sandalwood blocks are used for printing. This leaves a lingering scent in the folds of the cloth. Jaisalmer in the border area of Rajasthan has a special type of resist which is done only in winter at night as it has to be done at low temperatures. In Gujarat there are several centres like Jamnagar, Bhavnagar, Rajkot and Vasna each with its own rich traditions. Kutch is famous for satin prints called gajji. The col- our is black and red with peacock, bird, ani- mal and flower motifs. In Uttar Pradesh Farrukhabad has tradi- tional designs ranging from butis (dots) to the Tree of Life. Mango "paisley" designs are made in a variety of shapes. The tree of life is a complex and intricate piece of work with delicate details. A complete block con- sists of anything from 1000 to 2000 pieces. Lucknow is noted for its paisley designs. Mathura's craft is rooted in religion and my- thology with scenes and episodes from Krishna's life.

The Malva region of Madhya Pradesh is renowned for its printed cottons. Important centres are Bhairongarh, Jawad, Tarapur, Umedpura and Sheopur. The large floor covering, Jajam, has an impressive design, the Neempatti, a large 24-petalled flower, bounded by four neem leaves linked to- gether by two four-petalled and two six- petalled flowers arranged alternately. The border has a flower and leaf motif running like a creeper, The Mughal emperor, Akbar, in the 16th century, introduced the art of pile carpet weaving in India when he brought Persian carpet weavers to India and set up the royal workshop in his own palace. The Indian carpet industry began by imi- tating the Persian in style and technique but has gradually acquired a character of its own. India produces carpets in several sizes and varying lengths of pile from as low as 1/ 4" as in Kashmiri carpets to 7/8" as in the Indo-Berber carpets which are made from handspun wool. In addition to designs from Persia, Afghanistan, Turkey, China, Mo- rocco and France, a number of distinctly In- dian designs have evolved in recent years. Of the Central Asian designs made in Ka- shmir, the most outstanding is Bokhara in which warp and weft are prepared in wool. Imported wool blended with high-grade Indian wool is used for superior quality car- pets. The yarn used is mostly millspun. For fine quality carpets, such as Kashmir car- pets, worsted yarn is used. The best quali- ties, made with high grade wool, develop a lustre after use. However since there is a demand for carpets with lustre even before they are used, lustrous wool pile is used. This is a process of chemical, washing which enhances the natural lustre of the wool, the fibre becoming smooth and shiny. But if the washing is not carefully done, this could reduce the life of a carpet. The finest carpets come from Kashmir, where a carpet has 400 knots per square inch. But good carpets are also made in Amritsar (Punjab), Agra (Uttar Pradesh), Jaipur (Rajasthan), Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh), Warangal and Elluru (Andhra Pradesh). Some Muslim families in Elluru claim to be direct descendants of Persian migrants. Carpet weaving was introduced to Warangal by craftsmen who formed part of the Mughal Army-. CARPETS AND OTHER FLOOR COVERINGS