JOURNAL ARCHIVE
Artisan travel in Italy, July 2007
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Visiting Northern Italy gave me a chance to get a feel of a countryside that has gone through cycles of industrial change since at least the 1600s. The Eastern part, particularly the Marche region is a perfect example of sociologist Charles Tilly's observation that industrialization is not a linear process "…a straight-line model of industrialization is not merely inaccurate in itself; it leads to faulty, costly deductions" he says. It is wrong to assume that "industrialization follows a straight line from agriculture to handicraft to full-scale industry, with handicraft a weak anticipation of full-scale industry". In this region both craft and mass-production seem to have had their glory days and their bleak stretches, with craft production of leather goods and textiles bringing some prosperity after a period of industrial decline in the early 20th century. I was in Pavia to lecture students of a course on Co-operation and Development at the University of Pavia. Pavia itself, an example of the way in which in Italy the past is part of the present through its lovingly preserved architecture and spaces, is a delight. Pavia is part of the province of Lombardy near the great industrial capital of Milan. Italy had seen the rise and fall of the woollen industry during the seventeenth century. At the beginning of that century, according to Carlo M Cipollo, this region was one of the most industrially advanced in Western Europe, but by its end, Italy had become an 'economically depressed and backward area'. Another industrial cycle began two hundred years later: "Milan's economic success was founded at the end of the 19th century", says an internet site "when the metal factories and the rubber industries moved in, replacing agriculture and mercantile trading as the city's main sources of income". Before this visit I had been to Italy as a tourist, admired the grandeur of Rome, steeped myself in the 'cinquecento', the sublime 16th century of Italian painting, and in the Tuscan countryside, which is the background for those early paintings. This time, travelling with Alessandra L'Abate, I glimpsed another Italy, of artisans, 'fair trade', the peace movement, and a hospitality network. At an artisan fair in Florence in the grounds of the beautiful Palazzo Corsini in whose formal gardens the fair is held each year, we find Alessandra's basket maker friend Giotto Scaramelli weaving baskets and holding a class. "I learnt from my father when every farmer used to make his own baskets" he says. Enzo Sottili has dropped by to visit. He heads an artisans' organization demanding the right to sell their own work on the street: "In the 1950s there was a revolution in peoples' heads. Before that every household had a craft. At that time peoples' attitude changed to 'why should I make anything by hand when it is cheaper by machine'. Now crafts are also using machines and real craft has died". It appears to me that the basket makers and a family of bronze bell casters were the only true artisans in the fair, the rest seem more like hobbyists. Our hostess in Cuneo, Franca, is a member of SERVAS, an international open house network, in which the members welcome fellow members into their homes on a reciprocal basis. With Franca we drive to a village in the Alpes Maritimes, Norat, where her daughter's family, like other city people, has a country retreat. Only two of the original families remain in the village. They had been mostly sheep and cattle farmers, and many had migrated to the plains about 50 years ago finding work there during one of the industrial upturns. The village houses are terraced into the hillside and most of them are abandoned, boarded up or falling down. A few of them have been renovated as second homes for people from the city, the old slate roofs replaced with tiles or, horror, synthetic sheet tiling. The tiny old church has a drinking fountain spouting clear spring water and the meadows are full of wild flowers. On the way to Torino near Chieri we stop at a tiny hamlet, Borgato Maria Della Rovere, for a night at the Cascina Macondo [http/www.cascinamacondo.com], a cultural centre run by Alessandra's friends Pietro Tatramella & Anna Maria. He is a storyteller and a writer of Italian haiku, she is a potter, a retired school teacher. Every weekday for 3 months in the summer Pietro entertains groups of schoolchildren with stories of American Indian traditions while Anna Maria gives classes in pottery. Next stop, Chieri. The textile industry here flourished without interruption from the 17th century to the 1980s. The earliest loom displayed in the textile museum dates from the late 1600s, when the shuttle was not yet known here. Instead, a notched stick carried the weft, a system in use for the next hundred years with the shuttle containing a bobbin introduced only in the 1700s, followed soon after by the fly shuttle. After that innovations were rapid, more healds were added, the structure of the loom changed from wood to iron and then steel, dobby and jacquard were introduced for elaborately woven brocade and tapestry in the 19th century. Electrical power began to drive the looms around 1904, shuttleless and then gripper looms came in the 1950s-60s, and at the end of the 20th century the first computerized models. The Museo del Tessile, housed in the former convent of the Poor Clares, has the earlier models on display in working condition, with warping wheels, spinning and dyeing equipment. There is a vast collection of documents available for research, and sets of early woven samples and trimmings. The Movimento Nonviolento is the Italian branch of War Resistance International, and has strong affinities with the teachings of Gandhi. The founder, Aldo Capitini translated Gandhi's writings into Italian and was responsible for the spread of the Gandhian principle of non-violent resistance in Italy. Professor Alberto L'Abate, Alessandra's father, is one of its pillars, he has worked with both Capitini and with Danilo Dolci. Professor L'Abate introduced the degree course in Peace Studies at the University of Florence where he has taught for many years, and is associated with the Studi Domenico Sereno Regis, a centre for research in Peace Studies in Torino, where we are expected that afternoon. Here we stay with Angela, a member of the Movimento Nonviolente; her husband Beppe who she met at a peace demonstration when she was 17, about 30 years ago, [he proposed 2 months later], is a member of the Movimento Internationale della Reconciliazione, which is related to the Church. Beppe grows organic vegetables and makes his own delicious Dolcetta Piemonte wine. Finally we reach Pescate, a suburb of Lecco, near the Swiss border. Eleanor and her sister look after us here, putting us up in their family home which backs onto the forested mountainside of a national park, Parco Monte Barro. In Lecco we give the last of our talks - earlier ones had been at Cascina Macondo and the Peace Centre at Torino - at a contribution supper to a gathering of about 35 Fair Trade supporters. We tell the story of Indian cotton textiles, relating past history to the present situation, with displays of khadi and malkha. Hardly anyone dozes off and there is a lively discussion to follow. Here in Italy the craft tradition provides a counter-flow to mass-production: as one declines the other is rejuvenated, an elliptical movement rather than a straight line. History is valued, the future is built on the past rather than by discarding or denying it. The village houses might be in ruins today, but no high-rises are allowed, so when the wheel of industry turns there is every chance of a renewal. Commercialism, the partner of mass-production, has not crept into every life: The members of SERVAS are hospitable through sheer goodwill and friendship, not for money. The movement for peace recognizes the relation between peace and artisan industry, and the Fair Trade organizations are groping their way towards fraternal relations with small producers on the other side of the world. The circles of hospitality, peace and fair trade are rich soils to nurture a renewed flowering of Italian craft. |
Artisans and Academics,
Although many people are involved with craft in America, both in terms of creation and purchasing, few are intimately entangled in the scholarly discourse of these Asian craft objects. The professors, curators and critics that do venture into the academic world of Indian craft often remain so far removed from the public sphere that little of this discourse ever becomes accessible to the public at large. This leaves most Americas with little information about the crafts they view in catalogues, high-end stores and import shops. As I have written before, there are certain organizations, such as Aid to Artisans that attempt cultural explanations with their sale of craft objects. However, these explanations barely breach the academic line, for lack of time, space and attention span of the buyer. There are also a few magazines that cater to the general public and are widely available at common venues such as book stores and magazines stalls. Ornamentations, one such magazine, recently featured the culture and jewelry of the Naga's from Northeastern India. Although much of the article focused on the dwindling art and the need for preservation, it proved to bring more of an explanation about the rich heritage of one of India's largest tribal areas. Among scholarly journals, available to the public only through personal subscription or large libraries, there are a few that focus on Asian arts and crafts. These journals, often published through universities with extensive doctoral programs for Asian art, create the majority of the American discourse around Indian art. The Freer Gallery of Art in the Smithsonian Institute and the Department of the History of Art at the University of Michigan publish one of the best journals, Ars Orientalis. Ars Orientalis has a wide spread readership among scholars and it is published as an annual volume of articles and book reviews focusing on all of Asia including the ancient Near East and the Islamic World. Fortunately, for scholars of Indian art and craft, the most recent publication is focused on western India in the 11th through 15th centuries. The volume contains articles with topics with a wide range, but mostly focused on textiles and trade. The contributing scholars, mostly from America and Britain, also included a professor from Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi). However exciting an entire volume on Indian crafts truly is, the fact remains that most scholarly journals focus on ancient technology and production of these items. Even at that, the academics also tend to concentrate on what we in the craft world would consider classical pieces, e.g. Gandharan sculpture, Rajput paintings and Company School paintings. To find a discussion on more recent creations from artisan in India and elsewhere, often scholars must look to Anthropology journals where discussions of artifacts are mingled with stories of development and ethnographies. And these journals are perhaps even harder to obtain for the general public. There are, of course, occasional features in more accessible magazines or journals where India's contemporary crafts are highlighted. In the most recent summer edition of the journal The Subcontinent, which usually focuses on public affairs, the editors decided to feature articles dealing with the institutionalization of Indian arts and culture. A few of these articles concentrated specifically on some disappearing crafts such as puppet making and performance and hand-made paper creation. However, even features in more commonplace journals rarely reach the public in mass quantities. Perhaps the most successful way to introduce and educate the public about Indian crafts is through museums. In Washington, D.C., America's capital, the Smithsonian Institute has done a remarkable job of designing and filling museums that focus on non-western art and craft. The Freer and Sackler galleries are a part of this effort. Together they house some 1,200 objects from South Asia and the Himalayas that range in age from the 1st century B.C.E. to the present. They also show contemporary exhibits that highlight a scope of objects. In 2003, for example, the museum hosted an exhibit on Pakistani painted trucks (HTV's). Another fantastic museum located in the nation's capital is The Textile Museum. Through their gallery spaces, library and events, they promote knowledge of Indian craft to the public and academic classes alike. Currently the museum is hosting an exhibit on Kashmir shawls and the development of the buta design found on these spectacular fabrics. Also, this past October the museum held a conference on Indian Textile Traditions hosting speakers for such topics as carpet design, the impact of Kashmir shawls on Persian rug design and the disappearing flower motifs in Indian shawls. Museums such as the Freer and Sackler Galleries and the Textile Museum, as well as others throughout the United States, are perhaps the only ways through which the public can be educated about the vast array of Indian crafts. These museums and galleries are accessible, well advertised and contain easy to understand information on everything from wall paintings to rug weaving. However only so much information can be dispensed through didactic panels and catalogues. For people to have a deep understanding of Indian crafts they have a lengthy search ahead of them.
Although many people are involved with craft in America, both in terms of creation and purchasing, few are intimately entangled in the scholarly discourse of these Asian craft objects. The professors, curators and critics that do venture into the academic world of Indian craft often remain so far removed from the public sphere that little of this discourse ever becomes accessible to the public at large. This leaves most Americas with little information about the crafts they view in catalogues, high-end stores and import shops. As I have written before, there are certain organizations, such as Aid to Artisans that attempt cultural explanations with their sale of craft objects. However, these explanations barely breach the academic line, for lack of time, space and attention span of the buyer. There are also a few magazines that cater to the general public and are widely available at common venues such as book stores and magazines stalls. Ornamentations, one such magazine, recently featured the culture and jewelry of the Naga's from Northeastern India. Although much of the article focused on the dwindling art and the need for preservation, it proved to bring more of an explanation about the rich heritage of one of India's largest tribal areas. Among scholarly journals, available to the public only through personal subscription or large libraries, there are a few that focus on Asian arts and crafts. These journals, often published through universities with extensive doctoral programs for Asian art, create the majority of the American discourse around Indian art. The Freer Gallery of Art in the Smithsonian Institute and the Department of the History of Art at the University of Michigan publish one of the best journals, Ars Orientalis. Ars Orientalis has a wide spread readership among scholars and it is published as an annual volume of articles and book reviews focusing on all of Asia including the ancient Near East and the Islamic World. Fortunately, for scholars of Indian art and craft, the most recent publication is focused on western India in the 11th through 15th centuries. The volume contains articles with topics with a wide range, but mostly focused on textiles and trade. The contributing scholars, mostly from America and Britain, also included a professor from Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi). However exciting an entire volume on Indian crafts truly is, the fact remains that most scholarly journals focus on ancient technology and production of these items. Even at that, the academics also tend to concentrate on what we in the craft world would consider classical pieces, e.g. Gandharan sculpture, Rajput paintings and Company School paintings. To find a discussion on more recent creations from artisan in India and elsewhere, often scholars must look to Anthropology journals where discussions of artifacts are mingled with stories of development and ethnographies. And these journals are perhaps even harder to obtain for the general public. There are, of course, occasional features in more accessible magazines or journals where India's contemporary crafts are highlighted. In the most recent summer edition of the journal The Subcontinent, which usually focuses on public affairs, the editors decided to feature articles dealing with the institutionalization of Indian arts and culture. A few of these articles concentrated specifically on some disappearing crafts such as puppet making and performance and hand-made paper creation. However, even features in more commonplace journals rarely reach the public in mass quantities. Perhaps the most successful way to introduce and educate the public about Indian crafts is through museums. In Washington, D.C., America's capital, the Smithsonian Institute has done a remarkable job of designing and filling museums that focus on non-western art and craft. The Freer and Sackler galleries are a part of this effort. Together they house some 1,200 objects from South Asia and the Himalayas that range in age from the 1st century B.C.E. to the present. They also show contemporary exhibits that highlight a scope of objects. In 2003, for example, the museum hosted an exhibit on Pakistani painted trucks (HTV's). Another fantastic museum located in the nation's capital is The Textile Museum. Through their gallery spaces, library and events, they promote knowledge of Indian craft to the public and academic classes alike. Currently the museum is hosting an exhibit on Kashmir shawls and the development of the buta design found on these spectacular fabrics. Also, this past October the museum held a conference on Indian Textile Traditions hosting speakers for such topics as carpet design, the impact of Kashmir shawls on Persian rug design and the disappearing flower motifs in Indian shawls. Museums such as the Freer and Sackler Galleries and the Textile Museum, as well as others throughout the United States, are perhaps the only ways through which the public can be educated about the vast array of Indian crafts. These museums and galleries are accessible, well advertised and contain easy to understand information on everything from wall paintings to rug weaving. However only so much information can be dispensed through didactic panels and catalogues. For people to have a deep understanding of Indian crafts they have a lengthy search ahead of them.
Artistic Broom and Mat Weaving from Madhya Pradesh,
Broom-making is an extremely relevant example of using specialised craft skills to create items of everyday use - of the merging of utilitarianism and craft technique and skill in the artisans' hands. Broom-makers from village Kamedh in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, like the family of Sharada Verma, have been making brooms - from the leaves of the khajur or date-palm tree (Phonenix dactylifera) - for over seven generations. These families of broom-makers, the Bargundas, belong to the Khajurvanshi community. Their tradition - producing the very utilitarian 'broom', as a means of earning a livelihood - was not generally recognised as a 'craft'; neither were the broom-makers seen as 'craftspersons'. However, the skill required to make brooms from date-palm leaves, as well as the fact that the broom-making families are diversifying and also producing a host of decorative items from the date-palm leaf has led, eventually, to them being recognised as craftspersons.
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Broom-making is an extremely relevant example of using specialised craft skills to create items of everyday use - of the merging of utilitarianism and craft technique and skill in the artisans' hands. Broom-makers from village Kamedh in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, like the family of Sharada Verma, have been making brooms - from the leaves of the khajur or date-palm tree (Phonenix dactylifera) - for over seven generations. These families of broom-makers, the Bargundas, belong to the Khajurvanshi community. Their tradition - producing the very utilitarian 'broom', as a means of earning a livelihood - was not generally recognised as a 'craft'; neither were the broom-makers seen as 'craftspersons'. However, the skill required to make brooms from date-palm leaves, as well as the fact that the broom-making families are diversifying and also producing a host of decorative items from the date-palm leaf has led, eventually, to them being recognised as craftspersons.
PRACTITIONERS
Sharada Verma has been making brooms since she was nine years ole. She says that she learnt the skill as a child, by working with her parents and other members of her family, all of whom made brooms to sell for a living. In a regular workday, about 10-12 brooms are made, each of which can be sold for between Rs 10 and Rs 15. This tradition, as it is practised in Ujjain, is definitely hereditary. Sharada Verma was married into a family of broom-makers; her daughter, Rani, is married into a family of broom-makers; and her daughter-in-law is also from a family of broom-makers. Sharada Verma states quite candidly that since broom making is a profession through which the entire family earns its livelihood, and since it is a process in which women participate significantly, it is important when marrying off the sons to ensure that future daughters-in-law come from within the community and will participate in the family profession.
TECHNIQUE
The leaves - sourced from the local jungles - are collected between October and March / April. A darati (sickle) is used to cut off the leaves. The leaves are first dried for two to three days in the jungle itself, and then brought home and dried again in the sun for another two to three days. The dried leaves are beaten, after which each leaf is split into two. The process is called chirna (tearing) and it is torn with a thin and sharp instrument called chirni. Leaves of even length are then gathered together in a bundle; the bundle is tied with a strip of leaf, knotted expertly, and the broom - usually between two feet and two and a half feet in height - ready. Sharada Verma says that the khajur leaf is quite strong, and if the knot is tied correctly, it holds together for the life of the broom. However, nylon cords are also being used now, partly to add a dash of colour on the pale green-gold of the broom, and partly in trying smaller items like rattles and mobiles, which require a fair amount of twisted cord to hold them together. The date-palm leaf, though strong, cannot take be twisted overmuch, especially over items with narrow perimeters, for fear of the leaf becoming brittle and snapping.
PRODUCTS
Although brooms comprise the bulk of what is made, some of the broom-making families in the area are making other small, decorative items from thin strips of date-palm leaf. As Sharada Verma says, these small items allow for experimentation and creativity, and require not only inventiveness, but also a combination of dexterity and delicacy. She learnt the basic shapes from her husband, but now experiments with ideas and figures on her own. Some of these small items include toys like rattles for children - tightly woven square shapes, filled with small river stones to create the rattling sound, and held on a stick, tied with bright nylon strips. Both two dimensional and three-dimensional animal and bird figures are also made, which leaf strips are woven together inventively. These are found not only in the natural green-gold, but also in a multitude of bright colours, magenta, yellow, and green being common. The colour is obtained by boiling the leaf strips to be used in coloured dyes obtained from cloth dyers. Delicate mobiles, with different coloured fish - each fish being about 5 cm x 3 cm x 2 cm - are extremely attractive and cost between Rs 10 to Rs 15. Table mats, both small squares, and larger place mats are also made, often edged with coloured strips of leaf, or with nylon rope that is woven in.
The brooms are sold locally as items of for daily use; they are also exported on order, often from the government. Sharada Verma travels to between eight and ten towns and cities in a year, usually for exhibitions and fairs to which she (or any other member of her family) has been invited. (Thus expenses are covered.) The small toys and decorative items now sell almost as well as the brooms. Winner of an award from the Adivasi Kala Parishad in Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Sharada Verma also displays and teaches the techniques involved in making brooms (and other items) to those interested in it - small groups in the Crafts Museum in New Delhi, or groups of school children who have been sent from local schools. She continues to work at making brooms, even though there are enough people in her family of eight to do the necessary work. For her, it is not merely a livelihood; the skill is an extremely vital and important part of her life, and of her days.
ARTS AND CRAFTS IN AND OUT OF THE INDIAN SCHOOL EDUCATION,
Issue #006, Autumn, 2020 ISSN: 2581- 9410 70 years of policy and practice Indian society is still governed by a rigid hierarchy, and evidence of this appears in every social structure. This explains the lowly status of the crafts in India and the impoverishment of craft communities who have to compete with mass produced industrial products today. The government school curriculum and timetable also reveals the status of art and craft education clearly in its hierarchical structure. Morning classes, when children are bright and rested are reserved for mathematics, science and language, while art and craft education and other ‘co-curricular’ activities are relegated to Friday afternoons, at the end of a tiring working school week. Need one say more? Though this is the prevalent reality, it is shocking that the school curriculum does not reflect the highly commendable and valuable recommendations made in National Educational Policies over the last 80 years. If we go back to the pre-independence era, great thinkers like Rabindranath Tagore, who set up Santiniketan in 1901, offered a creative alternative to the British School system. Tagore’s understanding of the role of arts in education was clear: ‘Literature, music, and the arts, are all necessary for the development and flowering of a student to form an integrated total personality.’ Rabindranath Tagore.
Shiv Lal, traditional potter from Delhi has enthralled school children, for forty years, with his skill and mastery. Source :Sanskriti Kendra Museums, New Delhi
As early as 1952-53 the first Education Commission for Independent India emphasized ‘the release of creative energy among students so that they can appreciate cultural heritage and cultivate rich interests, which they can pursue in their leisure and later in life.’ It recommended that every high school student should take on one craft, working with the hands, to develop a high standard of proficiency, understand the dignity of labour, and support themselves in later life.
The Kothari Commission Report of 1964-66, was more inspiring as it emphasized that in an ‘age which values discovery and invention, education for creative expression acquires added significance… The neglect of the arts in education impoverishes the educational process and leads to decline of aesthetic tastes and values.’ In its recommendations it highlighted the critical role of art education in achieving major educational goals, and the necessity of art education at all stages of schooling - from pre-primary to high school.
All three subsequent National Curriculum Frameworks of 1975, 1988, and 2000, repeatedly recommended the importance of art education for the ‘holistic’ development of the child. These Curriculum frameworks recommended that, ‘Art Education should concentrate on exposing the learner to folk arts, local specific art and other cultural components.’ An interesting new idea was that the arts programme should ‘promote values and appreciation of India’s common cultural heritage and the protection of the environment.’ This was possibly influenced by global trends of the 70-80s.
In 1979, the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT) was established under the inspiring guidance of Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay (First Chairperson) and Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan (First Vice Chair). CCRT’s primary role was to train in-service school teachers from government schools across the country in ways to improve their teaching of all disciplines, with the introduction of an understanding of India’s cultural heritage, art and traditional craft activities. For 40 years now, hundreds of teachers have been trained by traditional practitioners in puppet making, clay work, printing, painting to improve the students’ school experience.
In 2000, UNESCO’s Director General, issued a plea for ‘art education to be placed on an equal footing (with other subjects) at different stages of schooling.’ Finally, in 2005 the National Curriculum Framework for School Education, under the inspirational Directorship of Krishna Kumar, re-emphasized the critical role of art and crafts in education by making it a compulsory subject up to Class X. Art education was recognized for its role in the healthy mental development of students, and its contribution in enhancing creativity and appreciation of their cultural heritage and respect for each other’s work. The approach suggested that art education should be integrated with other subjects as a two way-process: in the form of content providing examples in social sciences, languages, science, and mathematics, and in the form of activities, projects and exercises to make school learning a joyful experience. Furthermore, the study of traditional crafts could be introduced as an optional elective subject for students of classes XI and XII for the CBSC board exam.
Guided programme for students to enable them to understand their cultural heritage and ancient craft skills, organized by Shobita Punja at National Museum, New Delhi.
In preparing this innovative approach in 2005, the esteemed members of the National Focus Group on Arts, Music, Dance and Theatre began their Position Paper with an overview of the problems faced by schools and the reasons why most of the recommendations made by previous Commissions had not been implemented in regular school practice over the last five decades.
According to the Focus Group, the major reason why art education was neglected in the school programme was because the Indian school system focused on ‘core subjects’ - science, mathematics and language. The school system was also completely crushed by the grueling test and exam system that encouraged rote learning. Science, mathematics and language are seen as important subjects, offering students future careers in medicine, commerce, and engineering. Teachers blame parents for their lack of interest in the social sciences as they see few job options in this field. The Government efforts to industrialize India soon after Independence and now to digitize it, have created a further chasm between the arts and science.
Teachers find evaluation of students’ progress easier in core subjects, using quantitative measures. Experts and teachers know that ‘students’ progress’ in art and craft education is hard to evaluate on a scale of 1-100 marks and needs a more interactive qualitative approach. Therefore, within the exam oriented school system, the recommendations of the Commissions were ignored and schools continued to concentrated on just the core subjects.
The second major obstacle was the shortage of trained teachers. Teacher Training Institutes/colleges do not have an innovative arts and crafts education programme that can be integrated into the teaching of all subjects, for pre-primary to high school classes.
Today, industry is seeking to hire creative and innovative people. With no proper arts programme in schools, students don’t have the opportunity to be creative, or learn how to problem solve while designing a craft, or find innovative solutions to common problems. Thus, India continues to copy and imitate designs created in other countries from light switches to space technology. These two reasons; poor teacher training and the exam orientation of the school programme have led to a mediocre system, dominated by rote learning with no space for creativity, arts and crafts for lakhs of Indian students year after year.
Designing new textbooks for the Heritage Crafts school programme
The 2005 Commission led to the formation of a Textbook Development Committee of experienced professionals: Laila Tyabji, Founder member, Dastakar, Jaya Jaitley, CEO, Dastakari Haat Samiti, Mushtak Khan, Deputy Director, National Handicrafts and Handloom Museum, and others. They assigned the development of the textbooks for CBSC to Feisal Alkazi, Director Creative Learning for Change and eminent Drama Educator and myself.
Trying to overcome the limitations of the existing system, we adopted an approach based on the well accepted format of the science syllabus prevalent in all schools in India that contained two integrated parts: theory and practical work. The school timetable is adjusted to enable students to learn both aspects, with two combined periods to complete their practical science activity, each week. Using this ‘core subject’ formula, we hoped to erase the notion that art education was an ‘extra curricular’ subject.
The textbooks explained to parents, teachers and students that several career options (design, industrial product design, architecture, interior design, museum education management of a craft initiative etc.) were available to students selecting this course for the school board exam. Most importantly, it was hoped that young people belonging to traditional arts and crafts communities would opt for this subject, assist their families in their ancestral crafts and be able to meet challenges of entrepreneurship and merchandising in a global era. The underlying idea of this school programme was to nurture a generation of ‘rasikas,’ students who had had enjoyable educational experiences in school, so they could appreciate and support the Indian arts and crafts all their lives.
To address the issue of lack of trained teachers to implement this programme, it was explained that India is fortunate to have crafts communities in every village, town and city, and this could serve the schools in many ways. It was suggested that students could visit local craft centres to see how artisans lived and worked, and experience the amazing skills that they had. For practical work too, local craft practitioners could serve as mentors and trainers. Another benefit for schools was that compared to science laboratories, craft materials were inexpensive and readily available.
Text Books and Workbook for Classes XI and XII, NCERT. Source: Shobita Punja
We prepared two separate textbooks for the theory classes for Class XI and Class XII. The text book for Class XI called ‘Living Craft Traditions of India’ had 10 chapters that covered common crafts available in most states such as 1.Craft Heritage in the home, 2.Clay, 3.Stone, 4.Metal work, 5.Jewellery, 6.Natural Fibres, 7.Paper, 8.Textiles, 9.Painting and composite skills like 10.Theatre Crafts. Each chapter contained information about the antiquity of the craft, regional varieties, poems, and interviews with artisans. Each chapter also delved into the nature of the materials used in the craft, process and technology, design and use.
The Craft Traditions of India: Past Present and Future textbook for the theory aspect of Class XII began with an introduction to crafts in India, explaining how important crafts were as the second largest employment sector in India, second only to agriculture, that one in every 200 Indians is an artisan, and that Indian crafts are famous throughout the world, making this sector one of the highest contributors to export earnings in India. The wide ranging topics covered in this textbook may help to reveal our intent and purpose:
Unit I: Overview of the Past
NCERT Crafts Text Book for Class XII - Chapter to teach students how to document crafts and crafts communities. Source: Shobita Punja
The most exciting part of this textbook writing project was the development of the third book, a practical workbook called ‘Exploring the Craft Traditions of India: Field Study and Application of Heritage Crafts’ that offered easy-to-implement activities and field trips for students and teachers.
This workbook was designed for Classes XI and XII to develop critical life skills with activities in class, as homework and class assignments. The first part focused on preparing for field studies and focused attention on craft objects used at home. Students were asked to examine, learn to look and ask questions about each object - how it was made, what materials were used, whether could they ascertain where it was made and by whom? etc. These exercises were designed to encourage students to look, think, learn, discover and find out, and urged them to become generators of their own understanding and knowledge.
The enquiry-based learning approach and interdisciplinary activities covered many topics taking students outside the home, to study local heritage, local markets and craft bazaars. There were exercises on critical issues of climate change, depletion of natural resources and the impact of packaging and marketing of products on the environment.
The second part of the book was dedicated to the development and preparation of Documentation Formats for crafts; using ones prepared by NID, Ahmedabad, students were given exercises on how to interview artisans, how to seek permissions, how to photograph the process of making a craft. Students were to create a documentation survey form and then experience using and improving it.
Visitors have the pleasure of designing and buying made-to-order Jooties and bags from local leather craftsman at the Mehrangarh Museum Trust’s International 3-day Music Festival held annually in Nagaur, Rajasthan. Source: Smita Mankad.
Each exercise was described simply and clearly (as an aid for teachers and students) with photographs, stories, interviews, and extracts from articles and books on crafts and this gave each activity its context and subtext.
The workbook concludes with activities for the application of skills learned in school and home – display techniques, creating a corner museum, decorating the Principal’s office, designing a poster for a local craft community, designing a toy for a blind child, designing sustainable packaging for a product etc. These were all creative problem solving activities that could be shared with the rest of the school to communicate the valuable learnings from this crafts programme.
The three textbooks once completed were discussed, improved and approved by the Textbook Committee and translated into Hindi and Urdu and published by NCERT in 2011 for the new CBSC curriculum. However, CBSC did not address inhibiting issues and hurdles (accommodation of this new course in the school syllabus, training and encouraging teachers) and the course dissolved into oblivion. Changes within the management of NCERT and governments drove the final nails into the coffin of the new arts and crafts programme that we had fought so hard for years to introduce into schools.
Looking to the future
In 2020, the year of Covid-19, while the country was in lockdown the central government hastily eliminated 30% of the school syllabus, removing vital knowledge areas like democracy, cultural diversity and climate change. A new National Education Policy was made public in August 2020 and like its predecessors, makes excellent and ambitious recommendations:
‘Pedagogy must evolve to make education more experiential, holistic, integrated, inquiry-driven, discovery-oriented, learner-centred, discussion-based, flexible, and, of course, enjoyable. The curriculum must include basic arts, crafts, humanities, games, sports and fitness, languages, literature, culture and values, in addition to science and mathematics, to develop all aspects and capabilities of learners; and make education more well-rounded, useful, and fulfilling to the learner.’
The chasm between policy and the reality of the Indian school system has widened over the decades. One may ask - is the complete overhauling of the educational system, with drastic improvements in teaching standards, with far-reaching investments in infrastructure, possible? Is it even conceivable in a country where the status of arts and crafts remains negligibly low, to appreciate the value of India’s enormous ‘cultural capital’ that could transform India’s social and economic life?
There are three global trends that may shift the balance; climate change and sustainability, industrial and digital demand for innovative ventures and creative young people, and the notion of responsible global consumption.
India has a growing number of dedicated, committed people in vital sectors of education and crafts, who believe that this is not the time to give up but to strive harder, as the need is greater today more than ever before. Young people, young practitioners of craft traditions need to now become advocates of their community, trained in digital techniques and media, to speak to the government and the public, in their language with facts and figures, using every social media platform; talks, articles, interviews, and meetings.
The education of young people in arts and crafts should not merely be in the school syllabus for enjoyment, or as a co-curricular activity but recognized as an essential component for the holistic development of a human being. The name of this school programme could be changed to something like ‘Creative Industries’ that may help to remove the stigma and give it a significant status in the school curriculum!
It may also be possible to use the content and activities of the three text books produced for NCERT and CBSC mentioned above to create teaching modules and online learning programmes for schools, colleges and a wider audience of house wives, professionals and for potential consumers. Material from books may be reworked to suit the new medium and activities be added regularly to keep the online learning platform alive. The central role of ‘creative industries’ in achieving Government and International Millennial Goals needs to be explained to the wider public.
By making creative activities an essential part of India school education at all levels, poverty can be eradicated; gender equality can be achieved by engaging and nurturing women artists; and young people can become self-reliant and live a dignified life with decent work and wages through learning skills. Introducing a course on creativity in schools would assure that the ‘quality education’ promised in NEP 2020 is more inclusive, and by teaching students about sustainable practices used by all crafts communities would help to cultivate values and behavior patterns to reduce waste and preserve natural resources. To link the study of creative industries to pressing global issue of climate change, students can be introduced to the idea of responsible consumption, then they can sensitize their family and society to appreciate that crafts, made by hand with natural materials, is one sure way forward to create a sustainable future for the planet.
Every country needs creative individuals, for a country is known not only for its contribution in science and technology, industry and business but also music, dance, architecture, art, films, literature and other creative industries. So through special awards and scholarships, possibly funded by the private sector, an entire new generation of creative young people from traditional craft communities and other backgrounds can be nurtured and sponsored to ensure the preservation of unique skills and to Make India Creative again.
References
Position Paper 1.7, National Focus Group on Arts, Music, Dance and Theatre, NCERT, 2006
Living Craft Traditions of India, Textbook in Heritage Crafts for Class XI, NCERT, 2008
Crafts Tradition of India: Past, Present and Future, Textbook in Heritage Crafts for Class XII. NCERT, 2011
Exploring the Craft Traditions of India: Field Study and Application in Heritage Crafts for Classes XI and XII. NCERT, 2010.
Textbook Development Committee
Chief Advisor - Shobita Punja, Consultant, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, , New Delhi
Advisor- Feisal Alkazi, Director, Creative Learning for Change, New Delhi
Members
Aditi Ranjan, Principal Designer, NID, Ahmedabad
Jaya Jaitly, CEO, Dastakari Haat Samit, New Delhi
Laila Tyabji, Founder member, Dastakar, New Delhi
Member- Coordinator - Jyotsna Tiwari, Reader, Depart of Education in Arts and Aesthetics, NCERT, New Delhi
Issue #006, Autumn, 2020 ISSN: 2581- 9410 70 years of policy and practice Indian society is still governed by a rigid hierarchy, and evidence of this appears in every social structure. This explains the lowly status of the crafts in India and the impoverishment of craft communities who have to compete with mass produced industrial products today. The government school curriculum and timetable also reveals the status of art and craft education clearly in its hierarchical structure. Morning classes, when children are bright and rested are reserved for mathematics, science and language, while art and craft education and other ‘co-curricular’ activities are relegated to Friday afternoons, at the end of a tiring working school week. Need one say more? Though this is the prevalent reality, it is shocking that the school curriculum does not reflect the highly commendable and valuable recommendations made in National Educational Policies over the last 80 years. If we go back to the pre-independence era, great thinkers like Rabindranath Tagore, who set up Santiniketan in 1901, offered a creative alternative to the British School system. Tagore’s understanding of the role of arts in education was clear: ‘Literature, music, and the arts, are all necessary for the development and flowering of a student to form an integrated total personality.’ Rabindranath Tagore.
Shiv Lal, traditional potter from Delhi has enthralled school children, for forty years, with his skill and mastery. Source :Sanskriti Kendra Museums, New Delhi
As early as 1952-53 the first Education Commission for Independent India emphasized ‘the release of creative energy among students so that they can appreciate cultural heritage and cultivate rich interests, which they can pursue in their leisure and later in life.’ It recommended that every high school student should take on one craft, working with the hands, to develop a high standard of proficiency, understand the dignity of labour, and support themselves in later life.
The Kothari Commission Report of 1964-66, was more inspiring as it emphasized that in an ‘age which values discovery and invention, education for creative expression acquires added significance… The neglect of the arts in education impoverishes the educational process and leads to decline of aesthetic tastes and values.’ In its recommendations it highlighted the critical role of art education in achieving major educational goals, and the necessity of art education at all stages of schooling - from pre-primary to high school.
All three subsequent National Curriculum Frameworks of 1975, 1988, and 2000, repeatedly recommended the importance of art education for the ‘holistic’ development of the child. These Curriculum frameworks recommended that, ‘Art Education should concentrate on exposing the learner to folk arts, local specific art and other cultural components.’ An interesting new idea was that the arts programme should ‘promote values and appreciation of India’s common cultural heritage and the protection of the environment.’ This was possibly influenced by global trends of the 70-80s.
In 1979, the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT) was established under the inspiring guidance of Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay (First Chairperson) and Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan (First Vice Chair). CCRT’s primary role was to train in-service school teachers from government schools across the country in ways to improve their teaching of all disciplines, with the introduction of an understanding of India’s cultural heritage, art and traditional craft activities. For 40 years now, hundreds of teachers have been trained by traditional practitioners in puppet making, clay work, printing, painting to improve the students’ school experience.
In 2000, UNESCO’s Director General, issued a plea for ‘art education to be placed on an equal footing (with other subjects) at different stages of schooling.’ Finally, in 2005 the National Curriculum Framework for School Education, under the inspirational Directorship of Krishna Kumar, re-emphasized the critical role of art and crafts in education by making it a compulsory subject up to Class X. Art education was recognized for its role in the healthy mental development of students, and its contribution in enhancing creativity and appreciation of their cultural heritage and respect for each other’s work. The approach suggested that art education should be integrated with other subjects as a two way-process: in the form of content providing examples in social sciences, languages, science, and mathematics, and in the form of activities, projects and exercises to make school learning a joyful experience. Furthermore, the study of traditional crafts could be introduced as an optional elective subject for students of classes XI and XII for the CBSC board exam.
Guided programme for students to enable them to understand their cultural heritage and ancient craft skills, organized by Shobita Punja at National Museum, New Delhi.
In preparing this innovative approach in 2005, the esteemed members of the National Focus Group on Arts, Music, Dance and Theatre began their Position Paper with an overview of the problems faced by schools and the reasons why most of the recommendations made by previous Commissions had not been implemented in regular school practice over the last five decades.
According to the Focus Group, the major reason why art education was neglected in the school programme was because the Indian school system focused on ‘core subjects’ - science, mathematics and language. The school system was also completely crushed by the grueling test and exam system that encouraged rote learning. Science, mathematics and language are seen as important subjects, offering students future careers in medicine, commerce, and engineering. Teachers blame parents for their lack of interest in the social sciences as they see few job options in this field. The Government efforts to industrialize India soon after Independence and now to digitize it, have created a further chasm between the arts and science.
Teachers find evaluation of students’ progress easier in core subjects, using quantitative measures. Experts and teachers know that ‘students’ progress’ in art and craft education is hard to evaluate on a scale of 1-100 marks and needs a more interactive qualitative approach. Therefore, within the exam oriented school system, the recommendations of the Commissions were ignored and schools continued to concentrated on just the core subjects.
The second major obstacle was the shortage of trained teachers. Teacher Training Institutes/colleges do not have an innovative arts and crafts education programme that can be integrated into the teaching of all subjects, for pre-primary to high school classes.
Today, industry is seeking to hire creative and innovative people. With no proper arts programme in schools, students don’t have the opportunity to be creative, or learn how to problem solve while designing a craft, or find innovative solutions to common problems. Thus, India continues to copy and imitate designs created in other countries from light switches to space technology. These two reasons; poor teacher training and the exam orientation of the school programme have led to a mediocre system, dominated by rote learning with no space for creativity, arts and crafts for lakhs of Indian students year after year.
Designing new textbooks for the Heritage Crafts school programme
The 2005 Commission led to the formation of a Textbook Development Committee of experienced professionals: Laila Tyabji, Founder member, Dastakar, Jaya Jaitley, CEO, Dastakari Haat Samiti, Mushtak Khan, Deputy Director, National Handicrafts and Handloom Museum, and others. They assigned the development of the textbooks for CBSC to Feisal Alkazi, Director Creative Learning for Change and eminent Drama Educator and myself.
Trying to overcome the limitations of the existing system, we adopted an approach based on the well accepted format of the science syllabus prevalent in all schools in India that contained two integrated parts: theory and practical work. The school timetable is adjusted to enable students to learn both aspects, with two combined periods to complete their practical science activity, each week. Using this ‘core subject’ formula, we hoped to erase the notion that art education was an ‘extra curricular’ subject.
The textbooks explained to parents, teachers and students that several career options (design, industrial product design, architecture, interior design, museum education management of a craft initiative etc.) were available to students selecting this course for the school board exam. Most importantly, it was hoped that young people belonging to traditional arts and crafts communities would opt for this subject, assist their families in their ancestral crafts and be able to meet challenges of entrepreneurship and merchandising in a global era. The underlying idea of this school programme was to nurture a generation of ‘rasikas,’ students who had had enjoyable educational experiences in school, so they could appreciate and support the Indian arts and crafts all their lives.
To address the issue of lack of trained teachers to implement this programme, it was explained that India is fortunate to have crafts communities in every village, town and city, and this could serve the schools in many ways. It was suggested that students could visit local craft centres to see how artisans lived and worked, and experience the amazing skills that they had. For practical work too, local craft practitioners could serve as mentors and trainers. Another benefit for schools was that compared to science laboratories, craft materials were inexpensive and readily available.
Text Books and Workbook for Classes XI and XII, NCERT. Source: Shobita Punja
We prepared two separate textbooks for the theory classes for Class XI and Class XII. The text book for Class XI called ‘Living Craft Traditions of India’ had 10 chapters that covered common crafts available in most states such as 1.Craft Heritage in the home, 2.Clay, 3.Stone, 4.Metal work, 5.Jewellery, 6.Natural Fibres, 7.Paper, 8.Textiles, 9.Painting and composite skills like 10.Theatre Crafts. Each chapter contained information about the antiquity of the craft, regional varieties, poems, and interviews with artisans. Each chapter also delved into the nature of the materials used in the craft, process and technology, design and use.
The Craft Traditions of India: Past Present and Future textbook for the theory aspect of Class XII began with an introduction to crafts in India, explaining how important crafts were as the second largest employment sector in India, second only to agriculture, that one in every 200 Indians is an artisan, and that Indian crafts are famous throughout the world, making this sector one of the highest contributors to export earnings in India. The wide ranging topics covered in this textbook may help to reveal our intent and purpose:
Unit I: Overview of the Past
- Crafts in history
- Colonial Rule and Crafts
- Mahatma Gandhi and Self-sufficiency
- Handloom and Handicraft Revival (contribution of Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, Pupul Jayakar and others)
- Craft Community today
- Production and Marketing
- Crafts Bazaars
- Crafts in the Age of Tourism
- Design and Development
NCERT Crafts Text Book for Class XII - Chapter to teach students how to document crafts and crafts communities. Source: Shobita Punja
The most exciting part of this textbook writing project was the development of the third book, a practical workbook called ‘Exploring the Craft Traditions of India: Field Study and Application of Heritage Crafts’ that offered easy-to-implement activities and field trips for students and teachers.
This workbook was designed for Classes XI and XII to develop critical life skills with activities in class, as homework and class assignments. The first part focused on preparing for field studies and focused attention on craft objects used at home. Students were asked to examine, learn to look and ask questions about each object - how it was made, what materials were used, whether could they ascertain where it was made and by whom? etc. These exercises were designed to encourage students to look, think, learn, discover and find out, and urged them to become generators of their own understanding and knowledge.
The enquiry-based learning approach and interdisciplinary activities covered many topics taking students outside the home, to study local heritage, local markets and craft bazaars. There were exercises on critical issues of climate change, depletion of natural resources and the impact of packaging and marketing of products on the environment.
The second part of the book was dedicated to the development and preparation of Documentation Formats for crafts; using ones prepared by NID, Ahmedabad, students were given exercises on how to interview artisans, how to seek permissions, how to photograph the process of making a craft. Students were to create a documentation survey form and then experience using and improving it.
Visitors have the pleasure of designing and buying made-to-order Jooties and bags from local leather craftsman at the Mehrangarh Museum Trust’s International 3-day Music Festival held annually in Nagaur, Rajasthan. Source: Smita Mankad.
Each exercise was described simply and clearly (as an aid for teachers and students) with photographs, stories, interviews, and extracts from articles and books on crafts and this gave each activity its context and subtext.
The workbook concludes with activities for the application of skills learned in school and home – display techniques, creating a corner museum, decorating the Principal’s office, designing a poster for a local craft community, designing a toy for a blind child, designing sustainable packaging for a product etc. These were all creative problem solving activities that could be shared with the rest of the school to communicate the valuable learnings from this crafts programme.
The three textbooks once completed were discussed, improved and approved by the Textbook Committee and translated into Hindi and Urdu and published by NCERT in 2011 for the new CBSC curriculum. However, CBSC did not address inhibiting issues and hurdles (accommodation of this new course in the school syllabus, training and encouraging teachers) and the course dissolved into oblivion. Changes within the management of NCERT and governments drove the final nails into the coffin of the new arts and crafts programme that we had fought so hard for years to introduce into schools.
Looking to the future
In 2020, the year of Covid-19, while the country was in lockdown the central government hastily eliminated 30% of the school syllabus, removing vital knowledge areas like democracy, cultural diversity and climate change. A new National Education Policy was made public in August 2020 and like its predecessors, makes excellent and ambitious recommendations:
‘Pedagogy must evolve to make education more experiential, holistic, integrated, inquiry-driven, discovery-oriented, learner-centred, discussion-based, flexible, and, of course, enjoyable. The curriculum must include basic arts, crafts, humanities, games, sports and fitness, languages, literature, culture and values, in addition to science and mathematics, to develop all aspects and capabilities of learners; and make education more well-rounded, useful, and fulfilling to the learner.’
The chasm between policy and the reality of the Indian school system has widened over the decades. One may ask - is the complete overhauling of the educational system, with drastic improvements in teaching standards, with far-reaching investments in infrastructure, possible? Is it even conceivable in a country where the status of arts and crafts remains negligibly low, to appreciate the value of India’s enormous ‘cultural capital’ that could transform India’s social and economic life?
There are three global trends that may shift the balance; climate change and sustainability, industrial and digital demand for innovative ventures and creative young people, and the notion of responsible global consumption.
India has a growing number of dedicated, committed people in vital sectors of education and crafts, who believe that this is not the time to give up but to strive harder, as the need is greater today more than ever before. Young people, young practitioners of craft traditions need to now become advocates of their community, trained in digital techniques and media, to speak to the government and the public, in their language with facts and figures, using every social media platform; talks, articles, interviews, and meetings.
The education of young people in arts and crafts should not merely be in the school syllabus for enjoyment, or as a co-curricular activity but recognized as an essential component for the holistic development of a human being. The name of this school programme could be changed to something like ‘Creative Industries’ that may help to remove the stigma and give it a significant status in the school curriculum!
It may also be possible to use the content and activities of the three text books produced for NCERT and CBSC mentioned above to create teaching modules and online learning programmes for schools, colleges and a wider audience of house wives, professionals and for potential consumers. Material from books may be reworked to suit the new medium and activities be added regularly to keep the online learning platform alive. The central role of ‘creative industries’ in achieving Government and International Millennial Goals needs to be explained to the wider public.
By making creative activities an essential part of India school education at all levels, poverty can be eradicated; gender equality can be achieved by engaging and nurturing women artists; and young people can become self-reliant and live a dignified life with decent work and wages through learning skills. Introducing a course on creativity in schools would assure that the ‘quality education’ promised in NEP 2020 is more inclusive, and by teaching students about sustainable practices used by all crafts communities would help to cultivate values and behavior patterns to reduce waste and preserve natural resources. To link the study of creative industries to pressing global issue of climate change, students can be introduced to the idea of responsible consumption, then they can sensitize their family and society to appreciate that crafts, made by hand with natural materials, is one sure way forward to create a sustainable future for the planet.
Every country needs creative individuals, for a country is known not only for its contribution in science and technology, industry and business but also music, dance, architecture, art, films, literature and other creative industries. So through special awards and scholarships, possibly funded by the private sector, an entire new generation of creative young people from traditional craft communities and other backgrounds can be nurtured and sponsored to ensure the preservation of unique skills and to Make India Creative again.
References
Position Paper 1.7, National Focus Group on Arts, Music, Dance and Theatre, NCERT, 2006
Living Craft Traditions of India, Textbook in Heritage Crafts for Class XI, NCERT, 2008
Crafts Tradition of India: Past, Present and Future, Textbook in Heritage Crafts for Class XII. NCERT, 2011
Exploring the Craft Traditions of India: Field Study and Application in Heritage Crafts for Classes XI and XII. NCERT, 2010.
Textbook Development Committee
Chief Advisor - Shobita Punja, Consultant, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, , New Delhi
Advisor- Feisal Alkazi, Director, Creative Learning for Change, New Delhi
Members
Aditi Ranjan, Principal Designer, NID, Ahmedabad
Jaya Jaitly, CEO, Dastakari Haat Samit, New Delhi
Laila Tyabji, Founder member, Dastakar, New Delhi
Member- Coordinator - Jyotsna Tiwari, Reader, Depart of Education in Arts and Aesthetics, NCERT, New Delhi
Aruvacode, Livelihood Intervention
Aruvacode, a small village near Nilambur in North Kerala had in the past been well known for its highly skilled potters. About one hundred families of traditional potters continued to follow their trade of making pots, household utensils and other objects. However a scarcity of clay, firewood and other raw material, the influx of cheap industrial substitutes coupled with a lack of demand for the finished product had resulted in a sharp decline in the economic and social status of the artisans resulting in dire poverty. By 1993 many of the potters had taken to distilling spurious liquor while the women resorted to prostitution.
For the revival of a languishing craft and the dignified survival of potter families of Aruvacode an intervention was undertaken by the NGO, Dastakari Haat Samiti.
Period: March to September 1993
Team: Jaya Jaitly (Project Director)
K.B.Jinan (Chief Designer)
Vishaka (Technical Designer)
Ulasker Dey (Technical Expertise, Regional Design Technical centre, Bangalore).
Objectives
Phase I
Step 1
ESTABLISHMENT OF FACILITIES
TRAINING
The children of the community were always at the project site drawing, creating in clay, playing with the created pieces, giving suggestions. The children added a new dimension and infused a fresh wave of enthusiasm.
During the summer vacation of two months all the children in the village joined the project. They were considered as trainees during this period. Films, field trips, puppet shows, story telling were all part of their training.
The women trainers were good at creating circular objects - this shape was easy for them as the food they cooked was often of a circular shape. Once they made the connection with clay they related to the work and with great improvement continually developing their own style. Figurative work, coiling and pinching methods, bead making and jewellery were then introduced.
INTERACTION FOR MARKETING
PARTICIPATION IN HANDICRAFT EXHIBITIONS IN COIMBATORE, BANGALORE, NILAMBUR, ERNAKULAM
THE MOCK SHOP:Towards the end of the program when a fairly large and good range of products had been created an impromptu mock shop was set up. The idea was to create consciousness of a customer-artisan exchange and to create awareness of consumer needs. The mock sales also allowed for comments on each others and their own works - objectively, sportingly and from the customers point of view.
LONG TERM ISSUES IDENTIFIED:
FUTURE OF THE PROJECT:The main efforts of the project were in revival of the skills and the dignity of the village. The most important activity needed in the future was to develop regular markets for their products and for the potters to learn the intricacies of the market mechanism External support was still required especially in marketing.Phase IIK. B. Jinan returned to Aruvacode, formed an NGO called Kumbham, and started a design and marketing project of terracotta suited for the modern context. The product ranges created with the Aruvacode potters included objects for use in architecture, in homes, offices and gardens. Jinan moved into the village overseeing and designing the products. He stayed on in the village even after the project was over to help put the potters on their feet. 'When an entire village proves that it wants to turn over a new leaf, it is a civilised society's responsibility to respond with sensitivity.' Over the last few years many products have been created and marketed which are notable for their form as well as function. Kumbham products now find wide acceptance in households, corporate offices, hotels and resorts. |
Ashtadhatu Sculptures of Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh,
The Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh) skyline is dotted with vimanas and every street hosts a temple or two. Peals of bells greet you five times a day. This small town was wrecked with religious riots in 1990 when Hindu fundamentalists attacked and destroyed the Babri Masjid. Today, this extremely violent recent history is not much in view and devotees and priests go about their business indulging the sacred tourist trail. Off the main street, nestled between tea stalls, is Shyam lal's home, studio and shop. Though his main business these days are marble sculptures his specialty and family tradition are Ashtadhatu (eight metal) religious sculptures. Ashtadhatu is an amalgam of copper, tin, lead, antimony, zinc, iron, gold, and silver. Due to its expense it is fast becoming a languishing craft. Shyam Lal refuses to put a price on his sculptures. His belief is that gods cannot be bought or sold and so he only takes an honorarium for his "work of faith".
The Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh) skyline is dotted with vimanas and every street hosts a temple or two. Peals of bells greet you five times a day. This small town was wrecked with religious riots in 1990 when Hindu fundamentalists attacked and destroyed the Babri Masjid. Today, this extremely violent recent history is not much in view and devotees and priests go about their business indulging the sacred tourist trail. Off the main street, nestled between tea stalls, is Shyam lal's home, studio and shop. Though his main business these days are marble sculptures his specialty and family tradition are Ashtadhatu (eight metal) religious sculptures. Ashtadhatu is an amalgam of copper, tin, lead, antimony, zinc, iron, gold, and silver. Due to its expense it is fast becoming a languishing craft. Shyam Lal refuses to put a price on his sculptures. His belief is that gods cannot be bought or sold and so he only takes an honorarium for his "work of faith".
THE ART OF IMAGE MAKING
In Indian sculpture, the human form is composed of various compact, curved, and almost geometric shapes assembled according to an ideal canon of proportions. Whether globular or pearlike, cylindrical or conical, these components are rounded volumes that seem filled to capacity: muscles appear to have melted away, bones are invisible, and skin is stretched smooth and tight. The sense of inner vitality that pervades most Indian figural sculptures is conveyed not only by limbs and torsos that seem to be inflated with breath (prana), but also by sinuous poses. Figures are modeled with a fluidity that allows the parts of these pliant bodies to glide almost imperceptibly into each other. Nothing truly interrupts this inner movement or the surface that contains it, not even the garments and jewelry that accompany and accentuate the body's sensuous shapes.
Creating an idealized human form, one that moves beyond the appearance of any one individual, did not happen suddenly: sculptors first experimented with figural representation and then, during the Gupta period in the north and the Cola period in the south, introduced abstract types that served as the basis for many later developments. Men are shown with square shoulders, broad chests, slim waists, and slightly overhanging stomachs; women, being the sustainers of life, have full, rounded breasts and large hips. Certain features of the body were often exaggerated to make poetic references to the animal or vegetal world-that is, lotus form eyes, leonine body, elephantine arms and shoulders, and so forth.
All of these idols were and continue to be cast based on rules, proportions and methods laid down in the ancient texts based on scientific principles. The artisans who are involved in this art are called the Sthapathis.
A FIND IN AYODHYA
The Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh) skyline is dotted with vimanas and every street hosts a temple or two. Peals of bells greet you five times a day. This small town was wrecked with religious riots in 1990 when Hindu fundamentalists attacked and destroyed the Babri Masjid. Today, this extremely violent recent history is not much in view and devotees and priests go about their business indulging the sacred tourist trail. Off the main street, nestled between tea stalls, is Shyam lal's home, studio and shop. The innocuously small doorway is decorated with a large marble image of Hanuman. Peer into the dark interior and a plethora of sculptures assail your vision. Negotiate the tiny maze deeper into his home and you encounter floors and floors of every conceivable religious idol both in stone and metal. Pushed to show his specialty and he'll take you up three floors into a small room where he shyly opens cupboard upon cupboard of Ashtadhatu (eight metals) sculptures.TECHNIQUE OF ASHTADHATU
Ashtadhatu is an amalgam of copper, tin, lead, antimony, zinc, iron, gold, and silver. The metal sculptures were cast using the cire perdue process. First, a wax model of deity (or any figure) is made. Over this wax model, a clay mould is made. The clay mould is applied in three layers to contain the wax. After the clay around the wax is dried, the wax is heated and poured out. Molten metal is poured into the clay mould taking the shape of the hollowed space created by the draining of the wax. The eight metals are in roughly equal proportions though now with the increasing prices of precious metals these are now being added in diminishing proportions. Once the metal is cooled and set, the outer mould is broken. The image thus created is of rough finish and lots of work goes into polishing, filing and finishing the resulting solid sculpture. Clothes are painted onto the finished sculptures. Lastly, the eyes of the sculpture are fixed. These are made from conch shells. Paint dulls over the years but conch shell retains its pearliness over decades. Ashtadhatu sculptures are made so as to be durable and last years without noticeable decay. The underlying aim of the artist is to make idols which last, are beautiful and as natural as possible.THE MONEY FACTOR
When asked the price of his sculptures, Shyam Lal demurs. In his opinion he creates images of god and how can a price be placed on such an object. He prefers to call it an honorarium otherwise the art will become restricted to the rich. He admits that his market is minimal. Firstly, he only makes religious idols so his market is restricted. Secondly, because the sculptures require a host of metals, some of which are quite costly this makes the images expensive propositions. Also a medium sized idol takes up to a month to make which makes it time costly. Suggestions towards reducing the cost of production are met with disdain as he believes that any attempts to alter this age old art will cheapen the value of the god. It is as he calls it "Dharam ka Kaam" (work of faith).Shyam Lal can be contacted at: Adarsh Murti Kala Kendra Corner of Hanuman Garhi, Opposite Tulsi Smarak Bhavan, Rani Bazaar Crossing, Ayodhya, Distt. Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh Tel: 05278 32705
Avani, A Case Study
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Background: Avani means ‘The Earth’ in Sanskrit. All our activities support the environment and the people of the area where we are working. Avani has been working with integrating sustainable livelihoods and appropriate technology. The focus of our work has been creation of livelihood opportunities in remote rural areas where supplementary cash income for daily needs is very necessary for the families that continue to live in the villages. With decreased productivity of land and fragmented land holdings it is becoming more and more difficult for small farmers, traditional artisans and unskilled, landless wage earners to make a living while staying in the villages. Our work provides the choice to some families to have a source of income in their village through farm-based activities, traditional craft and appropriate technology. In its entirety, our work spreads across 71 villages in two districts of Bageshwar and Pithoragarh. Our main focus has been the capacity building of rural youth to manage all aspects of the different activities. Our team is entirely from villages where we work. |
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| Through Avani’s work, solar technology has reached remote villages. More than 1500 rural families in about 228 remote hamlets and villages are now using solar lights. Our work has ensured that the community has the technical and the financial capacity to ensure the long term functioning of these systems. At present this program is self-sustaining and managed by the village committees. |  |
Over 40 rural youth have been trained to assemble, repair and maintain solar equipment. The training of women technicians has emerged as an area where women get an equal opportunity to use their skills. Traditionally they are not allowed or encouraged to handle tools. The village energy committees have collected more than 31 lakh rupees of their own, for future replacement of batteries and panels which is managed by the members themselves.
Avani is also working with the thermal applications of solar energy like solar water heaters and solar driers. We have set up a rural mechanical workshop and trained local youth to manufacture Solar Water Heaters and Solar Driers. This unit has generated business by selling water heaters to private homes, resorts, hotels and a hospital.
The Avani centre is also powered by Clean Energy. A solar generator of 8 kW capacity, produces electricity for lighting, computers and light machines.
PRODUCTIVE USE FOR WASTE MATERIAL (PINE NEEDLES) AND RAINWATER HARVESTINGIn its quest for finding a productive use for waste material, Avani has been working with setting up a pine needle gasification unit that produces 9 kW of electricity by burning pine needles alone. This gasification system is the first of its kind that uses 100 per cent pine needles as feedstock. This gasifier has been developed in collaboration with a gasifier manufacturing company. |
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Pine needles are a major cause of forest fires in our area, leading to loss of biodiversity. The pine trunk being fire resistant propagates itself, thus encroaching on mixed forests in the vicinity. The pine needles also do not allow water recharge, thereby reducing the moisture content in the soil. As a result, a pine forest rarely has any undergrowth due to high acidity and low moisture of the soil. Removing it from the forest floor would have many benefits including natural regeneration of forests, increased soil moisture and better recharge of groundwater. |
| We are now planning to extend this technology to the villages where gas produced by the gasification of pine needles can be used for cooking. As part of its work on rainwater harvesting, Avani has also constructed nine Rainwater Harvesting Tanks at nine government schools, that collect almost 3,00,000 litres of rainwater for drinking for the school children. At all the Avani centres, the daily needs are met through rainwater. At the Avani centre IN Tripuradevi, water from all rooftops goes into an underground storage system which has a capacity of 3, 25,000 litres. It takes care of the daily needs of a community of 30 residents, trainees, including all the textile processing and irrigation for vegetables. We have demonstrated the appropriateness of using rainwater in water deficient areas in the hills. | |
LIVELIHOOD OPPORTUNITIESSaukyura, a village of traditional artisans was one of the first villages to use solar lighting. When the artisans expressed their inability to pay for the technology, it was felt that to take the technology to the poorest of the poor, work needed to be done to enhance their incomes. It was then decided that Avani would work with the revival and preservation of the traditional skill of weaving and spinning to create livelihood opportunities in the area. It would then ensure that the poor families are also able to access technology. |
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| Traditionally, the Shauka community was working with Tibetan Sheep wool and the Bora Kuthalia community was working with hemp fibre. It became increasingly difficult to make a sustainable living with this craft. The reason was that coarse Tibetan wool products do not have a ready market and plastic ropes and sacks have taken over the local demand for hemp products. The legality of growing and using hemp fibre is also very ambiguous. Consequently, in both these communities, the younger generation was abandoning the craft due to insufficient returns. To make this intervention successful, we needed to redefine this craft as contemporary and we had to make sure that it brought income to the families. |  |
Another very important aspect of this intervention was its’ effect on the soil and water of the area. We then decided to work only with natural dyes for the coloring of our textiles.
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The management of the textile enterprise is completely decentralized and it is ensured that the work reaches the artisan in their village. To strengthen our work with natural dyes in textiles we are also exploring other applications of natural dyes and introducing the cultivation of dye plants in the villages as a livelihood option. |
We have encouraged the women’s groups to collect and grow dye plants like turmeric, myrobolan, and pomegranate rind and walnut hulls. They have already started the cultivation of turmeric and are protecting the saplings and trees of other dye yielding species.
Some of the materials we use for natural dyes are:
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| We are now working with the use of plant as mordant as well as the dye. We are trying to replace the salts we use for fixing the color with plant mordants e.g., berberis fruits and leaves are used as natural mordants for madder. We are continuously researching new dye yielding plants. We are using a weed called Eupatorium that grows wild in our hills and gives us different shades of green and mustard. Turmeric Root and Marigold flowers are used for different grades of yellow. Our color palette in wool and silk in natural dyes is now quite extensive. |  |
To begin with, we just reintroduced the use of Natural Dyes in Carpets and Tweeds made by local artisans. Then we developed a range of very contemporary products in natural dyes. The blends that we created were as follows:
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The active participation of the community has formed the basis for a sustainable livelihood base with environment friendly products. Over 500 artisans are involved in creating wool and silk textiles in Natural Dyes.
The enterprise is able to provide supplementary cash income to the spinners and an alternative livelihood to the weavers.
The artisans’ collective has now been registered as the Kumaon Earth craft Self Reliant cooperative that will be managed by the community.
As mentioned before, the process of production is as important as the product itself. Therefore, we are very conscious that the soil and water of the area should not be adversely affected by this enterprise. So we have ensured that it is a closed cycle of use where all the waste is recycled.
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| All finished textiles are calendared with a calendaring machine that is powered by solar energy or with electricity produced by the pine needle gasifier. Another application of natural dyes is in natural colors for painting on paper. We have created a whole range of colors that are non-toxic and eco friendly. They are very appropriate for young children as well. Another traditional application of turmeric is making Roli or peetha as it is called locally. We are now looking at selling it in the local market as well as the urban markets. |  |
The cultivation and collection of natural dyes can become a sustainable livelihood option as these plants can be:
MOTIVATION BEHIND THE WORK AND LIFESTYLEWe reached the Himalayas with a personal aspiration to live in the hills while contributing to the area.
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Ayurveda Healing Fabric, Case Study- HWDS, Balaramapuram, Kerala
Company Profile Headquartered in Balaramapuram, Kerala (Southern India), the Handloom Weavers Development Society (HLWDS) is a non-governmental organization that works to improve the welfare of deprived, marginalized and downtrodden handloom weaving communities in Kerala. Vision A flourishing handloom weaving industry preserving Indian culture and providing a decent standard of living to weaver families. Mission To provide employment to weaver families in Kerala through providing looms and associated services, so that they can enjoy a better standard of living and preserve their heritage and culture. History The Handloom Weavers Development Society was established in 1989 by a group of twenty four young weavers from the Balaramapuram area of the district of Trivandrum, Kerala. The invention of the power loom, the recurrence of sweatshop manufacturing and a competitive global textile market was stripping handloom weavers of their market. These young weavers organized to discuss ways to overcome the plight of the handloom weaving sector and to put an end to the oppressive labour arrangements and corruption that was occurring in the sector.With the assistance of a five-year grant from the Ford Foundation, HLWDS has made significant strides in its long-term goal of diversifying handloom production. HLWDS has successfully piloted several training programs in alternative hand produced textile techniques including new designs, block printing, batik, tie and dye, kalamkari, and Ayurvedic dyeing.Their experimentation with Ayurvedic dyeing has been one of their most successful product diversification initiatives. With the financial support of the Government of Japan, HLWDS established an Ayurvedic dye house in Balaramapuram, which was inaugurated by MR. RIYOZU KIKUCHI, Consul General of Japan on 7th September 2004. The Ayurvedic dye house is equipped with modern machineries and facilities to produce pure Ayurvedic herbal handloom clothes. The minimum production capacity of their dye house is nearly 1000kg per day. Also in 2005, the Government of India generously granted Rs: 850,000 to assist the HLWDS for establishing a common facility center for Ayurvedic dyeing on handloom clothes and to standardize Ayurvedic dyeing.
Interpretation
It is realized that about 17% people don’t know about this Fabric.23% people are aware about Ayurveda healing fabric. But they never buy these products.. Remaining people are the Customers.it includes 15% occasional customers and 45% regular customers.
Interpretation
It 54% people are coming under the age group of 20-30.only 2% people are coming under below 20. The remaining part of people comes under the age group of 30-40 it is 18% and 26% people are of age group of above 40.
Interpretation
It shows Peer groups (46%) leads the others. Then comes Newspaper (34%), Television (12%), and Internet (8%).
4. How often you buy Ayurveda healing fabrics?
Interpretation
It shows 27% people are frequent customers of Ayurveda healing fabric.25% are occasional customers. The remaining customer comes under often buyers (23%) and very often (25%) buyers.
Interpretation
It realise that about 47% people are using this fabric for curing diseases. About 25% are using for preventing diseases. 17% people are using this fabric for being eco-friendly 11% people choose this fabric for all the above purpose.
Interpretation
Most preferable product of Ayurveda healing a fabric is their Garments (53%) then Bed sheet (25%), Meditation cloth (19%) Home textiles (3%)
Interpretation
About 45% customers bought it from foreign countries.37% customers bought it from showrooms inside Kerala. 28% bought from HLWDS Balaramapuram. The remaining customers (10%) bought it from showrooms show rooms inside India.
Interpretation
It shows 46% customers are using this fabric for more than 4 years.32% customers are using this fabric for 3-4 years.12% customers are using this for 1-2 years.10% customers are using this fabric not more than one year.
Interpretation
Nobody is having an opinion that Ayurveda healing fabric are of cheap rate. About 75% peoples have the opinion that it is affordable.13% customers have the opinion that it is expensive. Remaining 12% customers have the opinion that it is very expensive.
Interpretation
35% customers are ready to spend the amount of 1000-3000 for buying Ayurveda healing fabric. But 28 % customers are ready to spent amount more than 5000 and 27% customers are ready to buy the amount of 3000-5000 but only 10% customers are ready to buy the amount of below 1000.
Interpretation
65% customers prefer this fabric because of its medicinal values.25% customers prefer because of its comfort. Remaining 8% selects this fabric because of its quality. Only 2% selects this because of its colours.
Interpretation
It shows 73% of customers expect more presence in medicinal field 13% customers expects this fabric in Home textiles. The remaining 5% expects this fabric in all the above fields.
Interpretation
Main problem faced by the customers are its availability 85% people are supporting this opinion. 5% customers have problem with price, 5% customers have in colour and 5% have in quality.
Interpretation
The above diagram shows that the customer preference of fabric types. Cotton is most preferable 59% customers are choosing cotton. Then linen (19%), silk(15%), wool(8%)
Interpretation
It shows that about 83% people have the opinion that Ayurveda healing fabric as excellent one.17% customers says its good product. Nobody respondent its performance is average or bad.
Company Profile Headquartered in Balaramapuram, Kerala (Southern India), the Handloom Weavers Development Society (HLWDS) is a non-governmental organization that works to improve the welfare of deprived, marginalized and downtrodden handloom weaving communities in Kerala. Vision A flourishing handloom weaving industry preserving Indian culture and providing a decent standard of living to weaver families. Mission To provide employment to weaver families in Kerala through providing looms and associated services, so that they can enjoy a better standard of living and preserve their heritage and culture. History The Handloom Weavers Development Society was established in 1989 by a group of twenty four young weavers from the Balaramapuram area of the district of Trivandrum, Kerala. The invention of the power loom, the recurrence of sweatshop manufacturing and a competitive global textile market was stripping handloom weavers of their market. These young weavers organized to discuss ways to overcome the plight of the handloom weaving sector and to put an end to the oppressive labour arrangements and corruption that was occurring in the sector.With the assistance of a five-year grant from the Ford Foundation, HLWDS has made significant strides in its long-term goal of diversifying handloom production. HLWDS has successfully piloted several training programs in alternative hand produced textile techniques including new designs, block printing, batik, tie and dye, kalamkari, and Ayurvedic dyeing.Their experimentation with Ayurvedic dyeing has been one of their most successful product diversification initiatives. With the financial support of the Government of Japan, HLWDS established an Ayurvedic dye house in Balaramapuram, which was inaugurated by MR. RIYOZU KIKUCHI, Consul General of Japan on 7th September 2004. The Ayurvedic dye house is equipped with modern machineries and facilities to produce pure Ayurvedic herbal handloom clothes. The minimum production capacity of their dye house is nearly 1000kg per day. Also in 2005, the Government of India generously granted Rs: 850,000 to assist the HLWDS for establishing a common facility center for Ayurvedic dyeing on handloom clothes and to standardize Ayurvedic dyeing.
PROGRAMMES, SAVINGS AND CREDIT
Self Help Groups (SHGs) are the main conduit for the majority of their programming. HLWDS' SHGs assists women in becoming independent producers of hand loomed products. They assist women weavers in purchasing material supplies, weaving accessories and equipment. They also act as a safety net for participants who may borrow for urgent consumption needs. Through these SHGs women weavers are able to break their exploitative arrangements with master weavers and to end cycles of debt. Currently, they work 731 SHGs in 51 villages.WEAVING PRODUCTION ASSISTANCE
HLWDS works to improve the livelihoods of weavers by providing production assistance aimed at overcoming the obstacles of scarce supplies, shrinking resources, lagging technological improvements and competitive markets (i.e. power loom). They also try to provide alternatives to exploitative supply and marketing arrangements with master weavers and bogus handloom societies.Their production assistance activities include:
- Seasonal Inputs Provision To prevent material supply shortages, HLWDS purchases bulk supplies of threads and inputs from the Government Thread Bank for sale at reasonable prices to local weavers during festival production season.
- Equipment /Inputs Loans Through its savings and credit program HLWDS provides loans for purchase of looms, spinning wheels, weaving accessories and inputs. HLWDS assists participants to acquire looms through government programs.
- Loom Maintenance On a consultancy basis, HLWDS connects master weavers and loom repairers with weavers experiencing trouble with the functioning of looms.
Product Diversification Training
- HLWDS provides training assistance to handloom weavers from various parts of the state. They provide training in Ayurvedic dyeing; block printing, weaving, tie and dye, embroidery and design.
Marketing
- HLWDS purchases output from weavers at a fair price and sells in their retail showroom and at exhibitions. They have also planned to sell weavers' product to private retailers charging a small fee from producers for the marketing service.
- They also provide training assistance on marketing techniques.
- HLWDS undertakes the marketing of experimental products including
MEDICAL CLOTH
Handloom Advocacy HLWDS fights to retain government support for the handloom industry through campaigning, networking and lobbying. Through their handloom advocacy program, they provide a voice to handloom weavers across Kerala. Some of the activities include:Networking
HLWDS is a member of South Indian Handloom Weavers Organizing Committee (SIHWOC), a regional network, and the Handloom Protection Forum, a state network.Lobbying
HLWDS has developed contacts with officials involved with setting and carrying out policies and programs affecting the industry. Meet officials to lobby for policy change and give testimony on conditions in the sector.Awareness
They also hold seminars to educate handloom weavers about government policies and how to protect themselves from corrupt cooperative societies that falsely claim financial resources in the name of handloom weavers.HANDLOOM SECTOR ISSUES
Occupational Health Hazards HLWDS works to reduce occupational health hazards and injuries among weavers and their families. It is far too common for weavers to suffer from a variety of occupational health hazards including respiratory ailments from breathing in particulate dust in poorly ventilated workspaces and repetitive motion injuries that leave many weavers disabled. Through ILS, they have documented these health problems and presented them to government officials in an effort to raise awareness of the plight of the weavers. Currently, HLWDS conducts health training around issues of occupational diseases (respiratory illness and repetitive motion injury).Education and Child Labor
Through ILS, the HLWDS learned that there were high levels of child labor and overall low levels of education among HLWDS members. To address these problems, HLWDS established day cares centers, non-formal education programs for adults and children, vocational training, and cultural programmes that aim to decrease child labor and increase the level of education among weaving families.Gender Equity
HLWDS also works with gender equity issues by raising awareness, supporting advocacy efforts, and training leaders to address gender bias and discrimination issues. Their gender work is primarily facilitated through SHGs.RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION
Research and documentation activities have been continually carried out over the past 13 years despite the fact that HLWDS only acquired its first computer in May of 2000. These activities are essential to keep abreast of changes in the handloom sector and to strengthen their programmes and advocacy efforts. The core of their research activities includes gathering information on medicinal plants and their cultivation. Through their research they have developed 150 new Ayurvedic dyes. Their findings are housed in their resource library, which is fully accessible to their members. Their documentation activities are essential to the programmes. They largely center on gathering information about the conditions prevailing in the handloom sector. They also document technological innovation in the sector.AYURVEDA HEALING PRACTICE
Ayurveda healing fabrics or Ayurvastra, as a branch of Ayurveda, begins with 100% organic cotton that has been hand-loomed – no machine processing, no chemical additives to prepare the cotton fibres for spinning and weaving, no chemical finishes. The organic cotton yarn/fabric is then coated with a mixture of natural gums which acts as a medium for absorbing the herb preparation and fixes to the yarn for a longer period. This yarn or fabric is then dyed in a carefully controlled mixture of herbal dyes in herbs like mimosa pudica, cumin seeds, champa flower, shoe flower, turmeric neem etc… The dyes for Ayurvastra fabrics typically contain between 40 and 60 specifically blended and carefully prepared medicinal herbs, plants, flowers, roots and barks. Every step in the preparation of Ayurvastra fabrics and clothing – the temperatures of the dyes, the duration and number of the dye soaks, the blend of herbs, and even the equipment used – is carefully controlled. Handloom Weavers Development Society (HLWDS) began to do ayurvedic dyeing on fabric and yarn and developed Ayurveda Healing Fabric brand of Ayurvedic handloom materials like shirts, Mundus, Churidars, Saris, Bed sheets, Shawls, etc. These products were developed based on their age old ethnic knowledge and traditional ayurvedic dyeing technology, which they have gained from their ancestors like Sir C.R Ayyappan Vaidyan, Neelakandan Vaidyan and Damodaran Vaidyan. Medicinal Cloth brand of Ayurvedic handloom dress materials for different diseases are developed using specific medicinal plants for dyeing the clothes. From the research results obtained from the experiment, which has been conducted in Ayurvedic College, Trivandrum shows very encouraging results as patient underwent this treatment technique benefited immensely and experienced an early curing process. There are special cloth kit for rheumatism, blood pressure, diabetic, psoriasis, Itch, Asthma, reducing obesity and also the ayurvedic clothes for giving mental pleasure and reducing tension. Objective- To study about the Ayurveda healing fabric, its dyeing process, its medicinal values and its scope.
- To figure out the present status of Ayurveda healing fabric in terms of Awareness and customer buying behavior.
- To make the people aware about its medicinal values and its eco-friendliness.
- To give rebirth for traditional Ayurveda dyeing method in the present scenario.
- The processing of Ayurveda healing fabric is their traditional family secret so they are not ready to give more details about its production process.
- Numbers of questions were limited due to the inconvenience of the respondents.
- Many customers are not willing to respond, because of lack of time.
AYURVEDA HEALING FABRIC
'Ayurvastra' existed as a branch of Ayurveda, the 5000 year old system of medicine from India. It represents a modality of healing and achieving wellness, and also a complex system or technique of dyeing clothing using medicinal plants and herbs. 'Ayur' in Sanskrit translates to 'life', 'health' and/or 'longevity' and Vastra translates to 'clothing'; thus Ayurvastra (Ayurveda healing fabric) means 'clothing for 'life/health/longevity'. These fabrics are dyed using this concept which got buried in time with the evolution of industrialization and chemical/synthetic dyeing. A Hindu family called Kuzhivila in Balaramapuram had explored and used the techniques of ayurveda dye many years ago. The family has found a means to boost the ailing rural economy with the knowhow handed down from their great granduncle Ayyappan Vaidyar, who was the chief physician for the erstwhile Travancore royal family. Incorporating the techniques they had woven cloths and supplied to the royal family as a solution to the various ailments that afflicted the members of the royal family. The Kuzhiviala family’s present generation revived the ayurveda-dye technique now and given life to the handloom industry that was dying in Kerala. Since 1992, the team has been refining this technique and developing it further ; bringing together art, science, tradition, intuition and alchemy to make it robust enough for modern use and to create different colors depending on the plants/herbs used for various health/wellness benefits. The color of the fabric is gained from the medicinal preparation only and no other colorants are used. Presently, they're the only producers of clothing using this traditional wisdom. The products are manufactured as per the directions of Ashtavaidyars, Aryvaidyars, Siddhvaidyars and Marma chikilsa vaidyars. For colouring and fragrance to the products the raw materials used are herbs and plants. For yellow colour - turmeric, woody turmeric, kasthuri turmeric and many other varieties of turmeric are used. For red – manjadi is used. For green – kurunthoti is the raw material. For blue – neelayamiri (indigo) and for black cuscus grass, promanagati, cardamom, cloves, nutmerg etc are the raw materials.Health/Wellness Benefits
Ayurveda healing fabric existed as a modality within Ayurveda since ancient times. The ancient physician Charaka used this method whereby an environment is created around the patient with clothing, bedding, wall coverings etc all treated with medicinal ayurvedic herbs/plants specific to the health condition. Besides disease treatment, this concept of using clothing dyed with such plants was also used as for tonifying/wellness benefits. Thus clothing dyed with turmeric, for instance, was used to enhance skin beauty and radiance, detoxification and rejuvenation. Likewise Tulsi was used to offer stress-relief, enhance sleep and immunity. In ayurveda the skin is used as a mechanism for delivering medicines, and medicated oils are massaged and infused into the body for treating many health conditions and well as for tonifying/wellness benefits. Vastra clothing creates an encapsulation or micro-environment of medicinal herbs and sustains it around the skin as long as one is wearing it as apparel or using it as clothing or bedding, and just like the skin absorbs toxins that it comes in touch with, it also acts as a conduit for the beneficial effects of plants and herbs used in the dye. Each dye or color represents a pre-dominant plant or herb used along with the synergy of over 20 others to create an array of health/wellness benefits. The benefits will last as long as the color is there. The roots, flowers, leaves, seeds and barks of around 200 herbs are used to make the dyes.Dyeing
They predominantly use cotton fabrics or yarn (in the case of handloom) for dyeing. Other natural fibres like jute, wool, silk, hemp and linen can also be used. The process of making starts with the 100% pure organic cloth and passes through several stages of treatment before becoming colorful and ready to wear. More importantly, no chemical additives are added to prepare the cotton fibers for spinning and weaving and no chemical finishes are applied to enhance its appearance. Every step in the preparation of is carefully and precisely controlled. Most of the herbs are procured locally and some regionally and are wild-crafted or organically grown. Around 200 herbs are used for making various types/colors of Vastra clothing. Each color is produced from a preparation that typically contains one or more pre-dominant plant/herb(like Turmeric in our Turmeric clothing) along with 40 or more others, that are specifically blended and carefully prepared medicinal herbs, plants, flowers, roots and barks. Different processes are followed depending on whether raw woven fabric or yarn is being dyed. For handloom, the process starts with the cotton yarn and goes through a process named de-sizing to remove loose particles, debris etc.PROCESSES OF PRODUCTION
Bleaching The selected fabric or yarn is first bleached using a preparation based in cow urine. Cows pasture naturally and also feed on 3 different types of medicinal grass. Cow urine is used along with milk, honey, etc in many preparations for cleansing /purifying rituals (Bathing the Idols of Hindu gods in such preparations is a common practice). The fabric or yarn is also exposed to direct sunlight as part of the process.Gumming/ Mordanting
To make the colours bright and fast a number of natural mordants such as bark of Lodhra (Symplocos racemosa), Kenduka (Diospyrose ebenum), fruit extracts of Haritaki (Terminalia chebula) etc are used. Each color /dye requires its unique blend of over 40 herbs/plants as for gumming as well as synergizing the health/wellness benefits.Medication (Dyeing)
The organic cotton yarn or fabric is then medicated in a carefully controlled mixture of herbal medicine preparations called Kashayas (meaning concoctions) depending upon the health/wellness benefits sought. The word medication is used instead of dyeing because here the medicinal plants/herbs themselves give natural color to fabrics. The temperature of the concoctions, the duration and number of the medicinal soaks, the blend of herbs and the equipment are carefully used in a controlled manner. The medicated/dyed cloth is allowed to cool and repeatedly washed to remove any loose particles and is always dried in shade.Finishing
In this type of dyeing, finishing is done by sprinkling pure water on the cloth and then stretching under pressure, using hand rolls, aloe-vera, castor oil etc.Curing/seasoning
The dyed fabrics then go through a seasoning process of 2 weeks or more before they are ready for use (tailoring).Effluent Treatment
The entire process is organic. It does not pollute the environment like synthetic dye. And the waste is used as bio manure and also to generate bio gas.FABRIC’S PROPERTIES
Natural Colour
Ayurvastra is also becoming very popular for its colour properties. The shades thus produced are very different and natural thereby giving you an all the more a different look. The roots, flowers, leaves, seeds and barks of around 200 herbs are used to make the dyes. Since the natural herbs are generally found in very beautiful shades. The shades can further be lightened or darkened from the same single herb by adding more or less quantity of the particular herb.Shade Variation
Shade difference in two different batches of same shade could be approximately 10-20%. This is largely due to the fact that the numerous chemical ingredients that make up plants vary widely. Not only do the variations occur between plants of the same species, but also from part to part of the same plant. For instance, in Amla, the medicine is contained in the fruits, not in its leaves or roots. The type and quantity of chemicals present are influenced by such factors as soil, species, weather, time of harvest as well as the part of the plant used. The manner in which they are stored and processed also has a profound effect on its extractions. Traditional crafts are not always simple. Medicines prepared in an iron pot give a colour different than the same ones prepared in pots made out of clay or wood. To obtain desired colour quality, time and again, the dyer has to know all these. Creating some colours with natural dyes is a very complicated process and is viable only if it is done commercially.Light fastness
Fading of dyestuffs by light radiation is one of the most important factors influencing the useful wear life of clothing. The loss and change in colour of dyed textiles upon exposure to light is a complex reaction affected by both the chemical and physical state of the dye. External factors such as the source and intensity of illumination can affect the reaction as well. Herbal dyes are mainly having carotenoids, flavonoids, indigoids or quinoid structures. Although flavonoid compounds are not very lightfast, quinoids and indigoids are noted for their excellent fastness properties. Stereo chemistry of the dyes also having much effect on the light fastness for example, symmetrical dye molecules usually exhibit greater light fastness than non-symmetrical dye molecules, and larger dye molecules generally provide faster dyeing than smaller ones. The quantitative "fading rates" for natural dyes are not practical because differences in fading rates for the same natural dyes have been reported in many cases.DISEASE PREVENTION FABRICS
| Arthritis Introduction | Name of Medicines used | Shades |
| Inflammation of joints marked by pain, heat, redness and swelling. Fever and pain all over body also will present in certain conditions. When the Arthritis becomes very chronic it is Rheumatic arthritis | Strych nuxvomica, Gmelia arborea, Alipinia Calcarata, Strobilunthus, Kunnthianus etc. Ayurvedic Medicine Used:30 | Yellow, Light Yellow, Brown, Dark Light Brown, Green, Light green Gray, Light Gray, Violet, Pink, Light pink, Ivory, Off White. |
| Osteo Arthritis Introduction | Botanical Name of Medicines | Shades |
| A non-inflammatory degenerative joint disease marked by degeneration of the Articular Cartilage, hypertrophy of bones at the margins and changes in the Synovial membrane accompanied by pain and stiffness. | Nigeela Sativa, Rocins Communis, alpinia Galanga, Cucubita Pepo, Cardiospermum Helicabum etc. Ayurvedic Medicine Used:30 | Yellow, Light Yellow, Brown, Dark Light Brown, Green, Light green Gray, Light Gray, Violet, Pink, Light pink, Ivory, Off White. |
| Psoriasis Introduction | Botanical Name of Medicines | Shades |
| A chronic hereditary, recurrent dermatitis marked by discrete vivid red macules, papules covered with silvery laminated seales. | Pterocarpus Marsupial, Cassia Fistula, Ficus Glometara, Derris Indica, Solanum Nigrum etc. Ayurvedic Medicine Used:35 | Yellow, Light Yellow, Brown, Dark Light Brown, Green, Light green Gray, Light Gray, Violet, Pink, Light pink, Ivory, Off White. |
| Rheumatism Introduction | Botanical Name of Medicines | Shades |
| Rheumatic arthritis is a chronic systematic disease primarily on the joints marked by inflammatory changes in the synovial membrane and Articular structures and atrophy and rare faction of the bones. In the latest stages deformity and ankylosis develops. The cause is unknown according to modern concepts. But according to modern concepts. But according to modern concepts. But according to ayurveda Vada-Kapha dushti due to undecided food habits and regimn is the cause. | Premna latifolia Roxb,Ttrichodesma Indicum, Trichyspermum Ammi, Sopindus Cmarenatus, Ipomoea Plalmata Foresk etc. Ayurvedic Medicine Used:30 | Yellow, Light Yellow, Brown, Dark Light Brown, Green, Light green Gray, Light Gray, Violet, Pink, Light pink, Ivory, Off White. |
| Atopic Dermatitis | Botanical Name of Medicines | Shades |
| Also known as Atopic Excema. It is a hereditary and non contagious skin diseases characterized by the chronic inflammation of skin. There is a known hereditary component of the disease and is seen more in some families. The hallmarks of the disease include skin rashes and itching. | Aquilaria Agallocha Roxb, Curuma longa, Euphobia tiruccil, Xylia Xyocorpa, Clioreaternatea etc. Ayurvedic Medicine Used:30 | Yellow, Light Yellow, Brown, Dark Light Brown, Green, Light green Gray, Light Gray, Violet, Pink, Light pink, Ivory, Off White. |
CLINICAL RESEARCH ON FABRIC
Many clinical experiments have been conducted to show the effectiveness of Ayurvastra. It was found through various trials that such an environment can help those suffering from skin diseases, arthritis, Eczema, psoriasis and rheumatism and blood pressure. All these trials showed a marked improvement. The Pharmacology department at the Government Ayurveda College, Trivandrum (capital of Kerala, India) conducted a month-long trial by using bedding, rugs and towels made from Ayurvastra and they found that it helped the patients who suffered from diseases like eczema, psoriasis and rheumatism. According to Dr. Vishwanathan, the former Dean of the Drug Research Department at Ayurveda College, "We treated around 40 people. And the response was remarkably good, especially in cases of arthritis and skin ailments." Based upon the successful results of this clinical trial, the Kerala State Government has initiated a more in-depth and expanded study into the possible effectiveness of Ayurvastra in the treatment of other ailments including cancer. Another study initiated by the Ministry of Health and Government of Kerala, undertook a six-month clinical trial at the Government Ayurveda College in Trivandrum on patients suffering from rheumatism, allergy, hypertension, diabetes, psoriasis and other skin ailments. For the study, all clothes, bed linens and mattresses of the patients were dyed in Ayurvastra herbs and the walls, floors and ceilings in the patient’s room were lined with Ayurvastra coir mats so that the patient were surrounded by Ayurvastra medicated materials. The improvements in the health of patients suffering from rheumatism and arthritis are especially interesting because rheumatism and arthritis are not skin disorders and this indicate that the treatments might have healthy benefits that extend beyond the periphery of skin problems. |
TURMERIC FABRIC
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TURMERIC FABRIC
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TULSI FABRIC
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NEEM FABRIC
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VASTRA- CUSCUS FABRIC
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VASTRA- CUSCUS FABRIC
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MARKETING OF AYURVEDA HEALING FABRIC
The marketing of Ayurveda healing fabric was done with a decentralised approach. Its marketing is mainly concentrated in foreign countries especially, America. This fabric owes only a small share in the Indian markets. The main reason for this is because, most of the people are unaware about it but the scope of Ayurveda healing fabric is incredible. Awareness programmes about this fabric in America is done by food coaches. Mr Narayan, a native of Kerala playing an important role as a part of his work he advice his patients to use this fabric. American artists and foreign tourists opened a new way to global market for Ayurveda healing fabric. It has a good share in the Global market. Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Jordan, USA and Saudi Arabia are the main customers of Ayurveda healing fabric. Research Methodology Research Design Descriptive research studies are those studies which are concerned with describing the characteristics of a particular individual or of a group. It includes surveys and fact-finding enquiries of different kinds. The major purpose of descriptive research is to get a description of the state of affairs as it exists at present. The researcher has used this descriptive research for the study. The main characteristic of this method is that the researcher has no control over the variables; he/she can only report what happened or what is happening. Descriptive research studies also include attempts by researchers to discover causes even when they cannot control the variables. Population The survey was conducted in the following places- Handloom Weavers development society, Balaramapuram
- Cochin
- Ayurveda healing fabric showroom at Muscat hotel, Trivandrum
- Malappuram
- How familiar are you with Ayurveda Healing fabric?
| Options | Respondents(in percentage) |
| I’ve never heard about it. | 17 |
| I’ve heard of them, but never buy their products. | 23 |
| I buy their products occasionally. | 15 |
| I buy their product on a regular basis. | 45 |
| Total | 100 |
Interpretation
It is realized that about 17% people don’t know about this Fabric.23% people are aware about Ayurveda healing fabric. But they never buy these products.. Remaining people are the Customers.it includes 15% occasional customers and 45% regular customers.
- Age Group
| Options | Respondents(in percentage) |
| Below 20 | 2 |
| 20-30 | 54 |
| 30-40 | 18 |
| Above 40 | 26 |
| Total | 100 |
Interpretation
It 54% people are coming under the age group of 20-30.only 2% people are coming under below 20. The remaining part of people comes under the age group of 30-40 it is 18% and 26% people are of age group of above 40.
- How you came to know about about Ayurveda healing fabric?
| Options | Respondents(in percentage) |
| Internet | 8 |
| Newspaper/ Magazines | 34 |
| Television | 12 |
| Peer groups(friends, family) | 46 |
| Total | 100 |
Interpretation
It shows Peer groups (46%) leads the others. Then comes Newspaper (34%), Television (12%), and Internet (8%).
4. How often you buy Ayurveda healing fabrics?
| Options | Respondents(in percentage) |
| Occasionally | 25 |
| Frequently | 27 |
| Often | 23 |
| Very often. | 25 |
| Total | 100 |
Interpretation
It shows 27% people are frequent customers of Ayurveda healing fabric.25% are occasional customers. The remaining customer comes under often buyers (23%) and very often (25%) buyers.
- For what purpose you are using Ayurveda healing fabric?
| Options | Respondents(in percentage) |
| For curing diseases | 47 |
| For preventing diseases | 25 |
| To be eco friendly | 17 |
| All above | 11 |
| Total | 100 |
Interpretation
It realise that about 47% people are using this fabric for curing diseases. About 25% are using for preventing diseases. 17% people are using this fabric for being eco-friendly 11% people choose this fabric for all the above purpose.
- Which is your most preferable product of ‘Ayurveda healing fabric’?
| Options | Respondents(in percentage) |
| Garments | 53 |
| Bed sheet | 25 |
| Meditation cloth | 19 |
| Coir mats, curtains | 3 |
| Total | 100 |
Interpretation
Most preferable product of Ayurveda healing a fabric is their Garments (53%) then Bed sheet (25%), Meditation cloth (19%) Home textiles (3%)
- From where do you buy Ayurveda healing fabric’s products?
| Options | Respondents(in percentage) |
| Handloom Weavers Development society, Balaramapuram | 28 |
| Showrooms inside Kerala | 37 |
| Showrooms inside India | 10 |
| From foreign countries | 45 |
| Total | 100 |
Interpretation
About 45% customers bought it from foreign countries.37% customers bought it from showrooms inside Kerala. 28% bought from HLWDS Balaramapuram. The remaining customers (10%) bought it from showrooms show rooms inside India.
- How long you are using these products?
| Options | Respondents(in percentage) |
| Below 1 year | 10 |
| 1-2 year | 12 |
| 3-4 year | 32 |
| More than 4 years | 46 |
| Total | 100 |
Interpretation
It shows 46% customers are using this fabric for more than 4 years.32% customers are using this fabric for 3-4 years.12% customers are using this for 1-2 years.10% customers are using this fabric not more than one year.
- What is your opinion about the prices of Ayurveda healing fabrics?
| Options | Respondents(in percentage) |
| Cheap. | 0 |
| Affordable | 75 |
| Expensive | 13 |
| Very expensive | 12 |
| Total | 100 |
Interpretation
Nobody is having an opinion that Ayurveda healing fabric are of cheap rate. About 75% peoples have the opinion that it is affordable.13% customers have the opinion that it is expensive. Remaining 12% customers have the opinion that it is very expensive.
- How much money (INR) will you spent for this Fabric?
| Options | Respondents(in percentage) |
| Below 1000 | 10 |
| 1000-3000 | 35 |
| 3000-5000 | 27 |
| Above 5000 | 28 |
| Total | 100 |
Interpretation
35% customers are ready to spend the amount of 1000-3000 for buying Ayurveda healing fabric. But 28 % customers are ready to spent amount more than 5000 and 27% customers are ready to buy the amount of 3000-5000 but only 10% customers are ready to buy the amount of below 1000.
- What are the most important criteria for preferring these fabrics?
| Options | Respondents(in percentage) |
| It’s medicinal values | 65 |
| Comfort | 25 |
| Quality | 8 |
| Colours | 2 |
| Total | 100 |
Interpretation
65% customers prefer this fabric because of its medicinal values.25% customers prefer because of its comfort. Remaining 8% selects this fabric because of its quality. Only 2% selects this because of its colours.
- Along with the above qualities of Ayurveda healing fabric, what are your expectations?
| Options | Respondents(in percentage) |
| More presence in Medical field. | 72 |
| More colours and prints | 13 |
| More presence in Home textiles. | 10 |
| All above. | 5 |
| Total | 100 |
Interpretation
It shows 73% of customers expect more presence in medicinal field 13% customers expects this fabric in Home textiles. The remaining 5% expects this fabric in all the above fields.
- Have you ever felt any discomfort from the following?
| Options | Respondents(in percentage) |
| Price. | 5 |
| Availability | 85 |
| Colours | 5 |
| Quality. | 5 |
| Total | 100 |
Interpretation
Main problem faced by the customers are its availability 85% people are supporting this opinion. 5% customers have problem with price, 5% customers have in colour and 5% have in quality.
- Which ‘Ayurveda healing fabric is most preferable for you
| Options | Respondents(in percentage) |
| Cotton | 58 |
| Silk | 15 |
| Linen | 19 |
| Wool | 8 |
| Total | 100 |
Interpretation
The above diagram shows that the customer preference of fabric types. Cotton is most preferable 59% customers are choosing cotton. Then linen (19%), silk(15%), wool(8%)
- How would you rate your experience by using these’ products?
| Options | Respondents(in percentage) |
| Excellent | 83 |
| Good | 17 |
| Average | 0 |
| Bad | 0 |
| Total | 100 |
Interpretation
It shows that about 83% people have the opinion that Ayurveda healing fabric as excellent one.17% customers says its good product. Nobody respondent its performance is average or bad.
FINDINGS
- Ayurveda healing fabric has glittering scope because of its Eco-friendliness and Medicinal values.
- The analysis shows that about 40% people are not aware about Ayurveda healing fabric.
- Ayurveda healing fabric is a value added product. The development of Handloom sector, it will increase medicinal plant cultivation and it also increases tribal jobs.
- Kuzhivila family is the sole producer of real Ayurvedic healing fabric.
- Lack awareness among people is the main problem facing in the marketing of Ayurveda healing fabric.
- Lack of proper government support affects their stability.
- Research and development is needed for producing new medicinal fabrics and for varieties of colors.
- Lack of organic wool and linen affect their production.
RECOMMENDATIONS
- To make people aware about Ayurveda Healing Fabric.
- To make the raw materials available they can start at Herbal gardens, they can seek help from Government.
- To make the garments or fabrics more attractive by varieties of designs.
- They can develop printing techniques to improve the attractiveness of their fabric.
- To improve the feel and texture of the fabric they can use some machines for dyeing process.
- Production of skin fit and under garments of this fabric may achieve market share.
- Making a Product portfolio will help to increase the customers and new entrepreneurs.
- Find more entrepreneurs for elaborating the business.
- Conduct exhibitions and awareness programmes in universities and colleges will make the new generation more aware about this fabric.
Articles:
Ananthakrishnan.G,Selling in Saudi Arabia:Ayurvedic burqa.
Anitha k.Moosath,2006, June23,”Herbal couture”THE HINDU-Business line.
Ayurvastra manufactures eco-friendly organic attires.
Don Sebastian ,2005,’Kerala weavers heal the world wiyh Ayurvastra’.
Lauren Holt,2010 “Ayurvastra:Herbal Healing Through Cloth”.
Pradeep Rama Krishnan,2007,”AYUR-VASTRA” ALL SETS TO CONQUER WORLD MARKET.
Weaving a network of herbal nurseries.THE HINDU-Business line.
Websites:
Ayurvedicmedicinalplants,com
enchantingkerala.org
www,vastra,us
www,handloomweavers,org
organicclothing.blogs,com This project report is in practical fulfillment of the requirements of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Textile Management (SVPISTM) for the award of Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Apparel). Under the Guidance of Mr. S. Kumar Chandar. MCA, MBA, MPhil, (PhD), Assistant Professor (IT)
BALAPOSH, The fragrant silk quilt of Bengal
Issue #008, 2021 ISSN: 2581- 9410 Balaposh, a fragrant silk quilt, is an intriguing story of superb craftsmanship. Intriguing because only a single family in Murshidabad (West Bengal, India) know the secrets of the Mughal era Balaposh-making craft. In the 18th century, Murshidabad had reached the zenith of prosperity and was the biggest centre of trade and commerce in north India. The story goes that Nawab Shirajuddin , the heir of Murshed Kuli Khan, found the traditional quilts and wraps, made of animal hair and wool, a bit heavy for Bengal winter. He wanted something different, a quilt which would not be prickly or heavy. It was to be soft as a mother’s lap, warm and comfortable, yet light like a beloved’s embrace and fragrant like a flower! Those were the days of incredible flamboyance and glory. The Mughal love for beauty was still fresh in everyone’s mind. The master craftsman who took up the challenge was one Atir Khan and thus, Balaposh was born. It was expensive and at first, only used by royals and nobles. Even now the craft remains a closely guarded secret of the family of Atir Khan. His great grandson Sakhawat Hossain, who passed away recently, was the only master craftsman. Balaposh is not like kantha, razais or dohars. To appreciate why Balaposh is so special in a country where the art of quilt- making is so very common, we have to understand how it is created. In the last decade of his life, under gentle persuasion of Srimati Sr Ruby Palchowdhuri, Shakawat Hossain agreed to share the secrets of Balaposh-making for the first time, under the aegis of Crafts Council of West Bengal. For a single 6-feet-by-4-feet Balaposh, one needs two lengths of Bangalore or mulberry silk and a special type of cotton, which is lighter than kapas. The cotton fibres are meticulously cleaned and dyed in a dark colour. In a small room, not much larger than the Balaposh itself, the karigar places one length of silk on the floor, taking care that the cloth is secure. He props the other length directly 4 feet above the cloth on the floor. He then starts carding the cotton with his special instrument. The longer he continues, the lighter and fluffier the cotton gets. Soon, it is light enough to float up and then slowly settle on the cloth on the ground. Since the room is tiny, the cotton settles on the cloth and does not scatter. Once that is done, the karigar uses the back of his hand to smoothen the cotton evenly. No lump of cotton should remain. When all the cotton is finally in place, the top cloth is lowered very gently over the cotton fibres. Now, all three layers are stitched tightly. This is the most important skill because if not stitched tightly enough, the cotton layer moves around and gets lumpy. Before completing the sewing, the craftsman slips in tiny attar-soaked muslin pieces in four corners. The end result is a masterpiece of incredibly soft, shimmering, fragrant magic. What sets the Balaposh apart is its fragrant softness, the plain silky surface, with no visible quilting. The beautifully stitched taut borders ensure that the cotton wool layer does not get lumpy or move around even after a century. This Bengal craft deserves the patronage to revive it from dying or being copied/mislabelled by mass marketing imitations. The deliberate conservatism of the artisans has to be overcome and its geographical uniqueness protected and publicised. Fortunately, the last master craftsman has trained his daughter so nurture his family tradition.
Issue #008, 2021 ISSN: 2581- 9410 Balaposh, a fragrant silk quilt, is an intriguing story of superb craftsmanship. Intriguing because only a single family in Murshidabad (West Bengal, India) know the secrets of the Mughal era Balaposh-making craft. In the 18th century, Murshidabad had reached the zenith of prosperity and was the biggest centre of trade and commerce in north India. The story goes that Nawab Shirajuddin , the heir of Murshed Kuli Khan, found the traditional quilts and wraps, made of animal hair and wool, a bit heavy for Bengal winter. He wanted something different, a quilt which would not be prickly or heavy. It was to be soft as a mother’s lap, warm and comfortable, yet light like a beloved’s embrace and fragrant like a flower! Those were the days of incredible flamboyance and glory. The Mughal love for beauty was still fresh in everyone’s mind. The master craftsman who took up the challenge was one Atir Khan and thus, Balaposh was born. It was expensive and at first, only used by royals and nobles. Even now the craft remains a closely guarded secret of the family of Atir Khan. His great grandson Sakhawat Hossain, who passed away recently, was the only master craftsman. Balaposh is not like kantha, razais or dohars. To appreciate why Balaposh is so special in a country where the art of quilt- making is so very common, we have to understand how it is created. In the last decade of his life, under gentle persuasion of Srimati Sr Ruby Palchowdhuri, Shakawat Hossain agreed to share the secrets of Balaposh-making for the first time, under the aegis of Crafts Council of West Bengal. For a single 6-feet-by-4-feet Balaposh, one needs two lengths of Bangalore or mulberry silk and a special type of cotton, which is lighter than kapas. The cotton fibres are meticulously cleaned and dyed in a dark colour. In a small room, not much larger than the Balaposh itself, the karigar places one length of silk on the floor, taking care that the cloth is secure. He props the other length directly 4 feet above the cloth on the floor. He then starts carding the cotton with his special instrument. The longer he continues, the lighter and fluffier the cotton gets. Soon, it is light enough to float up and then slowly settle on the cloth on the ground. Since the room is tiny, the cotton settles on the cloth and does not scatter. Once that is done, the karigar uses the back of his hand to smoothen the cotton evenly. No lump of cotton should remain. When all the cotton is finally in place, the top cloth is lowered very gently over the cotton fibres. Now, all three layers are stitched tightly. This is the most important skill because if not stitched tightly enough, the cotton layer moves around and gets lumpy. Before completing the sewing, the craftsman slips in tiny attar-soaked muslin pieces in four corners. The end result is a masterpiece of incredibly soft, shimmering, fragrant magic. What sets the Balaposh apart is its fragrant softness, the plain silky surface, with no visible quilting. The beautifully stitched taut borders ensure that the cotton wool layer does not get lumpy or move around even after a century. This Bengal craft deserves the patronage to revive it from dying or being copied/mislabelled by mass marketing imitations. The deliberate conservatism of the artisans has to be overcome and its geographical uniqueness protected and publicised. Fortunately, the last master craftsman has trained his daughter so nurture his family tradition.
Baluchari Sari of West Bengal,
Geographical Background Bishnupur is an earthy town, 110 kilometers from Kolkata and situated in Bankura district. The town is well connected with cities like Kolkata, Durgapur, Burdawan by train and bus. The climate here is hot and dry. Not enough rainfall takes place here during monsoons. Places around Bishnupur are mostly barren and the plateau ofBengal falls in this region. Temperature during summer goes up to 38 degree c, and in winter it drops to 10 deg c`. The town has atleast 12 water resources (Bandh) of different sizes. The colour of the soil is red here, which is very unique to this place. Historical Background Silk is an English word and the synonym of it is Resham which is used in French also. Though researchers say that China was the inventor of silk, but the use of pattavastra (silk) was age old in India. Another name of it is Kousaya which is mentioned by Koutilya in his book ‘ Arthashastra’. In the history of textile in Bengal, Baluchari came much after muslin. Two hundred years ago Baluchari used to be practiced in a small village called Baluchar, situated in Murshidabad district. From the name of the village the sari was named Baluchari. In 18th century, Nawab of Bengal, MurshidKuli Khan shifted his capital from Dhaka to Murshidabad. He was the person who patronized the rich weaving tradition and Baluchari flourished from that time onwards. From its birth period itself Baluchari was the adornment of the elite class. During the period of Delhi-Bengal political intimacy, it was the product of high demand in Mughal court and other royal families of the country. In the middle of the 19th century, elite Bengali house wives used to wear Baluchari. Rabindranath Tagore's brother Abanindranath has written that Maharshi Debendranath's (Tagore's father) wife is wearing Baluchari on the occasion of Maghotsava. The last known weaver of Baluchari was Dubraj Das, who died in 1903. Several saris have been found signed by him. The aspect of signing his name is probably one of the rare instancesof an Indian craftsmen branding his product. But the flourishing was not there for all the time. Because of some political and financial reason Baluchari's of Baluchar village became a dying craft. The village Baluchar drowned in Ganges because of a deadly flood. The fine silk posed a threat to the imported English fabric. The British inflicted punishment on the weavers, thus compelling them to completely give up this profession. Another reason was the dwindling nobility and the lack of patron. The craftsmen were forced to resort to other profession in order to survive. In the first half of 20th century the famous artist Subho Thakur, who was the director of the Regional Design Centre felt it necessary tore-cultivate the rich tradition. Though Bishnupur was always famous for its silk, he invited a master weaver Akshay Kumar Das from Bishnupur to his center to learn the technique of jacquard weaving. Akshay Kumar went back to Bishnupur and worked hard to weave Baluchari on his looms. Bhagwan Das Sarda from the Silk Khadi Mandal helped him with financial and moral support. After a long trial Gora Chand and KhuduBala a weaver couple from Bishnupur finally wove the first Baluchari there, using Akshay Kumar's design.
Geographical Background Bishnupur is an earthy town, 110 kilometers from Kolkata and situated in Bankura district. The town is well connected with cities like Kolkata, Durgapur, Burdawan by train and bus. The climate here is hot and dry. Not enough rainfall takes place here during monsoons. Places around Bishnupur are mostly barren and the plateau ofBengal falls in this region. Temperature during summer goes up to 38 degree c, and in winter it drops to 10 deg c`. The town has atleast 12 water resources (Bandh) of different sizes. The colour of the soil is red here, which is very unique to this place. Historical Background Silk is an English word and the synonym of it is Resham which is used in French also. Though researchers say that China was the inventor of silk, but the use of pattavastra (silk) was age old in India. Another name of it is Kousaya which is mentioned by Koutilya in his book ‘ Arthashastra’. In the history of textile in Bengal, Baluchari came much after muslin. Two hundred years ago Baluchari used to be practiced in a small village called Baluchar, situated in Murshidabad district. From the name of the village the sari was named Baluchari. In 18th century, Nawab of Bengal, MurshidKuli Khan shifted his capital from Dhaka to Murshidabad. He was the person who patronized the rich weaving tradition and Baluchari flourished from that time onwards. From its birth period itself Baluchari was the adornment of the elite class. During the period of Delhi-Bengal political intimacy, it was the product of high demand in Mughal court and other royal families of the country. In the middle of the 19th century, elite Bengali house wives used to wear Baluchari. Rabindranath Tagore's brother Abanindranath has written that Maharshi Debendranath's (Tagore's father) wife is wearing Baluchari on the occasion of Maghotsava. The last known weaver of Baluchari was Dubraj Das, who died in 1903. Several saris have been found signed by him. The aspect of signing his name is probably one of the rare instancesof an Indian craftsmen branding his product. But the flourishing was not there for all the time. Because of some political and financial reason Baluchari's of Baluchar village became a dying craft. The village Baluchar drowned in Ganges because of a deadly flood. The fine silk posed a threat to the imported English fabric. The British inflicted punishment on the weavers, thus compelling them to completely give up this profession. Another reason was the dwindling nobility and the lack of patron. The craftsmen were forced to resort to other profession in order to survive. In the first half of 20th century the famous artist Subho Thakur, who was the director of the Regional Design Centre felt it necessary tore-cultivate the rich tradition. Though Bishnupur was always famous for its silk, he invited a master weaver Akshay Kumar Das from Bishnupur to his center to learn the technique of jacquard weaving. Akshay Kumar went back to Bishnupur and worked hard to weave Baluchari on his looms. Bhagwan Das Sarda from the Silk Khadi Mandal helped him with financial and moral support. After a long trial Gora Chand and KhuduBala a weaver couple from Bishnupur finally wove the first Baluchari there, using Akshay Kumar's design.
BISHNUPUR
It is said silk, conch and amburi (tobacco) are the specialty of Bishnupuri. Bishnupur was the capital of Malla dynasty. Different kinds of crafts flourished during this period in the patronage of Malla kings. In music also Bishnupur gharana developed during the rule of this dynasty. Temples made of terracotta bricks were another achievement of these rulers. A major influence of these temples can be seen in Baluchar saris. It is common to weave mythological stories on Baluchar, which is often taken from the walls of temples. Bishnupur the tiny town with its rich heritage in handloom, handicrafts and music has gone into oblivion. Patrapara is a dingy alley where even in midnight the rustic sound of jacquard paddle can be heard. This is the place where most of the Baluchari weavers are concentrated. History of Silk The possibility of making cloth from the filament that the silkworm spins into a cocoon was first discovered in China about 2600 BC. Legends tell us that a cocoon accidentally dropped into a cup of tea that a Chinese princess was having in her garden. The hot liquid softened and loosened the fibre, which the princess pulled and drew away from the cocoon as a continuous strand. Another story sites Empress Si-ling-Chi as the first producer of silk fiber. She is venerated as the Goddess of the silk worm. The Chinese who first cultivated the silk worm and developed a silk industry endeavored to keep the source of the raw material secret. Caravans carried silks into the nearest regions where they were traded for 100 years. It is believed that silk was introduced into Europe by Alexander the Great in the fourth century BC. A large silk industry eventually developed in Southern Europe and subsequently spread westward because of the Muslim conquest. Spain begun to produce silk in the 18th century. Italy begun silk production in 12th century and was the leader for 500 years. Production Process The weaving of Baluchari is an intricate process, and requires ample time and labour. A proper and pre-settled division of labour can be seen in this pocket. Previously the system used to weave Baluchari, was called Jala draw-loom system. The silk yarn used in Baluchari was not twisted and therefore had a soft and heavy texture. The usual size of old Baluchari used to be of 447cm(length) 112cm(wide) and count of the thread was 43 warp and the 32 weft. This is the only sari from the Eastern region created on the draw-loom, which contains complicated mechanism for weaving multi warp and multi weft. The ground colour in which the cloth was available, were limited. These pieces are still fresh after hundreds of years. Before modern chemical dyes were introduced, vegetable dyes were used to dye yarn, both silk and cotton, with very fine results. Earlier the technique was very time consuming and expensive. It is said, to complete one sari of Baluchari craftsmen took seven years. The fineness and the class of the earlier versions cannot be replicated. Today, jacquard looms are used to weave the Baluchari sari. The size of modern Baluchari is 558cm (length) &112cm (wide) and the count of the thread is 38 warp and 35 weft. However, people who have seen the Baluchari of yore swear that the current ones are not a patch on the old, in quality and in technique. The Production Process of Baluchari Can Be Divided into Several Parts Cultivation of cocoons. Processing of yarns. Motif making. Weaving. Cultivation of cocoons Since the discovery so many years ago that the fiber, or filament composing the cocoon of the silkworm can be unwound and constructed into a beautiful and durable fabric Silkworms have been bred for the sole purpose of producing raw silk. The production of cocoons for their filament is called Sericulture. Under scientific breeding silk worms may be hatched 3 times a year. Under natural condition breeding occurs only once a year. Life cycle of the cocoon is as follows: The egg which develops into a larva or caterpillar- the silkworm. The silkworm which spins its cocoons for protection, to permit development into the pupa, or chrysalis. The chrysalis, which emerges from the cocoon as the moth. The moth of which the female lays eggs, so continuing the life cycle. Within three days after emerging from the cocoons, the moths mate, the female lays 350 to 400 eggs. Each egg hatches into what is called an ant. It is a larva about 1/8 inch (3mm) in length. The larva requires careful nurturing in a controlled atmosphere for approximately 20 to 32 days. During this period, the tiny worm has a voracious appetite. It is fed five times a day on chopped mulberry leaves. After four changes of skin, or molting, the worm reaches full growth in the form of a smooth greyish white caterpillar. Its interest in food ceases. It shrinks somewhat in size and acquires a pinkish hue, becoming nearly transparent. A constant restless rearing movement of the head indicates that the worm is ready to spin its cocoon. Processing of Yarns Silk yarn is procured from Mysore and the neighboring Maldah district. To make the yarn soft, it is boiled in a solution of soda and soap. Then the yarns are dyed in acid colour, according to the requirement of the sari. After boiling and dyeing, 1 kg of yarn shrinks and reduces to 700gms.The yarn is stretched from both the sides in opposite directions putting same force with both palms. This process is needed to make the yarn crisper. Then the yarn is dried in sunlight for few hours. Dried yarns are fixed on a wooden roller (fandali) and one yarn is made from two yarns. In case of Mysore silk one yarn is made from two yarns because the quality is better. But for the Maldah silk three yarns are needed to make one. The final twisted yarn is rolled on a wooden frame, called Latai. In case of Tussar, first the cocoon (tussar seed) is boiled in plain warm water to make it soft. Then they take out at at least 8 to 10 yarns to twist one final yarn(tussar yarn is very fine). The wooden frame (latai) goes to a person, who fixes up all these frames on a bigger frame, which can consist of atleast 30 to 35 smaller frames. Then he transfers these yarns from latais to another frame according to length of the sari. Simultaneously he can roll yarns for minimum 30 saris. The whole process is called Purni. After this process the yarns are rolled on a wooden rod in a round shape. These round shaped yarn balls comes to another worker, who transfers these yarn balls on a wooden beam. Small beams are called Sisaban and bigger ones are called dhal. Now these beams are ready to be fixed in the loom for weaving. Making of the motifs for pallavs and other part of Baluchari is in itself an intricate process. First a person draws the design on a graph paper. Then he colours it according to the requirement of the sari. Coloured graph paper is sent to a person, who punches the card according to the design. He puts a card (piece board) 6.2/33cm, inside the punched box. The graph consists of several squares. These squares again have 8/8small squares. The card puncher takes every small square, sees its colour and punches the card. He punches the card with a metal rod called tobna. He punches the white square and keep the coloured square flat. Generally in Baluchari only two colours are used, but in intricate ones sometimes more than four colours are used. To make the motif for one sari atleast 7000 cards are needed. After punching is over, these cards are sewed in order and fixed in the jacquard machine. From one set of cards more than one sari can be woven. Cards are punched using a mallet and two punches. The small punch is used for the pattern and the large one is used for locating the holes. There is a metal matrix on a wooden base, on which the card is placed with a second matrix fitting over the top. Each hole in a card represents a lift of a shaft matches a marked square on the weave draft. Weaving After jacquard loom has been introduced, a Baluchari takes five to six days to complete. Two weavers work on it, in shift basis. To tighten the sari from both the side while weaving a metal and wooden clip is attached. It is called Katani. To keep the yarn tight from the other side of the loom, some weight is hanged. This weight consists sand, rolled yarn etc. It is called jak. For the border, yarns pass through a framed net called jalipata. A metal handle is fixed on the one end of the beam, where the finished sari rolls down. This handle is called kheel. After little weaving is over, water is sprinkled on the woven part and polishing is done with an oval shaped tin sheet. This tin sheet is called sana. Time to time wax is put on the yarn to make it more even and slippery. During the weaving of paisley (buti) a small boy is needed to weave the buti, and the main weaver weaves the sari. Design Baluchari as mentioned earlier was the sign of aristocracy, the attire of status. This sari had enjoyed special patronage of the Murshidabad Court since the 17th century. There developed a school of design where stylised form of human and animal figures were integrated with floral and geometric motifs in woven materials. Nawabs and Muslim aristocrats used the material mainly as tapestry. But elite Hindus made it into saris in which the ground scheme of decoration became a very wide pallav, often with a large mango or paisley (buti) motifs at the center, surrounded by smaller rectangles depicting different scenes. The sari borders were narrow and had floral motifs. The whole ground of the sari was covered with small paisley and other floral designs. The interesting feature of earlier Baluchari was stylised bird and animal motifs that were incorporated in the paisley and other decoration. Scenes from the Nawabs' court used to be the previous and older design influence. For example When the British took over Bengal, sahibs and memsahibs appeared, a sahib smoking hukka, and the mem fanning herself. The advent of railways and steamboats was also most interestingly documented on these saris. After little weaving is over, water is sprinkled on the woven part and polishing is done with an oval shaped tin sheet. This tin sheet is called sana. Some of the famous scenes are hunting scene of Nawab, running horse with a rider, warrior with a spear in hand, Nawab smoking hukka, etc. some of the contemporary design used in Baluchari are stories from epics, like Pancha Pandava, Shakuntala, Meerabai, Krishnalila, Madan Mohan, temples of Bishnupur etc. Saris depicting wedding scenes are a delight too. The pallav starts with small rectangles all showing palanquin bearers, seemingly carrying the bride. The next line of panel shows the bride and the groom before the holy fire, the line below it shows the couple facing each other. The main panel at the centre shows the exchange of garlands. This is then followed by the rectangles in the same order as at the beginning of the pallav. The border of the sari has musicians playing songs at the wedding. Other depictions include cavalry. The decoration on the rest of the sari could be tiny bunches of flowers, paisleys. The symbolic use of colour has played a part in Indian life atleast since Vedic times. The Sanskrit word for caste, varna, literally means colour and certain colours are traditionally associated with different castes. These caste colours have been reflected in traditional saris something which is still adhered today, even though it is now much more diluted. In terms of clothings and colours Brahmins were traditionally associated with white, as any form of dying was regarded as impure. Today colour has become a more dominant factor in women's clothing, and white is often only worn on ritual occasions such as special pujas. In eastern region it is never worn during wedding because white is also regarded as the colour of mourning. The colour red was associated with kshatriyas, although today it is commonly worn by brides of all castes during wedding. Red is regarded as the auspicious because it has several emotional, sexual, fertility - related qualities, making it a suitable colour for brides and young married women. The Vaisyas were traditionally associated with the colour green but today it usually has an Islamic connotation. The name for green is often the same for the colour yellow, such as pitambara. The colour yellow is traditionally regarded as the colour of religion and asceticism, as saffron yellow or orange is the colour of Sadhus and other individuals who have relinquished their caste and family to lead a spiritual life. On the first day of hindu wedding ceremony in the eastern region the bride is washed in haldi (turmeric) to ritually purify her, after which she wears a yellow sari. Today yellow is also regarded as the colour to be worn on special occasions. Blue is the colour relegated to the Sudras, and high caste Hindu's avoided this colour because the fermentation process used to create indigo was regarded as ritually impure. Among caste Hindus blue and black were both considered as the inauspicious colours, reflecting sorrow. But in Baluchari the colour blue is widely used since its birth. Today blue is a widely used and worn colour and many older women and widows tend to wear saris with muted tones of blue, black, green rather than the pure white sari.MOTIFS USED IN BALUCHAR SAREES
FLOWERS Various types of floral forms abound in Indian saris. Although the Islamic depiction of flowers is purely decorative, various Hindu saris represented it as a good luck, health and prosperity. Flowers also represent the female principle. In Indo-Aryan language flower additionally refers to aspects of female anatomy. Flowers are also used as fertility symbols also, especially lotus and jasmine. LOTUS One of the most complex and enduring symbol in Baluchar saris, is lotus. It represents spiritual power and authority. It also symbolize the material world in all of its many forms. Indian mythology depicts Vishnu asleep upon the serpent Ananta drifting on the eternal sea of milk, where he dreams the universe into existence, features a lotus blossom issuing from Vishnu's navel, upon which Brahma sits. This is the symbol of the creation of the material universe. Such symbolisms are concepts of fertility and fecundity. Lotus symbolizes prosperity and material wealth. THE KALGA he kalga motif is now very ubiquitous in Indian saris, especially in Baluchar. It is locally known as kalka. It is hard to imagine that the motif is only 250 years old. It evolved from 17th century floral and tree of life design that were created in tapestry woven Mughal textiles. The early designs depicts single plants with large flowers and thin wavy stems, small leaves and roots. In the course of time the design became denser, with more flowers and leaves. The term Kalgahas come from Urdu word qalb which means hook. THE PEACOCK The peacock has several associations that at first glance appear to be unrelated. It depicts immortality, love, courtship, fertility, regal pomp, war and protection. Its traditional significance is probably lost, but nevertheless its depiction and symbolism has a long and complex history. THE FISH Fish are potent fertility symbol in Hindu castes in India, indicating abundance of food, wealth and children as well as the generative power of supernatural. The fish is also an avatar of Vishnu who as the preserver is associated with prosperity and material comforts. THE ELEPHANT The elephant is considered an auspicious animal, traditionally associated with water and fertility, and with royalty and regal power. It also depicts the success of the following year's crop. The sheer physical power of elephant has traditionally been harnessed during war, natural disaster which again have regal associations. THE CONCH The conch shell is both a symbol of Vishnu and Nada Brahma, God in the form of sound. It is one of the eight auspicious symbols, representing temporal power, and conch was used in ancient India as a war bugle. DRAPING A BENGALI SAREE lst Bengali saris are six yards in length which is measured by the distance between the elbow and middle finger tips. If measured by hand, it is twelve times the length from the tips of the fingers to the elbow. This length is usually just enough for three to five folds in the front, for covering the head (ghomta) and for aanchal (pallav) which is about one meter. Bengali women drape their saris from the right hip over the bosom and the left shoulder. Then it covers the head, and from under the right armpits, it is thrown over the left shoulder. The packaging of the Baluchari is a simple process. To pack a sari two persons are needed simultaneously. First the whole sari is rolled down on a round shaped beam. The beam is taken out from the loom and brought it to a open space, where enough sunlight is there. Though water is put during weaving for polishing, enough sunlight is required for drying. After drying two persons start folding the sari stretching it from both the side tightly. A thin metal rod is kept on each fold temporarily to give it a precise fold. A thin starched brown paper is put inside the sari to give the fold a proper shape. The last step is to put the sari inside a thick transparent polythene bag. Quality Quality of the Baluchari sari is taken care of precisely. The quality largely depends on the skill of the weaver. Those who maintain the quality appoint experienced weavers. In contrast those who cannot afford them, employ weavers who are young and less experienced. The quality is checked from the dying of the yarn to the packaging of the sari. Better quality Mysore silk is used for a good order. If even they see there is some problem while packing the sari, they reject it and sell it in cheaper rate. But the rate of rejection is remarkably less for a experienced and reputed Mahajan. Marketing Producers of Baluchari has fixed market in Kolkata and other big cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore etc. Weavers are always busy meeting this demand. There are people, who come from nearby cities like Durgapur, Kolkata, Burdwan, to buy saris directly from the Mahajans. In this case these customers get it a little cheaper. Here Mahajan plays the role of the middleman, between the weaver and the customer. Weavers participate in different fairs and exhibitions through organisations like West Bengal Handicrafts Development Corporation, Crafts Council of West Bengal, KaruUdyan etc. State government organises yearly handicrafts fair (hastshilp mela) at the state capital, where the craftsmen meet the buyer directly. Distribution The saris are supplied to West Bengal Handicrafts Development Corporation and sold at the government emporium Manjusha. It is also sold at the Government handloom emporium Tantuja, and Tantushree. The products are also sold to private shops which are situated in the big cities and nearby towns.ISSUES
Economics A complete Baluchari sari costs more than Rs. 2,500. The weaver who comes to the Mahajans for work, gets Rs.450 to Rs.500 for one sari. Each sari is completed by two craftsmen, after sharing the wage each of them get Rs.200 to Rs.250 per sari. These weavers can make maximum five saris in a month. It can be noted that this kind of weavers are more in number at Bishnupur. For those who have looms at their own house get approximately Rs.1000 for one sari. They do the dyeing, spinning of the yarn and other small jobs on their own. Education Bishnupur has several higher secondary schools and colleges. All the craftsmen send their progeny to school, and they are keen to teach their children properly before they join the family business. Rate of literacy is remarkably high here. Gender Women in weaver families take equal part in the making of the sari, beside their household work. They do the full processing of yarn which is the most important part of the sari. Some of them weave small materials like shawl, but women do not participate in the weaving of the sari. There is no bias and restriction in girl education. Health During the rolling of tussar thread the worker (mostly women) stretches both the legs in front and roll the thread from cocoon (tussar seed) on the upper level of their thigh. During this process the skin of that particular portion becomes tender and the yarn sometimes cuts through the skin (Tussar threads are sharp). To concentrate on minute designs, only one light hangs on top of the loom. Rest of the loom doesn't get much light. Though major part of the weaving is a precision job, it is strenuous for the eye. Most of the weavers get spectacle after joining this work. Weavers start working after taking early lunch by 10:30 am. When they weave, the beam where the sari rolls down, strikes their stomach. They experience permanent abdominal pain. A weaver has to lift heavy jacquard paddle, which weighs 25kgs. According to them they do not get nutritious food, to lift something so heavy so often. Design Sampling and cataloguing system are not yet in practice here. They do not have proper records of their previous works and designs. Old and traditional designs need to be preserved, there is need of proper efforts to catalogue or sample these designs. If the craftsmen can't do it then external efforts can prove to be veryhelpful. Socio-cultural Issues People involved in Baluchari making, belong to weaver's community. Locally they are called Tanti. Now because of the prosperous future of the craft, lot of people from other community have also started this work. Traditional weavers of this sari have got the title khan. It is said that the title is given to them by local Malla kings. Rich weavers have more than one loom at their workshop. Locally they are called Mahajans. There are two kinds of weavers in Bishnupur. Some of these weavers come to Mahajans to work at their looms. They make the sari in shifts for the Mahajan. All raw material is provided to them by Mahajan. These weavers work for four to five hours at a stretch and they work eight to nine hours in a day. Two weavers work on one sari. These weavers are more in number at Bishnupur. There are other kind of weavers who have looms at their own house. Mahajan provides them all necessary raw materials. They weave the sari for the Mahajan within a certain time period. They fix up a price for the sari with the Mahajan, and the weaver is bound to sell the sari to him. Except the weaving part, there are other processes like processing of yarn, motif making, which is done by other people. They do these jobs as part time basis. The processing of thread is mostly done by women. Development Introduction of Jacquard loom itself is a remarkable development which has taken place in this sector. This mechanical loom has enabled them to produce high quality saris in much lesser time. State government started a scheme of providing loan to poor weavers, and they organize yearly handicrafts fair at the state capital. Weavers participate in important fairs like textile fair, Kamala Mela, through the help of NGO'S like Crafts Council of West Bengal. They participate in fairs at foreign countries like England, Canada etc. Mechanisation of small tools saves their time, e.g. (Mechanisation of yarn rolling machine). Problems Identified At Bishnupur most of the weavers are very poor. Their one and only way of earning is weaving. But the system of work prevailing here is exploitation of poor weavers by rich Mahajans. State and Central Government organizes awards for master craftsmen every year. But surprisingly the award always goes to the middleman who actually makes their work done, not to the poor craftsmen who puts his skill. These poor weavers always live in oblivion without any recognition. State government provides loan for the poor weavers. But the money goes to the wrong pocket most of the time. A co-operative exists here called Baluchari Workers Co-operative. It is the organization of mostly wealthy weavers. All Baluchari workers see no hopes from this Co-operative. In Bishnupur mostly saris are in production. As product diversification they have not yet experimented much, though they possess a rich design vocabulary. These weavers just produce shawls and blouse pieces using same designs of saris. Problem faced by the weavers: lack of space Lack of raw materials Lack of variety in colour shades to try new variations. Lack of transport Lack of official staffs for managements of business transactions Lack of funds to purchase looms. Lack of funds to start a dying section in the village. Promotion The craftsmen do not make many efforts for the promotion for the craft. Government has been putting efforts for their upliftment. They have opened handicrafts marketing centre where they have registered craftsmen's name. They have given them identity card, through which they are invited in fairs and exihibitions organised by State and Central Government. NGO's and cooperatives are also helping these craftsmen to market their products. But because of the lack of awareness and ignorance craftspeople cannot take full advantage of these schemes. There are renowned designers who are using traditional crafts skills in their work. If their attention focuses on to this craft pocket, it will be a major help for the craftsmen. Steps Taken By the Government In West Bengal more than five lakhs families are dependent on the handloom industry, out of every sixty, one man is a handloom man. 500 million fabrics are woven in India , and 270 million meters comes from Bengal alone. The government is endeavoring to bring 60% of these weavers to a cooperative scheme. By the March 1980 statistics, 23.2% (41,200 weavers) have bought under the cooperative scheme in West Bengal. There are 1261 handlooms cooperatives in Bengal of which 813 are active. It is hoped to commence atleast another 550 cooperative societies . India has 23 weavers service center, of which one is in Kolkata. They work for the development of and refinement of handloom designs and to provide the required outputs. Problems of Handloom Sector in Bengal Lack of working capital, Uncertainty of sales, Shortage of raw materials The Government has been spending a considerable amount of money on buying cooperative shares with the objective of strengthening their financial base and to help them to attain qualifications to receive bank loans. After much efforts the Reserve Bank of India has come up with a refinancing scheme for the handloom industry, through which Rs. 3,453.17 lakhs of financial aid was given. Without a well defined marketing channel the weavers will neither get guarantees nor interests for undertaking new productions nor for evolving new designs. The state apex cooperative association and the state handloom and garments rights association has united with them and is taking liabilities incurred for marketing garments of new designs. The cooperative association with the help of its 90 handloom selling centers called Tantuja and Manjusha and the development corporation with their 30 Tantushree shops are selling handloom products both within and outside the state. West Bengal in totally dependent on the Southern states for its supply of hanks in the state as compared to its weaving requirements. Suggestions Generally these craft products have less utilitarian vision, this way the market of the product becomes very limited. New products which meet urban trends and fashions should be produced. The new product range could be shawls, scarves, dupatta etc. The craftsmen are not aware of the changing market trends, thus they end up producing the same stuffs for ages. The craftsmen should be made aware of current market trends so that they can accustom themselves in the present scenario. The products are not tagged, which actually hampers in their promotion. It is important to give an identity to these products, which can be given by tagging them. The tags should have information about the craftsmen and the production. This can be very well used as an effective promotion strategy. The competitive advantage here is the product itself which represents a rich weaving skill. It is very necessary to make the weaver aware of this fact and train him to encash this advantage. Handloom expos at the national level seems to be a potent strategy for the marketing of the handlooms, as no other medium offers the customer such a variety of products from all over India as these expos do. Most expos are immensely successful and hence prove the need for more of these marketing channels for handloom products in the future. Acknowledgment I am sincerely grateful to Ruby Pal Choudhury (Hony. Gen. Secretary, Crafts Council of West Bengal) for equipping me with not only essential contacts but financial support as well on behalf of the council. I am deeply thankful to state award winner Baluchari weaver, Biswanath Khan and his family for their generous hospitality inletting me stay and study the craft at their residence. I also extend my thanks to Meenakshi Singh for her able guidance to complete the document. Lastly I convey my thanks to Anupriya Singh and PrachiPatankar for helping me completing the document.
Bamboo and Rural Prosperity, Leveraging the Seedlings of Wealth
| Bamboo is abundantly grown in the forests of Madhya Pradesh, particularly in the eastern districts of the State. This Central State of the Indian sub-continent had dense forest cover that had been studied by British foresters over two hundred years ago. Traditional communities in Madhya Pradesh have used bamboo for several centuries as a basic resource material for basketry, home building and for agricultural supports. When industrialisation touched Madhya Pradesh the bamboo resources were exploited for the production of paper and rayon in a few large-scale mills set up near the forest tracts. Bamboo is treated as a minor forest product and is managed and monitored by the forest departments of the Government of Madhya Pradesh. One species dominates the forest tracts of Madhya Pradesh and this is Dendrocalamus strictus, which grows in the rain fed forest tracts in abundant quantities. The forest working plans for each district takes care of management and utilisation of these bamboo resources. State and National laws govern the extraction and movement of these bamboo resources within and outside the State. The local communities of bamboo workers called Basods are given special privileges in the use of the local resource through legal dispensation that is monitored by the forest departments at the district level. The Basods make their livelihood from the conversion of the bamboo resources into baskets for local and up-market uses and their relationship with the forest resource is a tenuous one. Another species of bamboo that is found in the forest is Bambusa bambos (Bambusa arundinacae), which is planted by the foresters in rain fed gullies and near streams. This species is also planted as homestead bamboo plantations near homes and farms of local settlers since it is a useful species for basketry and housing needs. In spite of this abundance of bamboo resources and other natural resources the State of Madhya Pradesh is seen as a backward one in development terms. There is much rural poverty and the financial resources of the state are quite strained in meeting the very basic infrastructure needs of its people in the rural areas are deprived of visible signs of sustained development. Is it possible to change this state of affairs that seems to have been perpetuated for so long without the introduction of very heavy capital flows from outside to induce growth and prosperity in the region? We now believe that it is possible to bring about dramatic change in the local condition through an integrated set of measures and actions by both government and local residents alike along with a well-developed master plan for the sustainable use of the potential of the bamboo resources of the State. The potential of bamboo as an economic driver has been demonstrated in many ways in recent years by field success in China and a few East Asian countries. The growth of new industries based on local bamboo resources has been an eye opener for many people and the lessons that this holds for a State like Madhya Pradesh is a source of hope and conviction that could influence decisions at the macro and micro economic levels alike. While the State Government can mobilise policy change and provide the necessary supports and incentives for the growth of an economic region based on bamboo, the local people, both farmers and entrepreneurs, could make the efforts to coordinate their moves to be in sync with new opportunities that can unfold from investments in innovation and subsequent investment supports in a synchronised manner. New Models for Growth For such a coordinated set of actions and commitments to take off we will need to change entrenched mind-sets about bamboo, which is a very old material in the region. It is here that innovation and training will need to play a critical role in first creating sufficient evidence of potential new applications and value generation which is followed by a sustained programme of capacity building in terms of human resources that are required to exploit this potential with the new knowledge resources that are available today. One major policy thrust that is critical for the bamboo sector to grow in the State is the shift in focus from forest based bamboo resources to farm based supplies, which do not exist today, in any significant volume. The new applications that provide value added possibilities require bamboo that is consistent in quality and this can only be provided by plant stocks that are intensively managed so that the desired quality is selectively bred into the crop by good practices that are embedded into the cultivation and harvesting of the natural resource. This may increase the base cost of the bamboo itself but it will also increase employment at the farm level, which will be a welcome source of revenue for local people in the State particularly in the rural areas. Better quality of bamboo thus produced can be used for numerous value added applications through a programme of sustained innovation and design which could be the focus of the micro enterprises that could be established on the basis of such availability of new bamboo resources locally. Such micro industries could support very large employment with very little capital outlays and can be the mainstay of the local cluster that is based on the bamboo resource. These micro industries could produce a vast range of low technology intensive products for local consumption as well as finished goods for up-markets in the district headquarters and major towns of the region. The product categories that could be sustained in this value added market are furniture for local housing, toys and children’s furniture, agricultural implements and garden structures such as local green houses for value added agriculture, housing components and kitchen accessories and baskets that are traditional and still in demand. It should not be mistaken that this is a call for a return to some old or traditional situation based on the historic uses that bamboo was used in the past, nor are we seeking the return of the “good old days” that we Indians talk about our glorious civilisation of 5000 years vintage. The call is for investments into modern innovations that are needed and implicated in rural India if the rural producers and users can get social and economic equity in employment, and economic growth in an increasingly globalised world economy. Besides these micro enterprises that are small family or small group ventures we can anticipate the establishment of viable small and medium enterprises if funds are made available with adequate incentives from the Government to exploit another class of semi-industrial products which too are high in employment generation potential and which have local uses as substitutes for many potential imports from urban based industries. These applications include processed bamboo components using simple machine tools arranged into small and medium sized industrial units that are both viable and able to produce goods for the local and up-market needs in a competitive manner. These machines and power tools that can help transform the local economy too need to be innovated and developed, each offering an interesting new avenue for value added product creation and for the creation of quality labour opportunities that are not based on human drudgery alone. Bamboo used as splits, rods, sticks, rounds, squares and shavings or fibres can all be used to make commercial products such as matchsticks, agarbatti sticks, agricultural props and poles for fruit orchards. However for the strategy to fructify the early stages of conversion must be mechanised through the creation of small and effective machine tools that can be both managed and maintained in the rural setting even if they are not produced in the region. The advantages of globalisation can be leveraged here by helping the local craftsman obtain the best possible tools from across the world if these are carefully selected and made available locally so that their livelihood is protected and developed in balanced manner. Bamboo can be converted and explored in other ways as well. Bamboo culms that are solid or with very small lumens as seen in some species could be further extended to the production of panel boards using splits and squared rods, which will find application in the production of furniture and local housing. Simple composite and lamination technology can be adopted to make a wide range of boards and members for many new applications in the domestic, industrial and retail space which could be a very effective timber substitute in the years ahead. The fibreboards that are possible from bamboo can be used for a great many applications and here the large resource found in the forest can be used to achieve high quality results. All this will only be possible if and only if the products made from these new enterprises find market acceptance both locally and in up-market applications. This is where the need for sustained investments in design are implicated to help local entrepreneurs move forward with well designed and tested solutions which are both innovative thereby providing additional value when compared to the traditional applications that have been used so far. Further, when we advocate new farm based cultivation models for the State we need to look at the needs of the farmers closely from the experience at other places. Farm Based Economic Model We anticipate at least three types of farm production based on scale of operation, all of which are simultaneously viable in the region since they can cater to different downstream user groups in a sustainable manner. The micro enterprises may well be based on own farms that are homestead based with little excess production available for distribution. However the fact that these enterprises have a sustainable supply of good quality raw material under their control they are better equipped to face competition and price fluctuations in the market place. The second scale of farm could be in the form of small and medium sized farms managed by local farmers that produce the quality of materials required by the local small industries, some owned by the farming families and others by partner cooperatives in nearby areas. The third scale of farm production could be in the form of large corporate farms that could be set up to meet the needs of large scale users in various industry segments and for the open market for particular quality bamboo materials. Here we anticipate the cultivation of a number of other species based on demand both local and up-market. Such a cluster of farm based bamboo production and utilisation can be envisaged and supported by Government policy and banking supports which would lead to a sustained economic growth that is based on one of the fastest growing plant resource known to mankind. This will only be successful if the products of the industries can fetch a better value for the producers and create a brand value in the minds of the users that is both satisfying and acceptable. Bamboo has many useful parts and the farm-based strategy must look at the real possibility of full biomass utilisation as a strategic goal of the proposed programme. While each part may have multiple uses each such use should be evaluated in the context of the total value that any particular pattern could generate for the farmer, the local population, the environment and the down-stream craftsmen, entrepreneurs and the markets as a whole. For instance bamboo leaves could be a very good source of fibre for the production of fibreboards and even handmade paper. However this use if exploited fully would deprive the soil of certain natural nutrients, which would otherwise be available. Bamboo shoots can be extracted from most species as a source of human food or animal feed. Some species are preferred for shoot extraction but in most cases selective extraction of shoots makes the clump grow more robust and provide healthier culms. Therefore a balanced utilisation model at the farm level may call for such discriminated multiple uses that could maximise the benefits that would accrue to the producers and the environment alike. It is here that a sustained programme of local research that is based on these new farms would need to be undertaken in local institutions and in collaboration with local producers and users. The leaves of the bamboo plant, the culm sheaths, its rhizomes and branches are all valuable raw materials that could be the subject of future studies and design strategies. Such an approach makes sense in a farm based model since the seasonal nature of culm harvesting could be spaced out with periods of other activities that are based on the different parts of the bamboo plant which would help create off seasonal rural labour which can have a positive effect on the local economy. The farmers being in control of these varied uses can plan according to the viability of each option and achieve excellent results on the whole. Research and design can indeed provide such solutions if adequate investments are made towards innovations in this sector which can then be owned and used by the local producers from a common pool of knowledge that is generated by local institutions. This kind of innovation and dissemination will help create sustainable industries that could be set up with very limited induction of capital from external sources. Local labour and enterprise can be directed and coordinated by policy initiatives of Government to grow what could be best described as an agro-industrial district cluster based on bamboo. This bamboo district cluster model would support many scales of farming as well as many scales of production, each with their own sets of products and services. The setting up of this district cluster would create multitude of opportunities for the offer of services that are needed in any such industrial cluster. Communication, transport, food, accounting, skilled labour and educational and training infrastructure could be planned and catalysed with local participation. Power is one of the critical needs for such an agro-industrial district cluster but here again bamboo could be used from the forest to produce local power using gasification as a method at fairly reasonable levels of local investment if central power supply is likely to be delayed or found unviable. This kind of localised growth could create islands of prosperity in a very short time even in the remote districts that have unreliable power supply as of now. This kind of localised power supply opens up new possibilities for the exploitation of the bamboo resources of the forest areas. Government policy is needed here to regulate the use of forest-based bamboo to ensure sustainable extraction and use. Here we see the possibility of two initiatives for policy that could benefit the local population and the environment alike. The degraded forest areas need government supports to make the joint forest management schemes to work better. Greater ownership for the local population is one such initiative that needs to be explored. The active forest areas that are not within the conservation zone too needs to be brought under the JFM schemes on a long term basis to ensure sustainability of the forests while extraction of bamboo and other forest produce continues on a regulated basis. The other zone that is the core conservation zone will need another set of guidelines and a regulatory framework that involves locals as well as Government representatives in coordinated teams. Human Resource Development Madhya Pradesh has also stayed backward due to poor infrastructure and low productivity of its rural populations due to low levels of education and poor access to finance and other resources and infrastructure. This needs to be changed and the bamboo initiative can give a focus to the kind of education and training that is imparted to the local human resources. New local institutions and processes may be needed that could help develop the required knowledge and innovation resources in a continuing and sustained manner. Knowledge about cultivation and management of farm based bamboo resources will improve productivity and this will help the local population to exploit the incentives that are on offer as part of the overarching development strategy of the Government of Madhya Pradesh. Further, skill development and training that is focussed on the introduction of new and improved products and processes will set the local producers on a growth path of better productive use of their human skills and natural resources of bamboo. Better quality of farm based bamboo and better products from the planned clusters will create a new and valuable brand for the bamboo initiative that will have a ripple effect that has far reaching implications for the sustained growth of the local economy. With the possibility of multiple centres or clusters growing up and being located in at least ten eastern districts of Madhya Pradesh, will be a power house of innovation and change that can transform the economic landscape of the whole State. Bamboo is projected to become a major industry across India with the efforts of the Planning Commission and the Central Governments Mission approach. The State of Madhya Pradesh is very well positioned to share the resources being disseminated by the various Central schemes through its own progressive policies and initiatives that are already under way. If there is so much potential, why then is the situation still bleak for the rural producers of Madhya Pradesh? Why is the demand for industrial uses of bamboo tapering off from the paper mils and rayon mills located near the region? Why are the forest depots getting such a low return for the stocks lying with them? The answer to these questions perhaps lies in the lack of innovation in this industry and this could be changed with some policy and investment initiatives that can change local perceptions and also create real new opportunities where none seemed to exist in the past. This is an ideal setting to demonstrate the power of design at the strategic level. Innovation and Design The locally abundant species of bamboo, Dendrocalamus strictus has not so far fetched a premium in any market. In fact the traditional users are also finding substitutes for this material. Paper producers are now using agricultural residues and imported wood pulp as their main source while pressing for reduction in the price of bamboo supplied by the forest department. Such natural pressures for change and obsolescence take place everyday in all sorts of industries. It is here that some of these industries have realised the power that active innovation and design can play in making viable new schemes when old models start to fade. At NID we explored the possible applications of D.strictus through a number of creative and innovative exercises to discover a real potential, which may only be the tip of the iceberg. With the assistance and sustained support of the Development Commissioner of Handicrafts, Government of India, the NID team was able to carry out experimental design investigations on a few popular bamboo species with an aim of discovering and developing products suitable for rural production. While in the past many of these explorations looked at product diversification in the traditional handicrafts sector in the recent efforts a greater emphasis was placed on products for rural use. While export markets helped spawn a cash rich economy it is a very sophisticated operation that can be mastered only if a very high degree of entrepreneurship exists in the region along with high quality of trained human resources. In many remote rural situations these conditions are hard to find and the result is that such products need not contribute to the local economy since the value added is located at the market end and not in the hands of the producer. It is in such a situation that the focus on products for local use and in nearby markets would create innovations that can create new market opportunities in the rural hinterland for the local producers. At a meeting called by the UNDP in Delhi I had called this strategy as innovations at the “thick end of the wedge”. Low technology innovations that can be used and exploited by rural farmers and producers can be as forward-looking and critical for economic growth as the so-called “cutting edge” innovations that are being achieved by our hi-tech industries and the software sectors. Rural users and producers need such innovations desperately to change their condition for the better, with a little help from Government policy and infrastructure that facilitates sustained innovation that can move many pressing needs towards viable solutions that can be locally implemented. Gandhijis strategy of Khadi needs to be given new meaning through such initiatives by using advanced knowledge resources available to us in a sustained programme of research and design to create solutions that can generate rural prosperity and economic growth across that region. Bamboo has this inherent capability if used in conjunction with high quality innovation and good business models to bring about dramatic change in our village economy. It is indeed a seedling that can spread wealth, and we need to take these moves forward in a determined and systematic manner. Sustained investment in an institutional and industrial setting will show many new and exciting applications that will help keep the industry viable and profitable in the years ahead. The properties of the local bamboo needs to be continuously explored and the findings must be fed back into training programmes for local craftsmen and farmers so that these are assimilated into the local knowledge which will be at the centre of the value addition strategy of the proposed local district clusters. Such a knowledge rich approach will provide a stable demand for the produce of the region and help it compete with other species and materials occupying the product landscape of an active market economy that India is heading towards. Promoting the local innovations and protecting it through brand building and exposure to markets across India would fall on Government promotional agencies working in concert with the associations of local producers. Such an integrated development model can be sustained since bamboo is such a versatile material and the social and political hope and economic value that the proposed process can unfold and release will make it a major economic driver of the State economy if carefully managed and implemented as an integrated multi-layered strategy. References Charles and Ray Eames, The India Report, Government of India, New Delhi, 1958, reprint, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, 1997 Victor Papanek, Design for the Real World, Thames & Hudson Ltd., London, 1972 Stafford Beer, Platform for Change, John Wiley & Sons, London, 1975 V S Naipaul, India: A wounded Civilization, Penguin Books Ltd., Harmondsworth, Middlesex, 1979 M P Ranjan, Nilam Iyer & Ghanshyam Pandya, Bamboo and Cane Crafts of Northeast India, Development Commissioner of Handicrafts, New Delhi, 1986 Tom Peters, Liberation Management: Necessary Disorganization for the nanosecond Nineties, Pan Books, London, 1993 J A Panchal and M P Ranjan, “Institute of Crafts: Feasibility Report and Proposal for the Rajasthan Small Industries Corporation”, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad 1994 M P Ranjan, “Design Education at the Turn of the Century: Its Futures and Options”, a paper presented at ‘Design Odyssey 2010’ design symposium, Industrial Design Centre, Bombay 1994 National Institute of Design, “35 years of Design Service: Highlights – A greeting card cum poster”, NID, Ahmedabad, 1998 M P Ranjan, “The Levels of Design Intervention in a Complex Global Scenario”, Paper prepared for presentation at the Graphica 98 - II International Congress of Graphics Engineering in Arts and Design and the 13th National Symposium on Descriptive Geometry and Technical Design, Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil, September 1998. S Balaram, Thinking Design, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, 1998 M P Ranjan, “Design Before Technology: The Emerging Imperative”, Paper presented at the Asia Pacific Design Conference ‘99 in Osaka, Japan Design Foundation and Japan External Trade Organisation, Osaka, 1999 M P Ranjan, “From the Land to the People: Bamboo as a sustainable human development resource”, A development initiative of the UNDP and Government of India, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, 1999 M P Ranjan, “Rethinking Bamboo in 2000 AD”, a GTZ-INBAR conference paper reprint, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, 2000 M P Ranjan, Yrjo Weiherheimo, Yanta H Lam, Haruhiko Ito & G Upadhayaya, “Bamboo Boards and Beyond: Bamboo as the sustainable, eco-friendly industrial material of the future”, (CD-ROM) UNDP-APCTT, New Delhi and National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, 2001 M P Ranjan, “Beyond Grassroots: Bamboo as Seedlings of Wealth” (CD-ROM) BCDI, Agartala & NID, Ahmedabad, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, 2003M P Ranjan, “Feasibility Report: Bamboo & Cane Development Institute, Agartala”, UNDP & C(H), and National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, 2001 Tom Kelley & Jonathan Littman, The Art of Innovation: Lessons in creativity from IDEO, America’s leading design firm, Doubleday Books, New York, 2001 Vidya Viswanathan & Gina Singh, “Design makes an Impression: Indian Industrial Design gets ready to hit the big time…”, in Businessworld, New Delhi, 22 January 2001 pp. 20 – 31 K Sunil Thomas, “Better By Design: India finds itself at the crossroads of a revolution…”, in The Week, Kochi, 23 September 2001 pp. 48 – 52 Charles Wheelan, “Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science”, W.W.Norton & Company, New York, 2002 Amartya Sen, “Employment, Technology & Development”, Oxford University Press, (Indian Edition), New Delhi, 2001 Surjit S. Bhalla, “Imagine There is no Country: Poverty, Inequality and Growth in an Era of Globalisation”, Penguin Books, New Delhi, 2003 Planning Commission, Government of India, “National Mission on Bamboo Technology and Trade Development”, Planning Commission, Government of India, New Delhi 2003 Enrique Martinez & Marco Steinberg, Eds. Material Legacies: Bamboo”, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, 2000M K Gandhi, Khadi (Hand-Spun Cloth) Why and How, Navjivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1955 Paper prepared for publication in the pre-conference souvenir for the World Bamboo Congress, New Delhi from 27tn February to 4th March 2004. |
Banana Fibre – Empowering Women,
Issue #10, 2023 ISSN: 2581- 9410 I (Shama Pawar) came to Hampi in 1997 as a young artist and little did I know that Anegundi - Hampi would be my life’s work. Even on my first visit I enquired if there was a village, a living settlement within the site. It was then that I was directed to Anegundi, a historical settlement that predates the Vijayanagara Hampi. Located on the banks of the Thungabhadra this region has been known as a pilgrimage place ever since the 6CE. The Chalukyan inscriptions call it Pampakshetra. In the 14th Century the Vijayanagara Capital was established in Hampi and the rest is history. My work has little to do with history. I certainly use it as an inspiration and certainly think of it as a Heritage Resource. The word “Heritage” though has a different connotation for me. It is not limited to just architecture or other conventional aspects be it intangible or tangible. For me Heritage is everything that shapes our being. Everything from nature, culture, irrigation systems, agriculture. These are the aspects that have influenced the living culture of the World Heritage Site of Hampi.
Banana Fibre is not a traditional material used in the area; it is something that we as The Kishkinda Trust introduced in 1999.
Why Banana Fibre? It has to do with a Vijayanagara Era Irrigation system that is still in use in the area that allows for flood irrigation and the growth of Banana plantations. This was going to be a resource that was going to be available for many years to come unless the ecology of the place completely changes.
There are 2 types of banana fibres available namely extracted and un extracted.
Extracted Banana Fibre involves mechanical as well as automated mechanical extraction technique.
Available only once in a year after Banana Harvest. It requires Machinery for Extraction. Requires ample storage space as extraction happens only once a year. Harvest has to be done on a large scale and requires heavy vehicles for transport.
Unextracted Banana Fibre
At TKT we use the unextracted banana fibre which is quite coarse and its usage is limited to lifestyle accessories only due to its tensile strength and textural properties. Available through the year barring the months of Monsoon. Requires no machinery for extraction. This is a waste product for the farmer. Can be stored by artisans at their homes as the material is available through the year. Harvest can be done by individual artisans and require the simplest agricultural tools. Transport is easy as the material is quite light.
What started off as an experiment with a Handful of women; today Banana fibre has become the craft identity of the area. I am a firm believer that creative energy such as craft should not be curtailed. Most crafts are a great example of how techniques and crafts only grow when they are not limited to geography, a particular community etc. The Kishkinda Trust has trained more than 1000 individuals in the Hampi region in different skills. Our goal is to set up the cottage industry and hand it over to the community to run the same. We have achieved the same with Banana Fibre to a certain extent and are taking strides towards each artisan becoming an entrepreneur in their own right and be completely independent of The Kishkinda Trust.
There are benefits and challenges to working with new materials, techniques or technologies. The challenges are certainly endless but are some benefits. Since we are a non-traditional cottage industry we are not bound by what we do and how we do it. The artisans have gotten used to experimenting be it materials or techniques. Since this is a contemporary craft it has always looked at products from a contemporary lens. Also, material availability has always pushed us towards using whatever resources are available in our vicinity and not look too far for the same.
In 2017 the area was faced with a major Water Hyacinth problem. The water bodies were completely choked up by this invasive weed. Water Hyacinth is an environmental hazard that covers up water bodies cutting off access to Sunlight and thus causing problems to sous-marine ecosystems due to depleting oxygen levels. We looked at an ecological problem as a solution for livelihood through crafts.
We are hoping that we are able to benefit from the MGNREGA scheme which harvests the water hyacinth from water bodies. This would make it possible for us to train more individuals and start a new cluster of Artisans working with Water Hyacinth. We truly believe that water hyacinth could be used in an innovative way that go beyond craft.
Moving towards securing futures
We at TKT look at securing futures for communities in our region by investing in energies in creating Heritage Resources like natural fibre. What we mean by creating Heritage resources is growing trees to create infrastructure and add value to the produce that one can obtain from them. Also change the way we look at agriculture, look at the market needs and respond to the change in an informed manner. In this endeavour we have recently signed an MOU with Karnataka State Rural Development and Panchayati Raj University, Gadag. We hope that partnerships such as these will help us achieve the model of Rural Development in a Heritage Setting.
When it comes to existing cottage industries, we do understand the need to move on with times and the need for a craft to evolve. Up until now Banana Fibre rope that is used as the raw material has been completely handmade. We are cognizant that in the years to come the number of people who wish to make handmade rope might decline. We have already started researching how it is possible to make high quality machine made rope. This advancement will help keep the craft alive.
There is a need for an ecosophical way of life in places that have never before experienced such a large influx of visitors. The key is to change the approach at the onset which is able to put dynamic systems in place.
Issue #10, 2023 ISSN: 2581- 9410 I (Shama Pawar) came to Hampi in 1997 as a young artist and little did I know that Anegundi - Hampi would be my life’s work. Even on my first visit I enquired if there was a village, a living settlement within the site. It was then that I was directed to Anegundi, a historical settlement that predates the Vijayanagara Hampi. Located on the banks of the Thungabhadra this region has been known as a pilgrimage place ever since the 6CE. The Chalukyan inscriptions call it Pampakshetra. In the 14th Century the Vijayanagara Capital was established in Hampi and the rest is history. My work has little to do with history. I certainly use it as an inspiration and certainly think of it as a Heritage Resource. The word “Heritage” though has a different connotation for me. It is not limited to just architecture or other conventional aspects be it intangible or tangible. For me Heritage is everything that shapes our being. Everything from nature, culture, irrigation systems, agriculture. These are the aspects that have influenced the living culture of the World Heritage Site of Hampi.
Anegundi View from Elepahant stable
64 pillar matapa
I would like to point that the work that I have done through The Kishkinda Trust and as convenor for INTACH does not limit itself to craft. We call the model “Rural Development in a Heritage setting”. All the projects that we undertake look at holistic model. In 1999 when the cottage industry was set up there was a need to attract tourists to the area and therefore we made responsible tourism as one of our initiatives. To ensure that there is a positive impact of visitors coming to the village we started the Solid Waste Management Program. Finally, to ensure that the future generation sees has broader horizons than just engaging in agriculture we started an Education through performing arts program.
Banana Fibre is not a traditional material used in the area; it is something that we as The Kishkinda Trust introduced in 1999.
Why Banana Fibre? It has to do with a Vijayanagara Era Irrigation system that is still in use in the area that allows for flood irrigation and the growth of Banana plantations. This was going to be a resource that was going to be available for many years to come unless the ecology of the place completely changes.
There are 2 types of banana fibres available namely extracted and un extracted.
Extracted Banana Fibre involves mechanical as well as automated mechanical extraction technique.
Available only once in a year after Banana Harvest. It requires Machinery for Extraction. Requires ample storage space as extraction happens only once a year. Harvest has to be done on a large scale and requires heavy vehicles for transport.
Unextracted Banana Fibre
At TKT we use the unextracted banana fibre which is quite coarse and its usage is limited to lifestyle accessories only due to its tensile strength and textural properties. Available through the year barring the months of Monsoon. Requires no machinery for extraction. This is a waste product for the farmer. Can be stored by artisans at their homes as the material is available through the year. Harvest can be done by individual artisans and require the simplest agricultural tools. Transport is easy as the material is quite light.
What started off as an experiment with a Handful of women; today Banana fibre has become the craft identity of the area. I am a firm believer that creative energy such as craft should not be curtailed. Most crafts are a great example of how techniques and crafts only grow when they are not limited to geography, a particular community etc. The Kishkinda Trust has trained more than 1000 individuals in the Hampi region in different skills. Our goal is to set up the cottage industry and hand it over to the community to run the same. We have achieved the same with Banana Fibre to a certain extent and are taking strides towards each artisan becoming an entrepreneur in their own right and be completely independent of The Kishkinda Trust.
There are benefits and challenges to working with new materials, techniques or technologies. The challenges are certainly endless but are some benefits. Since we are a non-traditional cottage industry we are not bound by what we do and how we do it. The artisans have gotten used to experimenting be it materials or techniques. Since this is a contemporary craft it has always looked at products from a contemporary lens. Also, material availability has always pushed us towards using whatever resources are available in our vicinity and not look too far for the same.
In 2017 the area was faced with a major Water Hyacinth problem. The water bodies were completely choked up by this invasive weed. Water Hyacinth is an environmental hazard that covers up water bodies cutting off access to Sunlight and thus causing problems to sous-marine ecosystems due to depleting oxygen levels. We looked at an ecological problem as a solution for livelihood through crafts.
We are hoping that we are able to benefit from the MGNREGA scheme which harvests the water hyacinth from water bodies. This would make it possible for us to train more individuals and start a new cluster of Artisans working with Water Hyacinth. We truly believe that water hyacinth could be used in an innovative way that go beyond craft.
Moving towards securing futures
We at TKT look at securing futures for communities in our region by investing in energies in creating Heritage Resources like natural fibre. What we mean by creating Heritage resources is growing trees to create infrastructure and add value to the produce that one can obtain from them. Also change the way we look at agriculture, look at the market needs and respond to the change in an informed manner. In this endeavour we have recently signed an MOU with Karnataka State Rural Development and Panchayati Raj University, Gadag. We hope that partnerships such as these will help us achieve the model of Rural Development in a Heritage Setting.
When it comes to existing cottage industries, we do understand the need to move on with times and the need for a craft to evolve. Up until now Banana Fibre rope that is used as the raw material has been completely handmade. We are cognizant that in the years to come the number of people who wish to make handmade rope might decline. We have already started researching how it is possible to make high quality machine made rope. This advancement will help keep the craft alive.
There is a need for an ecosophical way of life in places that have never before experienced such a large influx of visitors. The key is to change the approach at the onset which is able to put dynamic systems in place.
Bandhani, Process and Technique
| Introduction The art of Bandhani is highly skilled process. The technique involves dyeing a fabric which is tied tightly with a thread at several points , thus producing a variety of patterns like Lehriya, Mothda, Ekdali and Shikari depending on the manner in which the cloth was tied. |
| History Different forms of tie and dye have been practiced in India. Indian Bandhani, a traditional form of tie and dye, began about 5000 years ago. Also known as Bandhni and Bandhej, it is the oldest tie and dye tradition still in practice. Dyes date back to antiquity when primitive societies discovered that colours could be extracted from various plants, flowers, leaves, bark, etc., which were applied to cloth and other fabrics. Even though color was applied they didn't consider this dyeing. It was simply a form of embellishment. What was considered dyeing was the art of using color to form a permanent bond with fiber in a prepared dye bath. Ancient artists discovered that some dyes dissolved and gave their color readily to water, forming a solution which was easily absorbed by the fabric. Herbs and plants like turmeric and indigo were crushed to a fine powder and dissolved in water so that cotton material could be dyed in deep colours. These colours have been used in India since ancient times and are considered to be the origin of the art of dyeing. Throughout Asia, India and the Far East, traders packed tie and dye cloths as part of their merchandise.It is difficult to trace the origins of this craft to any particular area. According to some references it first developed in Jaipur in the form of Leheriya. But it is also widely believed that it was brought to Kutch from Sindh by Muslim Khatris who are still the largest community involved in the craft.Bandhani was introduced in Jamnagar when the city was founded 400 years ago. Bandhani fabrics reign superme in Rajasthan and Gujarat which are home to an astounding variety of traditional crafts. Century-old skills continue to produce some of the most artistic and exciting wares in these two states and are popular all over the world. Rajasthan is a land of vibrant colors. These colors are a striking part of the life there and are found in the bustling bazaars, in fairs and festivals, in the costumes worn and in the traditional paintings and murals. |
| Regions The art of Bandhani is practiced widely in Rajasthan, with Barmer, Jaipur, Sikar, Jodhpur, Pali, Udaipur, Nathdwara and Bikaner being the main centers. Bandhani comes in a variety of designs, colors and motifs and these variations are region-specific. Each district has its own distinct method of Bandhini which makes the pattern recognizable and gives it a different name.The centers of tie and dye fabrics in Gujarat are Jamnagar in Saurashtra (the water in this area brings out the brightest red while dyeing) and Ahmedabad.The craftsmen from Rajasthan are easily recognized because they grow the nail of their little finger or wear a small metal ring with a point to facilitate the lifting of cloth for tying. The Gujarati craftsmen, however, prefer to work without these aids to ensure no damage is done to the cloth when one works with bare hands. |
| Raw Materials The fabrics used for Bandhani are muslin, handloom, silk or voile (80/100 or 100/120 count preferably). Traditionally vegetable dyes were used but today chemical dyes are becoming very popular. Various synthetic fabrics are also highly in demand. Mostly synthetic thread is used for tying the fabric.The dominant colors in Bandhani are bright like yellow, red, green and pink. Maroon is also popular. But with changing times, as Bandhani has become a part of fashion, various pastel colors and shades are being used. The Bandhani fabric is sold with the points still tied and the size and intricacy of the design varies according to the region and demand. Bandhani forms the basic pattern on the fabric which is decorated further by various embroideries. Aari and gota work are traditional embroideries done in zari and are popular with Bandhani. These days a lot of ornamentation is done on Bandhani fabric to make it dressy and glittery for ceremonial occasions. |
| Popular Dyes Used In BANDHANI Vat dyes: Vat dyes are an ancient class of dyes based on the original natural dye, indigo, which is now produced synthetically. Both cotton and wool, as well as other fibers, can be dyed with vat dyes.'Vat dyeing' means dyeing in a bucket or vat. It can be done whenever a solid, even shade, i.e., the same color over the entire garment, is wanted. It can be done using almost any dye, including fiber reactive dye, direct dye, acid dye, etc. The opposite of vat dyeing is direct dye application, for example, tie and dye.Direct dyes: Also known as hot water dyes, direct dyes can be used with hot water and require no binding or exhausting agents. They are convenient but lack in color fastness and wash fastness. They are used on cotton, wool, silk and nylon. The colors of direct dyes are duller than those provided by reactive dyes. They can be found in powder form as well as in the form of a liquid concentrate. They do not require any form of 'fixing'.Napthol dyes: These are two sets of chemicals which, upon reaction, produce a third chemical, essentially colorful in nature. The fabric is dyed with one and later printed with the other. The chemical reaction produces a third color. However, the biggest drawback of this process is that there are just a few chemicals available which produce colors upon reaction.Procion dyes: Procion fiber reactive dyes are specially formulated for cellulose fibers like cotton, linen and rayon. They also work well on silk. They are considered 'cold water'" dyes making them great for solar dyeing, tie and dye and batik. As for the auxiliary chemicals, all you need is salt and soda ash. Synthrapol is optional but very helpful for rinsing out excess dye. Procion fiber reactive dyes can also be used on protein fibers but different auxiliaries are needed and the dye bath must be simmered. |
| Process The process, though relatively simple, is very time-consuming. The tying of the fabric is mostly carried out by women or young girls. |
white malmal on lehriya fabric |
The material generally used is a thin loosely woven silk known as georgette or a cotton known as malmal. |
plastic design trace |
| The area of the fabric to be dyed is outlined using fugitive colors. Then a clear thin sheet of plastic, which has been pierced with pin holes, is kept over this area of the fabric and using fugitive colours an imprint of the desired pattern is transferred onto the fabric. |
required pattern on white malmal fabric |
tieing knots |
| The craftsperson then pulls on a small area of the fabric where each hole is placed and winds thread tightly around the protruding cloth to form a knot or bhindi. The thread generally used is nylon thread. |
 
tied cloth |
| After tying the knots the fabric is thoroughly washed to remove the imprint. |
| The cloth is then dipped in napthol for five minutes and dyed in yellow or another light color for two minutes. |
cloth dyed in one colour |
Next it is rinsed, squeezed, dried and then tied again and dipped in a darker color. This is kept for three to four hours (without opening the knots) to allow the color to soak in. |
 |
During this process the small area beneath the thread resists the dye leaving an undyed dot. This is usually carried out in several stages starting with a light colour like yellow, then after tying some more knots a darker colour is used and so on. |
 
finished Bandhini cloth |
| After the last dyeing process has been completed the fabric is washed and if necessary, starched. After the fabric is dried, its folds are pulled apart in a particular way releasing the knots and revealing their pattern. The result is a deep coloured cloth with dots of various colours forming a pattern. Very elaborate motifs are made, in tie and dye work. These include flowers, creepers, bells and jalas. Knots are placed in clusters each with a different name, for example, a single dot is called Ekdali, three knots is called Trikunti and four knots is called Chaubundi. Such clusters are worked intricately into patterns such as Shikargah (mountain-like), Jaaldar (web-like), Beldaar (vine-like) etc. |
 
lehriya |
  tied lehriya being dyed |
| Rajasthan is well known for its Lehriya pattern or pattern of waves which symbolizes water waves. Only two colors are used which alternate each other in a pattern of stripes arranged diagonally. Originally, the two colors used were the auspicious colors of yellow and red. Turbans, odhnis and saris with the lehriya pattern are liked and worn all around year but carry a special meaning on and around the time of the Teej festival and monsoon. In Bandhani, different colors convey different meanings. While red represents a bride, a yellow background suggests a lady has become a mother recently. Some of the most common designs are dungar-shahi or the mountain-pattern, boond that results in a small dot with a dark centre, tear shaped kodi, and the laddu-jalebi or a swirl. In Tikunthi, circles and squares appear in a group of three, in Chaubasi in groups of four and in Satbandi in groups of seven. (Boond is a dot with a dark centre and ekdali just a dot-also different printers can call same design different names. Some names have become famous some are use for refrence reasons with the dyers and printers) |
Changes In The Recent Years
Bandhani is being sold all over India and the demand has increased over the past few decades. Sales go up during the festive and wedding seasons in India. The bulk of the market is domestic with the main market being in Gujarat where most women wear Bandhani saris, shawls or odhnis. The odhnis are also decorated with mirrors, gota and tassels to give it a richer and more decorative look. However, with the advent of the cheaper process of silk-screen printing, many of the poorer women wear printed cloth with a Bandhani design.Today, designers are using Bandhani fabric for contemporary clothing and it is being used to represent India in the international circuit. New colors and patterns are being used to cater to a wider market, though traditional red, yellow and pink still continue to be the all-time favourites!Bibliography
|
Banpala of Chuba,
Issue #10, 2023 ISSN: 2581- 9410 The connection between mountains and wool goes beyond a mere geographical correlation. It represents a profound symbiosis between nature, culture, and sustainable practices. The tradition of sheep herding and wool production has shaped the identities of mountain communities, leaving an enduring mark on their history, economy, and cultural heritage. Wool has a rich and significant historical importance that spans millennia. Its impact on human civilisation can be seen in various aspects, from clothing and textiles to trade and economic development. Although evidences of wool textiles are rare due to their conditions of preservation, there have been indications of wool being used as one of the earliest fibres. From wool clothes and tools found in excavations of Harappan civilisation[1] (2600-1900 BCE), to the cuneiform records of Mesopotamia[2] that indicate that it was the birthplace of wool. Pastoral communities across the world have reared sheep for wool, milk and meat and continue to do so, especially in the hilly and mountainous regions. With wool, the processes of felting and later weaving were amongst the first to be explored especially amongst the nomadic and transhumant groups of Asia and Europe.[3] In Sikkim, the Banpala Sheep has been reared by the traditional shepherd tribe of the Gurung community. The breed derived its name as it is mostly reared inside the forest (‘ban’ means forest and ‘pala’ reared). Banpala sheep is a medium sized animals with compact body covered with coarse wool, which is normally shorn twice a year. The Banpala is reared as migratory animals.[4] Over the past decade, there has occurred a vocational shift amongst the newer generations of the shepherd tribes, including that of Gurungs owing to factors like challenging nature of traditional pastoralism, deforested land, changes in government policies regarding grazing rights and land-use, urbanisation and personal aspirations of the individuals. This has led to a decline in the population of Banpala sheep in Sikkim. The Tibetan sheep is another example of having declined in number over the years, with only one last remaining sheep herder in North Sikkim.
Chuba is a small village located in south Sikkim, where the Gurung population has taken up the task to revive Banpala sheep through their age-old techniques. Chuba-ko ( meaning of Chuba), started as an initiative to actively build a community around wool through craft with a long term goal of reversing the depleting numbers of sheep and building a livelihood for themselves. By incentivising Banpala Sheep wool and using traditional craft knowledge of the community, the Gurungs have extended themselves to utilise the wool at Chuba.
The Banpala sheep is native to the southern part of Sikkim and has certain characteristics. The animal exhibits a tall, leggy, and robust physique. Their fleece displays a wide range of colors, spanning from pure white to pitch black, with various shades in between. They have small, tubular ears and both males and females have horns. The tail is slender and short, and the belly and legs are free of wool. The fleece itself is coarse, hairy, and open in texture. On average, they produce approximately 500 grams of greasy fleece every six months. The fiber diameter measures 49 µ, with a Medullation percentage of 70.5.[5]
The Banpala fibre is extremely coarse as the hair and wool is not segregated well, however, it is extremely warm. Traditionally, hand-felting and weaving have been practiced by the tribe.
For the purpose of felting, a certain crimp is required in the fibres for them to stick to each other and form a non woven surface, however, in the case of Banpala, coarse hair is felted vigorously to create a surface.
The process includes a certain order of steps - the sheep are shorn once a year, during the months of September and October, after procurement of wool, The felting process involves several stages, starting with manual cleaning to rid the wool of grease, dirt, and other impurities, which may result in some wool loss. Subsequently, carding is performed using a hand-carding machine to separate unwanted hair from the wool, followed by manual beating of the wool lot with a stick. The cleaned wool is then washed in lukewarm water and stored in dark rooms to protect it from insects and moths. During felting, layers of wool are laid on a mat, with warm water sprinkled after each layer to enhance fiber absorbency. The fibers are then rubbed with soap water, and finally, a plastic sheet is used to cover the felt while bamboo sticks are utilized to roll the fibers, creating the non-woven fabric. The process has been traditionally used to make Raadi, a hand felted floor mat that was domestically used in Sikkimese homes as an insulated seating or mattress.
The shedding nature of this hairy wool is persistent in these mats as well. Given the nature of this fibre, strong ropes, insulating materials and acoustic panels are areas of further usage and exploration.
In order to push the crafts towards a sustainable livelihood generation opportunity for the people, design intervention has taken place in the form of training as well as providing a market place for the produced goods. The colours black and white with a few shades of grey have been utilised by the Gurung craftspersons to create elaborate artworks in the form of rugs and wall art. The Gurungs have started translating the visuals of their Sikkimese landscape into black and white felt pieces. For instance, the grazing patterns of the Banpala and Tibetan sheep, Bamboo forests, Sikkim’s mountains cape, etc have been captured. By simply carding black and white wool together in different amounts, a range of light and dark shades have been obtained. The fibre has also been spun to form yarn for the purpose of weaving.
Originally, back-strap looms were used in Sikkim, but now weaving is done on frame looms as well. The Banpala wool fabric is woven on both looms in Chuba. It is also mixed with cotton to reduce the coarseness. The fabric is used for making clothing, bed covers, window insulators etc.
These processes have taken place within the wool communities, creating job opportunities and fostering a sense of local pride and craftsmanship. Artisans and skilled workers contribute their expertise to transform raw wool into high-quality textiles and products.
With investment and research and collaborative efforts of government and private agencies, the Chubako initiative has been successful in providing livelihood to the Gurung community by introducing wool crafts. Most of the members of Chubako, being women, also hints towards a equitable future for women.
Sheep herding in Sikkim is a vibrant way of life with multiple benefits. It provides livelihoods through wool, meat, and other products. The wool is skillfully crafted into traditional garments and handicrafts, adding to the region's rich wool craft heritage. Alongside meeting the demand for wool and meat, the practice optimizes land use with lush grazing lands. It preserves traditional knowledge and customs, while sheep grazing maintains a sustainable ecosystem. In every way, sheep herding plays a vital role in Sikkim's economic, cultural, craft, and agricultural landscape.
The Chuba Team
The presence of wool communities also supports local economies as well as diversifies local income sources. The wool industry provides income and employment opportunities for individuals and businesses involved in various stages of production, from shearing contractors and wool processors to designers and retailers. The economic benefits extend beyond the immediate wool-related activities, as the revenue generated circulates within the community, benefiting other sectors such as hospitality, retail, and tourism, in turn creating resilience for the people. By valuing Banpala Sheep wool and leveraging the community's rich craft heritage, the Gurungs have breathed new life into Chuba's wool industry.
(Top left corner to bottom)
Wool laid out for felting; Wool being Hands-on; Banpala Sheep; Hand-carding of wool
Hand-felting by the women
Chuba rugs inspired by Sikkim's landscape
[1] Noorjehan Bilgrami, Ancient Textiles of the Indus Valley Region, in Tana Bana: The woven soul of Pakistan pp. 18-31, 2004 Koel Publications, Karachi
[2] Catherine Breniquet, Cécile Michel. Wool Economy in the Ancient Near East and the Aegean. Wool Economy in the Ancient Near East and the Aegean: from the Beginnings of Sheep Husbandry to Institutional Textile Industry, 17, Oxbow Books, pp.1-11, 2014, Ancient Textiles Series
[3] Berthold Läufer, The Early History of Felt, American Anthropologist, Vol 32, pp 1-18, No. 1, 1930
[4] Agri - Kaleidoscope - Sheep Genetic Resources of NEH region, ICAR https://kiran.nic.in/sheep.html
[5] ICAR - Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute, http://cswri.res.in/breed_profiles.asp
Issue #10, 2023 ISSN: 2581- 9410 The connection between mountains and wool goes beyond a mere geographical correlation. It represents a profound symbiosis between nature, culture, and sustainable practices. The tradition of sheep herding and wool production has shaped the identities of mountain communities, leaving an enduring mark on their history, economy, and cultural heritage. Wool has a rich and significant historical importance that spans millennia. Its impact on human civilisation can be seen in various aspects, from clothing and textiles to trade and economic development. Although evidences of wool textiles are rare due to their conditions of preservation, there have been indications of wool being used as one of the earliest fibres. From wool clothes and tools found in excavations of Harappan civilisation[1] (2600-1900 BCE), to the cuneiform records of Mesopotamia[2] that indicate that it was the birthplace of wool. Pastoral communities across the world have reared sheep for wool, milk and meat and continue to do so, especially in the hilly and mountainous regions. With wool, the processes of felting and later weaving were amongst the first to be explored especially amongst the nomadic and transhumant groups of Asia and Europe.[3] In Sikkim, the Banpala Sheep has been reared by the traditional shepherd tribe of the Gurung community. The breed derived its name as it is mostly reared inside the forest (‘ban’ means forest and ‘pala’ reared). Banpala sheep is a medium sized animals with compact body covered with coarse wool, which is normally shorn twice a year. The Banpala is reared as migratory animals.[4] Over the past decade, there has occurred a vocational shift amongst the newer generations of the shepherd tribes, including that of Gurungs owing to factors like challenging nature of traditional pastoralism, deforested land, changes in government policies regarding grazing rights and land-use, urbanisation and personal aspirations of the individuals. This has led to a decline in the population of Banpala sheep in Sikkim. The Tibetan sheep is another example of having declined in number over the years, with only one last remaining sheep herder in North Sikkim.
Chuba is a small village located in south Sikkim, where the Gurung population has taken up the task to revive Banpala sheep through their age-old techniques. Chuba-ko ( meaning of Chuba), started as an initiative to actively build a community around wool through craft with a long term goal of reversing the depleting numbers of sheep and building a livelihood for themselves. By incentivising Banpala Sheep wool and using traditional craft knowledge of the community, the Gurungs have extended themselves to utilise the wool at Chuba.
The Banpala sheep is native to the southern part of Sikkim and has certain characteristics. The animal exhibits a tall, leggy, and robust physique. Their fleece displays a wide range of colors, spanning from pure white to pitch black, with various shades in between. They have small, tubular ears and both males and females have horns. The tail is slender and short, and the belly and legs are free of wool. The fleece itself is coarse, hairy, and open in texture. On average, they produce approximately 500 grams of greasy fleece every six months. The fiber diameter measures 49 µ, with a Medullation percentage of 70.5.[5]
The Banpala fibre is extremely coarse as the hair and wool is not segregated well, however, it is extremely warm. Traditionally, hand-felting and weaving have been practiced by the tribe.
For the purpose of felting, a certain crimp is required in the fibres for them to stick to each other and form a non woven surface, however, in the case of Banpala, coarse hair is felted vigorously to create a surface.
The process includes a certain order of steps - the sheep are shorn once a year, during the months of September and October, after procurement of wool, The felting process involves several stages, starting with manual cleaning to rid the wool of grease, dirt, and other impurities, which may result in some wool loss. Subsequently, carding is performed using a hand-carding machine to separate unwanted hair from the wool, followed by manual beating of the wool lot with a stick. The cleaned wool is then washed in lukewarm water and stored in dark rooms to protect it from insects and moths. During felting, layers of wool are laid on a mat, with warm water sprinkled after each layer to enhance fiber absorbency. The fibers are then rubbed with soap water, and finally, a plastic sheet is used to cover the felt while bamboo sticks are utilized to roll the fibers, creating the non-woven fabric. The process has been traditionally used to make Raadi, a hand felted floor mat that was domestically used in Sikkimese homes as an insulated seating or mattress.
The shedding nature of this hairy wool is persistent in these mats as well. Given the nature of this fibre, strong ropes, insulating materials and acoustic panels are areas of further usage and exploration.
In order to push the crafts towards a sustainable livelihood generation opportunity for the people, design intervention has taken place in the form of training as well as providing a market place for the produced goods. The colours black and white with a few shades of grey have been utilised by the Gurung craftspersons to create elaborate artworks in the form of rugs and wall art. The Gurungs have started translating the visuals of their Sikkimese landscape into black and white felt pieces. For instance, the grazing patterns of the Banpala and Tibetan sheep, Bamboo forests, Sikkim’s mountains cape, etc have been captured. By simply carding black and white wool together in different amounts, a range of light and dark shades have been obtained. The fibre has also been spun to form yarn for the purpose of weaving.
Originally, back-strap looms were used in Sikkim, but now weaving is done on frame looms as well. The Banpala wool fabric is woven on both looms in Chuba. It is also mixed with cotton to reduce the coarseness. The fabric is used for making clothing, bed covers, window insulators etc.
These processes have taken place within the wool communities, creating job opportunities and fostering a sense of local pride and craftsmanship. Artisans and skilled workers contribute their expertise to transform raw wool into high-quality textiles and products.
With investment and research and collaborative efforts of government and private agencies, the Chubako initiative has been successful in providing livelihood to the Gurung community by introducing wool crafts. Most of the members of Chubako, being women, also hints towards a equitable future for women.
Sheep herding in Sikkim is a vibrant way of life with multiple benefits. It provides livelihoods through wool, meat, and other products. The wool is skillfully crafted into traditional garments and handicrafts, adding to the region's rich wool craft heritage. Alongside meeting the demand for wool and meat, the practice optimizes land use with lush grazing lands. It preserves traditional knowledge and customs, while sheep grazing maintains a sustainable ecosystem. In every way, sheep herding plays a vital role in Sikkim's economic, cultural, craft, and agricultural landscape.
The Chuba Team
The presence of wool communities also supports local economies as well as diversifies local income sources. The wool industry provides income and employment opportunities for individuals and businesses involved in various stages of production, from shearing contractors and wool processors to designers and retailers. The economic benefits extend beyond the immediate wool-related activities, as the revenue generated circulates within the community, benefiting other sectors such as hospitality, retail, and tourism, in turn creating resilience for the people. By valuing Banpala Sheep wool and leveraging the community's rich craft heritage, the Gurungs have breathed new life into Chuba's wool industry.
(Top left corner to bottom)
Wool laid out for felting; Wool being Hands-on; Banpala Sheep; Hand-carding of wool
Hand-felting by the women
Chuba rugs inspired by Sikkim's landscape
[1] Noorjehan Bilgrami, Ancient Textiles of the Indus Valley Region, in Tana Bana: The woven soul of Pakistan pp. 18-31, 2004 Koel Publications, Karachi
[2] Catherine Breniquet, Cécile Michel. Wool Economy in the Ancient Near East and the Aegean. Wool Economy in the Ancient Near East and the Aegean: from the Beginnings of Sheep Husbandry to Institutional Textile Industry, 17, Oxbow Books, pp.1-11, 2014, Ancient Textiles Series
[3] Berthold Läufer, The Early History of Felt, American Anthropologist, Vol 32, pp 1-18, No. 1, 1930
[4] Agri - Kaleidoscope - Sheep Genetic Resources of NEH region, ICAR https://kiran.nic.in/sheep.html
[5] ICAR - Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute, http://cswri.res.in/breed_profiles.asp
Beaten Copper of Uttarakhand,
Beaten copper ware is made prolifically in Uttarakhand, especially Almora district from where Suresh Lal Tamta-who works with the material-hails. Suresh Lal Tamta learnt the ancestral craft from his father, working with him since he was 10-12 years old. Each family has its own workshop. The Tamta people, he says, traditionally work with copper. Almora has a lot of copper-workers. The basic raw materials used are sheets of copper, or patches made from melted scrap. The sheets are of varying thickness, with thickness being measured in gauges; the higher the number of the gauge, the thicker the sheet (and, correspondingly, the lower the number of the gauge, the thinner the sheet). The process is basically that of beaten metal-work, in which the metal is beaten into the required shape. A wooden hammer is used while shaping the metal; a much heavier iron hammer for processes that involve sizing, like increasing the size of a strip. According to Suresh Lal, a lot of the items - especially the smaller ones - are worked from a single piece of the metal. Jointing, however, makes the work simpler. The sheer time and craftsmanship required in making a single-piece item makes the end product very expensive; that kind of craftsmanship cannot be often afforded. The joint is made with a combination of brass and zinc, which is melted in an earth-kiln fire and is then mixed with suhaga - a white, grainy powder that is bought in the market, and is commonly used by goldsmiths. The joint, says Suresh Lal, can be taken apart by craftsperson's only by heating the metal at the joint and then beating it - not otherwise. The design element is introduced using a sunni or iron rod, on which force is applied with a hammer. The finished product - that is, after jointing, if jointing is involved - is washed with acid or placed in heated grain heaps; the hot piece is covered with chaff. No air must touch the piece. When the object is removed from the slowly cooling chaff, the metal is seen to have acquired luster. Besides specific motifs, a pattern of small squares is impressed all over the piece by hand-beating using a hammer. Copper is well-known for its medicinal and curative properties. Several items of everyday use are thus still traditionally fashioned out of copper; these are widely used in the villages in Almora says Suresh Lal Tamta. Water - if kept for some time (for instance overnight) - in copper vessels is supposed to absorb the medicinal properties of the copper. Copper surahis (traditional, jug-like vessels, with spouted mouths), glasses, and flat-bottomed traditional water containers called lotas are common products. Plates and bowls for everyday use are also made of copper. Vessels in which the metal has a low gauge (thus making the metal thick) are used for cooking - most frequently, they are used to cook those foods that require sustained low heat. Storage jars, vases, and diyas (lamps) are also made by the Tamtas.
Beaten copper ware is made prolifically in Uttarakhand, especially Almora district from where Suresh Lal Tamta-who works with the material-hails. Suresh Lal Tamta learnt the ancestral craft from his father, working with him since he was 10-12 years old. Each family has its own workshop. The Tamta people, he says, traditionally work with copper. Almora has a lot of copper-workers. The basic raw materials used are sheets of copper, or patches made from melted scrap. The sheets are of varying thickness, with thickness being measured in gauges; the higher the number of the gauge, the thicker the sheet (and, correspondingly, the lower the number of the gauge, the thinner the sheet). The process is basically that of beaten metal-work, in which the metal is beaten into the required shape. A wooden hammer is used while shaping the metal; a much heavier iron hammer for processes that involve sizing, like increasing the size of a strip. According to Suresh Lal, a lot of the items - especially the smaller ones - are worked from a single piece of the metal. Jointing, however, makes the work simpler. The sheer time and craftsmanship required in making a single-piece item makes the end product very expensive; that kind of craftsmanship cannot be often afforded. The joint is made with a combination of brass and zinc, which is melted in an earth-kiln fire and is then mixed with suhaga - a white, grainy powder that is bought in the market, and is commonly used by goldsmiths. The joint, says Suresh Lal, can be taken apart by craftsperson's only by heating the metal at the joint and then beating it - not otherwise. The design element is introduced using a sunni or iron rod, on which force is applied with a hammer. The finished product - that is, after jointing, if jointing is involved - is washed with acid or placed in heated grain heaps; the hot piece is covered with chaff. No air must touch the piece. When the object is removed from the slowly cooling chaff, the metal is seen to have acquired luster. Besides specific motifs, a pattern of small squares is impressed all over the piece by hand-beating using a hammer. Copper is well-known for its medicinal and curative properties. Several items of everyday use are thus still traditionally fashioned out of copper; these are widely used in the villages in Almora says Suresh Lal Tamta. Water - if kept for some time (for instance overnight) - in copper vessels is supposed to absorb the medicinal properties of the copper. Copper surahis (traditional, jug-like vessels, with spouted mouths), glasses, and flat-bottomed traditional water containers called lotas are common products. Plates and bowls for everyday use are also made of copper. Vessels in which the metal has a low gauge (thus making the metal thick) are used for cooking - most frequently, they are used to cook those foods that require sustained low heat. Storage jars, vases, and diyas (lamps) are also made by the Tamtas.
Suresh Lal Tamta learnt the ancestral craft from his father, working with him since he was 10-12 years old. Each family has its own workshop. The tamta people, he says, traditionally work with copper. Almora has a lot of copper-workers.
Raw Materials, Process and Tools
The basic material used are sheets of copper, or patches made from melted scrap. The sheets are of varying thickness, with thickness being measured in gauges; the higher the number of the gauge, the thicker the sheet (and, correspondingly, the lower the number of the gauge, the thinner the sheet.
The process is basically that of beaten metal-work, in which the metal is beaten into the required shape. A wooden hammer is used while shaping the metal; a much heavier iron hammer for processes that involve sizing, like increasing the size of a strip.
According to Suresh Lal, a lot of the items - especially the smaller ones - are worked from a single piece of the metal. Jointing, however, makes the work simpler. The sheer time and craftsmanship required in making a single-piece item makes the end product very expensive; that kind of craftsmanship cannot be often afforded.
The joint is made with a combination of brass and zinc, which is melted in an earth-kiln fire and is then mixed with suhaga - a white, grainy powder that is bought in the market, and is commonly used by goldsmiths. The joint, says Suresh Lal, can be taken apart by craftspersons only by heating the metal at the joint and then beating it - not otherwise.
The design element is introduced using a sunni or iron rod, on which force is applied with a hammer. The finished product - that is, after jointing, if jointing is involved - is washed with acid or placed in heated grain heaps; the hot piece is covered with chaff. No air must touch the piece. When the object is removed from the slowly cooling chaff, the metal is seen to have acquired lustre. Besides specific motifs, a pattern of small squares is impressed all over the piece by hand-beating using a hammer.
Products and Uses
Copper is well-known for its medicinal and curative properties. Several items of everyday use are thus still traditionally fashioned out of copper; these are used prolifically in the villages in Almora says Suresh Lal Tamta. Water - if kept for some time (like overnight) - in copper vessels is supposed to absorb the medicinal properties of the copper. Copper surahis (traditional, jug-like vessels, with spouted mouths), glasses, and flat-bottomed traditional water containers called lotas are common products. Plates and bowls for everyday use are also made of copper. Vessels in which the metal has a low gauge (thus making the metal thick) are used for cooking - most frequently, they are used to cook those foods that require sustained low heat. Storage jars, vases, and diyas (lamps) are also made by the tamtas.
Beeja Arambha – Seed Beginnings,
Issue #10, 2023 ISSN: 2581- 9410 The new story of Indigeneous Brown Cotton in India It is a warm afternoon in the middle of the second lockdown of the pandemic when the team of The Registry of Sarees visits Dr Khadi at his farm in Dharwad. Dr Khadi is a retired scientist from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad and is credited with having “discovered” Natural Brown Coloured Cotton (NBCC). While his role in the story of NBCC is pivotal, the actual narrative of Natural Brown Coloured Cotton goes much further back in India’s history.
Team of The Registry Of Sarees at The University of Dharwad, Agricultural Sciences.
A Brief Introduction to Brown Cotton
The antiquity of cotton in the Indian subcontinent has been traced to the 4th millennium BC (1) The first reference to cotton is found in an early Rig Veda hymn (2).The stages of seed cotton, spinning the lint and weaving the yarn are covered in various religious texts, and thus suggesting the implicit use of cotton in India by 1000 BC (3). The fabrics dated approximately 3000 BC recovered from Mohenjodaro excavated in Sind were identified to have originated from cotton plants, closely link to Gossyppium Arboreum species (4) thereby confirming that cotton lint was spun and woven into cloth even before 3000 BC. (5)
When the British monopolised cotton trade from the 17th century onwards, they sought to meet the growing demand for cotton that was produced by large scale industrial spinning and weaving. Rather than changing their production processes, The British adapted cotton cultivation in India to suit the machinery. As a result, the foreign varieties of long staple cotton were widely adopted in Indian cotton fields wiping away traces of desi cotton (Gossypium Arboreum, Gossypium Herbaceum) that made 97% of India’s cotton. (6)
The arrival of industrial-scale spinning that came with colonial rule, weaving technologies, vibrant chemical dyes, and a market that supported voluminous production and consumption of white BT cotton, effectively killed the demand for coloured cotton.
However, through the years, naturally coloured cotton has appeared primarily as a last-ditch effort to meet a need. During World War II (1939–1945) for example, there was a shortage of dyes, so green and brown cotton were grown and used. Because the fibres had not been bred for length after the war, naturally coloured cotton fell out of favour again.
Remains of Desi cotton were found in pockets of India, one being the research station associated with the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka. The research station was set up in 1904 by the British as an establishment for cotton research and the storage of cotton germplasm. Dharwad was chosen as it was the most suited location for all four types of cultiv ated cotton - American cotton (Gossypium Hirsutum), Egyptian cotton (Gossypium Barbadense), Desi cotton (Gossypium Arboreum, Gossypium Herbaceum).
In 1983, Dr. Khadi of the Agricultural Research Station decided to test some of these dormant seeds at the research station. When planted, he discovered a naturally brown cotton plant growing in the midst of a white cotton field. The warmth of the afternoon sun at Dharwad does not deter the goosebumps as we listen to Dr Khadi recounting this memory – his delight transfers to all of us with this image and the possibilities of a future with Naturally Coloured Cotton becomes more real!
Dr Khadi – now retired but still cultivating Brown Cotton
From then on, Dr. Khadi, along with his assistants, began developing an interest in naturally coloured desi cotton. At the cotton research station, Dharwad, many coloured cottons are available. They range from off white to green. The most stable variety of cultivated coloured cotton is Dharwad Desi Coloured Cotton (DDCC1).
The Almond coloured naturally brown cotton -DDCC1 is truly an indigenous as it belongs to the G. Arboreum variety. The cotton develops its distinct colour because of the presence of proanthocyanin flavonoids in its genotype. Under the exposure of sunlight, the cotton bolls, when opening, gradually reveal their distinct colour. The shade of the colour could vary a little bit due to the changes in water, soil and climatic conditions.
Naturally coloured brown cotton is not cultivated as much since there is a fear that wild varieties of coloured cotton could contaminate the already existing white BT cotton. However, scientists from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad; Dr. Maralappanavar and Dr. Patil clarified that desi varieties cannot cross pollinate with non-desi hybrid varieties of cotton (eg- BT cotton). This suggests that coloured cotton can be grown around most BT cotton fields with no fear that it would hamper its cultivation.
The real threat indigenous coloured cotton seems to pose is at the market level as there is a possibility that it could become a competitor to other types of cotton and industries of production linked to it. DDCC1, being an indigenous cotton variety, is drought and pest resistant making it economically viable as it is cheaper in production and environmentally friendly. In 2021, The Registry of Sarees became the first to license the seeds and begin cultivation with the guidance of The University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad setting the benchmark for others to follow suit in a country where seed monopoly is often widely seen as contentious.
Sustainability quotient of Naturally Coloured Brown Cotton (DDCC1)
The comparison is not about colourful with colourless, one can grow organic white cotton and use natural dyes to colour it, but when the cotton is never dyed at all, it is entirely natural. With naturally grown brown coloured cotton, the entire dyeing process is eliminated, dye treatments are limited, there is less usage of water, less wastewater, less consumption of chemicals, and hence less usage of energy, making it one of the most sustainably produced cotton fabrics. Naturally grown brown cottons are pest, drought resistant and rain fed. Born coloured, the fabric is non-allergic and has excellent UV sun protection properties.
Repairing the land to loom system
A heavily broken land-to-loom system has not aided local khadi Sanghas to continue their work in brown cotton. The weavers need work. But hands involved in pre-loom processes were already lost to migration to cities. The farmers had long made the switch to lucrative Bt white cotton.
The hand-spinning of Brown Cotton yarn celebrates its coarse texture. Currently, there are 2 spinners and 3 weavers employed at UAS, Dharwad, Karntaka, dedicated to brown cotton cloth. These weavers are the first ones to weave brown cotton yarn on the warp and weft of a hand loom. They find the yarn holding strong and allowing for less breakage and therefore easy work continuity.
As the yarn is Ambara Charaka spun, it essentially has a very low twist. This also means that once the fabric is washed, the twist in the yarn opens further which results in the suppleness of the fabric. Ambara Charaka spun yarn is fragile, hence the yarn is starched before weaving. The stiffness of the woven fabric because of the starch is washed away with continuous wearing and washing resulting in a soft fabric.
Recognizing the historical, environmental and economic relevance of naturally coloured Desi Brown Cotton, all the stakeholders aim to repair the land to loom system. Eventually, it will transform into a circular economy system where its journey begins and ends with the land encountering no wastage and supporting all those who are a part of every stage in the process of cultivating, weaving and wearing.
The key objectives are:
Issue #10, 2023 ISSN: 2581- 9410 The new story of Indigeneous Brown Cotton in India It is a warm afternoon in the middle of the second lockdown of the pandemic when the team of The Registry of Sarees visits Dr Khadi at his farm in Dharwad. Dr Khadi is a retired scientist from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad and is credited with having “discovered” Natural Brown Coloured Cotton (NBCC). While his role in the story of NBCC is pivotal, the actual narrative of Natural Brown Coloured Cotton goes much further back in India’s history.
Team of The Registry Of Sarees at The University of Dharwad, Agricultural Sciences.
A Brief Introduction to Brown Cotton
The antiquity of cotton in the Indian subcontinent has been traced to the 4th millennium BC (1) The first reference to cotton is found in an early Rig Veda hymn (2).The stages of seed cotton, spinning the lint and weaving the yarn are covered in various religious texts, and thus suggesting the implicit use of cotton in India by 1000 BC (3). The fabrics dated approximately 3000 BC recovered from Mohenjodaro excavated in Sind were identified to have originated from cotton plants, closely link to Gossyppium Arboreum species (4) thereby confirming that cotton lint was spun and woven into cloth even before 3000 BC. (5)
When the British monopolised cotton trade from the 17th century onwards, they sought to meet the growing demand for cotton that was produced by large scale industrial spinning and weaving. Rather than changing their production processes, The British adapted cotton cultivation in India to suit the machinery. As a result, the foreign varieties of long staple cotton were widely adopted in Indian cotton fields wiping away traces of desi cotton (Gossypium Arboreum, Gossypium Herbaceum) that made 97% of India’s cotton. (6)
The arrival of industrial-scale spinning that came with colonial rule, weaving technologies, vibrant chemical dyes, and a market that supported voluminous production and consumption of white BT cotton, effectively killed the demand for coloured cotton.
However, through the years, naturally coloured cotton has appeared primarily as a last-ditch effort to meet a need. During World War II (1939–1945) for example, there was a shortage of dyes, so green and brown cotton were grown and used. Because the fibres had not been bred for length after the war, naturally coloured cotton fell out of favour again.
Remains of Desi cotton were found in pockets of India, one being the research station associated with the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka. The research station was set up in 1904 by the British as an establishment for cotton research and the storage of cotton germplasm. Dharwad was chosen as it was the most suited location for all four types of cultiv ated cotton - American cotton (Gossypium Hirsutum), Egyptian cotton (Gossypium Barbadense), Desi cotton (Gossypium Arboreum, Gossypium Herbaceum).
In 1983, Dr. Khadi of the Agricultural Research Station decided to test some of these dormant seeds at the research station. When planted, he discovered a naturally brown cotton plant growing in the midst of a white cotton field. The warmth of the afternoon sun at Dharwad does not deter the goosebumps as we listen to Dr Khadi recounting this memory – his delight transfers to all of us with this image and the possibilities of a future with Naturally Coloured Cotton becomes more real!
Dr Khadi – now retired but still cultivating Brown Cotton
From then on, Dr. Khadi, along with his assistants, began developing an interest in naturally coloured desi cotton. At the cotton research station, Dharwad, many coloured cottons are available. They range from off white to green. The most stable variety of cultivated coloured cotton is Dharwad Desi Coloured Cotton (DDCC1).
The Almond coloured naturally brown cotton -DDCC1 is truly an indigenous as it belongs to the G. Arboreum variety. The cotton develops its distinct colour because of the presence of proanthocyanin flavonoids in its genotype. Under the exposure of sunlight, the cotton bolls, when opening, gradually reveal their distinct colour. The shade of the colour could vary a little bit due to the changes in water, soil and climatic conditions.
Naturally coloured brown cotton is not cultivated as much since there is a fear that wild varieties of coloured cotton could contaminate the already existing white BT cotton. However, scientists from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad; Dr. Maralappanavar and Dr. Patil clarified that desi varieties cannot cross pollinate with non-desi hybrid varieties of cotton (eg- BT cotton). This suggests that coloured cotton can be grown around most BT cotton fields with no fear that it would hamper its cultivation.
The real threat indigenous coloured cotton seems to pose is at the market level as there is a possibility that it could become a competitor to other types of cotton and industries of production linked to it. DDCC1, being an indigenous cotton variety, is drought and pest resistant making it economically viable as it is cheaper in production and environmentally friendly. In 2021, The Registry of Sarees became the first to license the seeds and begin cultivation with the guidance of The University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad setting the benchmark for others to follow suit in a country where seed monopoly is often widely seen as contentious.
Sustainability quotient of Naturally Coloured Brown Cotton (DDCC1)
The comparison is not about colourful with colourless, one can grow organic white cotton and use natural dyes to colour it, but when the cotton is never dyed at all, it is entirely natural. With naturally grown brown coloured cotton, the entire dyeing process is eliminated, dye treatments are limited, there is less usage of water, less wastewater, less consumption of chemicals, and hence less usage of energy, making it one of the most sustainably produced cotton fabrics. Naturally grown brown cottons are pest, drought resistant and rain fed. Born coloured, the fabric is non-allergic and has excellent UV sun protection properties.
Repairing the land to loom system
A heavily broken land-to-loom system has not aided local khadi Sanghas to continue their work in brown cotton. The weavers need work. But hands involved in pre-loom processes were already lost to migration to cities. The farmers had long made the switch to lucrative Bt white cotton.
The hand-spinning of Brown Cotton yarn celebrates its coarse texture. Currently, there are 2 spinners and 3 weavers employed at UAS, Dharwad, Karntaka, dedicated to brown cotton cloth. These weavers are the first ones to weave brown cotton yarn on the warp and weft of a hand loom. They find the yarn holding strong and allowing for less breakage and therefore easy work continuity.
As the yarn is Ambara Charaka spun, it essentially has a very low twist. This also means that once the fabric is washed, the twist in the yarn opens further which results in the suppleness of the fabric. Ambara Charaka spun yarn is fragile, hence the yarn is starched before weaving. The stiffness of the woven fabric because of the starch is washed away with continuous wearing and washing resulting in a soft fabric.
Recognizing the historical, environmental and economic relevance of naturally coloured Desi Brown Cotton, all the stakeholders aim to repair the land to loom system. Eventually, it will transform into a circular economy system where its journey begins and ends with the land encountering no wastage and supporting all those who are a part of every stage in the process of cultivating, weaving and wearing.
The key objectives are:
- Connecting the production of cotton to its cultivation: The intention is to partake in conserving and maintaining an indigenous variety of coloured cotton. The process involves working closely with scientists and farmers and recognising their role in the creation of Brown Cotton textiles.
- All hands involved in the production process right from the farmer to the weaver earn a fair price and living wages. The number of hands employed in any land-to-loom initiative with cotton is the same. The difference here is that the farmer earns the right procurement price for the cotton he grows. In addition, the varied processes- sewing and plucking the cotton in season, generates more employment for over 25 women.
- Create awareness of the existence of Brown Cotton and its benefits. While paying for a piece of cloth, the consumer is taking responsibility to nurture a rare variety of coloured cotton which is rain-fed, pesticide free, and help create a market for a sustainable business.
- Santhanam and Sundaran, 1997
- Khadi and Kulkarni, 2001
- Sundaram, 1974
- Gulati and Turner, 1929),
- (Source: http://www.geacindia.gov.in/resource-documents/biosafety-regulations/resource-documents/Biology_of_Cotton.pdf)
- Menon and Uzramma, A Frayed History; The journey of Cotton in India
Bewitched by the Baluchari,
Issue #003, Autumn, 2019 ISSN: 2581- 9410 Ruby Palchoudhuri’s abiding contribution to the revival of the traditional Baluchari lies in her pioneering efforts to work with Kallu Hafiz to create the technical infrastructure to revive the jala weave. This nostalgic piece is all about her encounters with the magnificent women with their fabulous collections and, of course, her experiences with Kallu Hafiz. It was Mitul Ghatak, my classmate at the Government College of Arts and Crafts, who led me into the wondrous world of the Baluchari weave. Mitul, sister of the famous Mahasweta Devi, showed me a Baluchari sari belonging to her Mother. I had never seen anything so beautifully intricate before. The sisters' engagement with the Baluchari began when their father was posted in Murshidabad. This was an illustrious family with celebrated artists and poets, among others, Ritwick Ghatak, the famous film-maker. If the first encounter was charming, there was much more to come because I was to encounter the magnificent Mme Krishna Riboud in the early 1940s in London in her purple butidar masterpiece. Thus was stoked my love affair with the Baluchari, with its delectable designs, in the softest of silken rustle, that continues till today.
Krishna Riboud, whose remarkable collection is with Musee Guimet
This account is more about my personal engagement with the Baluchari; from a stage of innocence about it to one of overwhelming passion to cherish it and work to make it immortal by supporting the Baluchari master-weavers. Much has been written about the textile; not so much about its bewitching impact on 20-something- old, fashion-conscious minds of the forties.
Mme Krishna Riboud was closely connected with Tagore family, who were patrons of everything creative and certainly of the Baluchari, which flourished on the bank of the Bhagirathi in Murshidabad. There were families royal and aristocratic, who patronised the weavers along with the educated, progressive Bengali women who were connoisseurs of the weave that expressed artistic imagery using the most sophisticated of techniques that their nimble fingers and creative minds could muster, over silk that was just as lustrous.
My mind goes back to ta photograph of Saroda Devi, wife of Mahorshi Debendra Nath Tagore, sitting on a bed, her grey hair covering her back, donning another masterpiece (describe your memory of the saree). The Thakurbari ladies played an important role in the renaissance of the region. Their courage to ignore the Brahminical social customs of orthodox Hindus and come out of Pardha created a new influence on a great number of women in Bengal, whose hearts and minds turned towards many facets of society and certainly the rich creative heritage of the region, that included the Baluchari.
Ruby Palchoudhuri’s collection
She was also my mother-in-law, who looked ravishing in her Balucharis; some of which, it has been my fortune to inherit. This is a piece of fortune that I have loved to share with other connoisseurs at Baluchari expositions in India and overseas. It was also from her that I derived the inspiration to work for the preservation of Bengal’s creative heritage.
There was also Radha Sundari Palchoudhuri, my grand mother-in-law, wife of Biprodas Palchoudhuri, who owned a fabulous piece, now in the possession of her grand-daughter, my husband’s cousin. Another outstanding woman, an excellent rider, she supervised her estates on horseback and had started many charities and generated income for the poor people. I recall her in a Baluchari sari with a triangular lace head cover in a Brahmo style, though she was not a Brahmo. The Thakurbari ladies had set many sartorial styles with the sari with differently designed blouses and often with interesting covers for the head, in what might have been a Victorian influence.
Suniti Devi, from Cooch Behar, was another aficionado of the Baluchari. Her family, a member of the Brahmo Samaj, was known to be educationists and one of the daughters, Tapati, who inherited an antique masterpiece, was not just a wonderfully enlightened woman but a member of Crafts Council of West Bengal as well. Suniti Devi’s piece was passed down to her grand-daughter, Rita Bhimani, another cultural icon of the present times.
There was also the highly cultured and educated Nilima Mitra, later Majumder, brought up in Beadon Street, was a frequent visitor to Rabindranath Tagore’s home in Jorasanko. Her mother made sure that she received singing lessons from the erudite Dinu Thakur, from the Tagore family. More importantly, she owned a beautiful Baluchari sari that is with her grand-daughter now.
The Thakurbari ladies had set many sartorial styles with the sari with differently designed blouses and often with interesting covers for the head, in what might have been a Victorian influence. I also recall the highly cultured and educated Nilima Mitra, later Majumder, who was raised in Beadon Street, North Calcutta, and was a frequent visitor to Rabindranath Tagore’s home in Jorasanko. The picture here of her wedding with Benoy Majundar, and she is wearing a Baluchari.
My entry into her fabled world was through her daughter, Geeta. It was not everyday that a young lady from the mofussils of Bengal, in her early encounters with Calcutta of the Raj, in the 1940s, would find herself in the company of royalty and more. Yet it was that Geeta, my friend in Loreto College, who invited me home. With open-mouthed wonder I took it all in; the opulence, the artefacts, the style, the kaayda-kanoon of the Mookerjee household but more tellingly it was her mother who held me in thrall.
A Dubraj Das creation
Issue #003, Autumn, 2019 ISSN: 2581- 9410 Ruby Palchoudhuri’s abiding contribution to the revival of the traditional Baluchari lies in her pioneering efforts to work with Kallu Hafiz to create the technical infrastructure to revive the jala weave. This nostalgic piece is all about her encounters with the magnificent women with their fabulous collections and, of course, her experiences with Kallu Hafiz. It was Mitul Ghatak, my classmate at the Government College of Arts and Crafts, who led me into the wondrous world of the Baluchari weave. Mitul, sister of the famous Mahasweta Devi, showed me a Baluchari sari belonging to her Mother. I had never seen anything so beautifully intricate before. The sisters' engagement with the Baluchari began when their father was posted in Murshidabad. This was an illustrious family with celebrated artists and poets, among others, Ritwick Ghatak, the famous film-maker. If the first encounter was charming, there was much more to come because I was to encounter the magnificent Mme Krishna Riboud in the early 1940s in London in her purple butidar masterpiece. Thus was stoked my love affair with the Baluchari, with its delectable designs, in the softest of silken rustle, that continues till today.
Krishna Riboud, whose remarkable collection is with Musee Guimet
This account is more about my personal engagement with the Baluchari; from a stage of innocence about it to one of overwhelming passion to cherish it and work to make it immortal by supporting the Baluchari master-weavers. Much has been written about the textile; not so much about its bewitching impact on 20-something- old, fashion-conscious minds of the forties.
Mme Krishna Riboud was closely connected with Tagore family, who were patrons of everything creative and certainly of the Baluchari, which flourished on the bank of the Bhagirathi in Murshidabad. There were families royal and aristocratic, who patronised the weavers along with the educated, progressive Bengali women who were connoisseurs of the weave that expressed artistic imagery using the most sophisticated of techniques that their nimble fingers and creative minds could muster, over silk that was just as lustrous.
My mind goes back to ta photograph of Saroda Devi, wife of Mahorshi Debendra Nath Tagore, sitting on a bed, her grey hair covering her back, donning another masterpiece (describe your memory of the saree). The Thakurbari ladies played an important role in the renaissance of the region. Their courage to ignore the Brahminical social customs of orthodox Hindus and come out of Pardha created a new influence on a great number of women in Bengal, whose hearts and minds turned towards many facets of society and certainly the rich creative heritage of the region, that included the Baluchari.
Photograph of Saroda Debi
To replicate man and nature in their many moods and poses; to execute with equal elan mythological to moghul motifs to symbols of the raj, from flowers and birds to social themes, to change with the changing times was par for the course but what they also delivered was exquisite workmanship that was almost bewitching. Legend has it that this was the weave that charmed Raja Manshingh of Rajasthan who came to conquer Maharaja Pratapaditya in the early 17th century.
Jnananandini Devi (1850-1941)’s sari now at the Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalay
Not only the Tagore family, ladies of the Brahmo Samaj adored the Baluchari. Krishna Riboud, a classical beauty, who married a French Count, became a collector and started a Textile Research Centre “AEDTA” in Paris and received the Legion d’honneur, the highest award given by the President of France. I remember being in Paris in the late eighties, when she invited me to her centre to see her textile collection with a mind-boggling number of Baluchari pieces created by master weavers. Of these gifted weavers, probably the most celebrated was Dubraj Das, a 19th century master craftsman, believed to have been born to a family of snake charmers but who went on to charm the looms into weaving delightful textures. A wanderer that he was, Dubraj settled in the Baluchar village and came to master the art of Jala weaving, preferring to weave flowers and not figures. More importantly, over time, he started using religious text in his weaves. For the rest, fellow weavers from the village and from neighbouring hamlets created their styles with minor deviations, never hesitating to present that changing world around them through their patterns. From Baluchar to Bishnupur, they enamoured everyone who came to see them weave. The silk yarn that they used was degummed mulberry silk, with low twist that is used both in warp and weft. The design is woven in extra weft. As the application for GI status would confirm, "the intricate pallu design developed in different layers in rectangular fashion in boxes makes the saree unique. No zari or metallic yarn is used for designing". It was the jala technology that made the sarees unique as the weavers rendered the designs, mainly on the aanchals (pallus) and won for the sari the status of Geographical indication in India.
Ila Palchoudhuri
The Baluchari was destined to become a closer influence on my life courtesy Indubala Basu, early 19th century, an outstanding lady, a graduate from Bethune College who possessed quite a collection. This was inherited by her equally illustrious daughter, Ila Palchoudhuri, who was a Member of Parliament and committed to doing something for Bengal's textile traditions.
Ruby Palchoudhuri’s collection
She was also my mother-in-law, who looked ravishing in her Balucharis; some of which, it has been my fortune to inherit. This is a piece of fortune that I have loved to share with other connoisseurs at Baluchari expositions in India and overseas. It was also from her that I derived the inspiration to work for the preservation of Bengal’s creative heritage.
There was also Radha Sundari Palchoudhuri, my grand mother-in-law, wife of Biprodas Palchoudhuri, who owned a fabulous piece, now in the possession of her grand-daughter, my husband’s cousin. Another outstanding woman, an excellent rider, she supervised her estates on horseback and had started many charities and generated income for the poor people. I recall her in a Baluchari sari with a triangular lace head cover in a Brahmo style, though she was not a Brahmo. The Thakurbari ladies had set many sartorial styles with the sari with differently designed blouses and often with interesting covers for the head, in what might have been a Victorian influence.
Suniti Devi, from Cooch Behar, was another aficionado of the Baluchari. Her family, a member of the Brahmo Samaj, was known to be educationists and one of the daughters, Tapati, who inherited an antique masterpiece, was not just a wonderfully enlightened woman but a member of Crafts Council of West Bengal as well. Suniti Devi’s piece was passed down to her grand-daughter, Rita Bhimani, another cultural icon of the present times.
There was also the highly cultured and educated Nilima Mitra, later Majumder, brought up in Beadon Street, was a frequent visitor to Rabindranath Tagore’s home in Jorasanko. Her mother made sure that she received singing lessons from the erudite Dinu Thakur, from the Tagore family. More importantly, she owned a beautiful Baluchari sari that is with her grand-daughter now.
The Thakurbari ladies had set many sartorial styles with the sari with differently designed blouses and often with interesting covers for the head, in what might have been a Victorian influence. I also recall the highly cultured and educated Nilima Mitra, later Majumder, who was raised in Beadon Street, North Calcutta, and was a frequent visitor to Rabindranath Tagore’s home in Jorasanko. The picture here of her wedding with Benoy Majundar, and she is wearing a Baluchari.
Two other Balucharis of hers that survive are carefully preserved with her daugher, Gini Sen, who is secretary Crafts Council of West Bengal.
There were many other remarkable ladies who had even more remarkable collections. Indira Devi Choudhurani, a descendent of SatyendraNath Tagore, had a particularly exquisite piece that was inherited by Pranati Tagore, a great Bengali scholar. The most captivating collection though must surely have been Lady Ranu Mukherjee's. The grand lady was amongst the most passionate patrons of the art that she kept in her mansion, which was like a Museum for she owned a great collection of precious textiles.
My entry into her fabled world was through her daughter, Geeta. It was not everyday that a young lady from the mofussils of Bengal, in her early encounters with Calcutta of the Raj, in the 1940s, would find herself in the company of royalty and more. Yet it was that Geeta, my friend in Loreto College, who invited me home. With open-mouthed wonder I took it all in; the opulence, the artefacts, the style, the kaayda-kanoon of the Mookerjee household but more tellingly it was her mother who held me in thrall.
Lady Ranu, whose bewitching collection is with the Academy of Fine Arts. Picture reproduced from Fabric Art Heritage of India
A Dubraj Das creation
The Lady Ranu Collection with the Academy of Fine Arts and reproduced from Fabric Art Heritage of India
She appeared, the very embodiment of beauty, in a Baluchari, dark plum with floral border with paisley butis. The aanchal was woven with the three large paisley in the centre framed with a border in a box-like fashion. Around this centre box on all four sides in box like fashion there were nawabs smoking hookas and begums holding roses; a typically traditional Baluchari. As part of the accessories she wore strings of Basra pearls. Every minute detail sticks to my mind.Lady Ranu had a fabulous collection and often wore Balucharis with matching gems set in either diamond or pearls; never failing to stun people around her. I graduated from being a stunned admirer of the textile to an ardent supporter under the watchful eyes of Kamala Devi Chattopadhyay, who was my mentor. It was she who first sought to revive the Baluchari with help from Subho Tagore – who showed me to his magnificent collection – though we realized that this would be very difficult because the weave was complex, time-consuming and not cost effective.
Kamala Devi Chattopadhyay
Kamala Devi was, however, determined and took a sample of the Baluchari to Ali Hassan (Kallu Hafiz) in Varanasi in her effort to revive Baluchari weave which was not possible in Bengal. Thus began my association with Kallu Hafiz; and one that that I enjoyed every minute because of the sheer joy of creativity that surrounded him.
Kallu Hafiz revival piece; A tribute to the master by Pranavi Kapur
We must have made some noise of success because I was soon commissioned to produce a 16x12 feet Baluchari wall hanging by ITC; a project that took two and a half years, won thunderous accolades and gave me a lifetime of satisfaction. Never in the history of Benaras had such a large piece been woven. A room was constructed to house the large jala. I went to meet Kallu in his workshop I showed him the technical drawing prepared under the supervision of the famous artist, Sunil Das, then head of Weavers Service Centre, Kolkata. Kalluji took a look at the drawing and all he said to me “Ho jaiga”. My life was made!
Artist Sunil Das played a critical role in the Baluchari revival saga
Kallu Hafiz’s ancestors came from Bokhara, Uzbekistan. So inspiring was my association with him that I visited the grave of Kallu’s great grand-father when in Uzbekistan. The family was famous for the Nakshabandi technique, which was later brought to India by the Mughals. It was Kallu Hafiz’s studio that took my mind back to the home of Nabin Moira of Baghbazar, the creator of the Rosogolla (the sweet maker). His wife KshirodMoyee Devi wore a Baluchari sari as she supervised the sweet shop in their family house in Baghbazar – a splendid heritage building full of murals painted by Jamini Roy. The roof on the courtyard was collapsible so that they could use the court all the year round. It was the courtyard atmosphere that was created in Kallu Hafiz’s place. The drawing that Sunil Das had prepared was both magnificent and complex. There were several rows borders in between rows of horses, elephants, and typical Balucharikolkays (paisleys). The central area had women figures planting tobacco for this was to go up at the BAT headquarters in London. The base colours were pistachio green with pink, purple and cream. Each motif was outlined by gold threads, as was asked for by the client. The reverse was all gold like a Kingkhab. It took six months to prepare the frame to harness the yarn, which is what Nakshibandi does. There were three weavers who sat at the pit loom while two sat on the machaan above, to handle the yarns from the harness. Over two years they worked on the masterpiece that was unfortunately lost to India, because it was taken to the UK and my efforts to track the piece since then have failed.
Kallu Hafiz's lost piece
Later, when the Benarasi sari became an item of high-fashion in Bengal, ladies were caught in a bind: Baluchari or Benarasi as the wedding sari. For a long time, the Baluchari prevailed. Today, it gives me great joy to see the young wearing the Baluchari and even five star hotels having their hostesses dressed in them. It also pleases me no end to see a Kallu Hafiz revival Baluchari command a Rs 10 lakh price tag. That is when I see a bit of Kamala Devi Chattopadhyay’s enduring contribution to the heritage craft and perhaps a bit of me too.
On a revival mode
The regret is that we lost Kallu Hafiz’s original revival piece that should have been preserved in Bengal as a part of the state’s great Baluchari heritage and not lying in some unnoticed corridors of a corporate giant without anyone having a clue about its great cultural significance.
Beyond Blocks,
Issue #007, Winter, 2021 ISSN: 2581- 9410
For most people, the idea of hand-block printing in India evokes familiar images of colourful shrubs and meandering creepers. We have come to associate these with distinct schools of printing in the subcontinent. In recent years, this has to a large extent been dominated by, on the one hand the aesthetics of classical Mughal art-referenced motifs from Rajasthan and Gujarat; to some extent the geometric patterns of Ajrakh in Kutch; and on the other, the varied repertories of sacred and secular designs from the Kalamkari traditions of the Deccan and the south. Largely catering to the needs of apparel and home furnishings, Indian block printed has also informed the emergence of contemporary brands and companies which cater widely to the domestic and international markets. Seen largely for their role in producing functional products, the works we see here represent artistic practises which have attempted to use the medium and processes of block printing to emerge new forms beyond these. In doing so, they have found the need to extend the very definitions of block printing to embrace multitude meanings and employment of techniques in their making. As part of contemporary expression in textiles, they convey the diverse ways in which generations of artists, designers and textile makers have engaged with the medium. These works as well as the practises of their makers, may be seen as contributing to the shaping of new forms and aesthetics in post independence Indian textiles. Riten Mazumdar — Having studied art in Shanti Niketan in Bengal, Mazumdar belongs to an early generation of artists who received, simultaneously, training abroad. He initially worked with the iconic Swedish textile company Marimekko, known for their colourful and bold prints. Returning to India, he based himself in Delhi, where he went on to inform among the first collection of designs for bed and cushion covers for the nascent Fabindia, a well known Indian brand today, with hundreds of stores across the country and a presence globally. His graphic visual language, in stark combinations of white, natural, black and bright reds and yellows are synonymous with some of India’s most well known interior projects, whether for home, hotels or restaurants. Influential interior designers and architects commissioned him for their projects, and this network included Sri Lanka’s best known architect, the late Geoffrey Bawa. Combining block printing with free hand brush strokes, calligraphy, his distinct sensibility reflected in designs for garments as well as wall panels. In his later years, he retreated back to Shanti Niketan, continuing with his novel experiments, where upon his death his work remains as an archive in his home. In recent years, research and curatorial work has drawn attention to his career, and his work has been included in some seminal publications and exhibitions.
Vintage black and white photograph of wall hanging, Namdah (Felted wool), Riten Mozumdar, 1950s to 80s
Silk wall murals, Ashoka Restaurant Bangalore, Riten Mozumdar, 1972
Scarf, Block print and dye on cotton, 20.5 x 70.5 inches, Riten Mozumdar
Images courtesy - Heirs of Riten Mozumdar and Ushmita Sahu Collection - Heirs of Riten Mozumdar
Vishwakarma — Vishwakarma comprised a landmark central-government series of exhibitions and design projects between the early 1980s to the early 90s, which aimed at the regeneration of Indian traditional textiles for contemporary times. Presented abroad and in select India cities, they were enabled, largely, through the artists, designers and weavers at the Weavers Service Centres. These were a network of hand production and research organisations across the country set up to facilitate the revival of traditional Indian textiles. Some of their most memorable interventions were in the area of printing, both hand block and screen, and led the way for new directions in large-scale textile commissions. Many of those involved with these commissions went onto establish independent artistic practices and are well known names in the field of visual arts and textiles today. Through the following images and works, some of these are discussed. Tree of Life — Using an astonishing 1500 blocks as well as hand painting, this version of the classical Tree of Life Palampore - large textiles for furnishings made in the 18th century for the British and French markets — was created at the Weavers Service Centres in Hyderabad and Mumbai. Their teams stayed over several weeks in Polavaram near Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh, working closely with the Eswaradu family traditionally involved with printing in the region, to produce a palette of seventy two colours in nature dyes which were used in its production. Using designs and visual references from historical Palampores, nevertheless, its contemporariness lies in the ability of such Vishwakarma textiles to re introduce for a young generation of artists in the 80s and onwards, a robust play of flora and fauna which had been lost through the late colonial and immediate post independence period.
Installation view from the exhibition In Search of Five Directions : Textiles from the Vishwakarma Exhibitions, 2018, Silk, Dye-Painting (Kalamkari) and block-printing, 441 x 262 cms, 1981
Detail
Image Courtesy — The Devi Art Foundation Collection — National Handicrafts and Handlooms Museum
Bagru Print Directory — This directory of traditional motifs used in Bagh, a block printing centre close to Sanganer and Jaipur in Rajasthan, was created as a design reference for the tradition which was fledgling in the 70s and 80s. Conventionally, its patterns and colours represented castes and other social identities within the community which produced and wore them. Today, it is known for a distinct vocabulary of geometric patterns rendered in a monochromatic to small palette of colours.
Installation view from the exhibition In Search of Five Directions : Textiles from the Vishwakarma Exhibitions, 2018, Cotton, Block Printing 228 x 462 cms, Ramgulam Jugalkishore, Bagru, 1981
Detail
Images Courtesy — The Devi Art Foundation Collection — National Handicrafts and Handlooms Museum
Block-Printed Fabrics with Birds — This large scale textile was commissioned for one of the last Vishwakarma exhibitions, a tribute to the renowned Indian naturalist and ornithologist Salim Ali. The flying or stationery birds depicted here at first glance seem reminiscent of the depictions of fauna in traditional Indian, as well as colonial period Company paintings. But looking closer, these are fresh depictions rendered by the artists Nasir Khan and H A Jabbar at the Weavers’ Service Centre in Mumbai.
Installation view from the exhibition In Search of Five Directions : Textiles from the Vishwakarma Exhibitions, 2018, Silk Dupion, Block-Printing, 450 x 928 cms, 1991
Details
Details
Images Courtesy — The Devi Art Foundation Collection — National Handicrafts and Handlooms Museum
Prabhakar Barwe — Barwe was an artist with the Weavers Service Centre, and was among those who developed an independent artistic practise beyond textiles. Some of his most memorable works remain in textiles though, and these primarily use the techniques of hand painting and block printing. His work can be considered as part of a larger ecology of abstraction in Indian modern and visual arts, which alludes to a global vocabulary, and yet expresses an ethos of minimalism which has been a part of Indian historical arts and aesthetics for millenia.
Installation views from Astitva : The Essence of Prabhakar Barwe, a retrospective of the artist's work, curated by Jesal Thacker at the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi 2019.
Design for block-Untitled, Watercolour on Paper, 22.86 x 13.97 cms, Private Collection
All images courtesy — Bodhana Arts and Research Foundation
Residue — This 2-work installation by textile designer Sandeep Due was created in collaboration with block printer Mukesh P Prajapati for Fracture : Indian Textiles, New Conversations, an exhibition at the Devi Art Foundation in Gurgaon in 2015. In the process of block printing, impressions of the consecutive blocks used often create a printed texture on the base cloth over which the printing takes place. Here, these textures themselves are transformed into images depicting the urban environment of Gurgaon, where the designer’s studio is located within an industrial neighbourhood. Backlit, the negative spaces appear like the lights in a night-scape, using the medium of block printing to emerge a graphic artwork with a three dimensional quality.
Installation views, Cotton, Block printing, 484 x 106 inches each
Detail
Images and Collection — Devi Art Foundation
Pardeshi : The Turban Untied — For this installation, also commissioned for Fracture - Indian Textiles, New Conversations in 2015, graphic designer Ishan Khosla collaborated with Sandeep Kumar and Vinay Singh, to create a new set of blocks which subvert logos of prominent international fashion brands. Using them to simulate the effect of tie and dye stripes and printed motifs on cotton, men turbans which are called Safas, this work is a comment on the phenomena of the culture of fakes in street wear. As a designer interested in popular culture, Khosla has used such references to transform the use of a medium otherwise considered a part of classic designs and traditional motifs.
Installation view, Cotton, Block-Printing, 9 x 433 inches each, 2014
Images and Collection — Devi Art Foundation
Ajit Kumar Das — Das is a Kolakata-based artist and natural dye expert, and was also involved with the Weavers Service Centre and the Vishwakarma commissions. Like Barwe, he is also among those artists who forged an independent artistic practise of their own. In Das’ case, this represents an oeuvre of explorations in flora and fauna which have become his own. The block printed works featured here are from the 1980s, and represent his own experiments at the Weavers Service Centre in Ahmedabad. These show how he took from extant traditions of block printing in Ahmedabad called the Saudagiri Prints, to start slowly emerging a signature style of his own.
Bed sheet, Printed with naphthol dyes using solid-pattern blocks with the aid of paper stencils, 235 x 116 cms, Made in Ahmedabad, 1984
Bed sheet, Printed with naphthol dyes using solid-pattern blocks with the aid of paper stencils, 226 x 145 cms, Made in Ahmedabad, 1984
Stole, Block printed with natural dyes, 74 x 74 cms, Made in Ahmedabad, 1986
Stole, Block printed with natural dyes, 74 x 74 cms, Made in Ahmedabad, 1986
Beyond Global Report and Statistics, what do we do to support local creative industry?
The power of the creative industry has been much talked about globally over the last few decades with a show of promising statistics. Its possibility to generate high GDP and jobs has been underscored to encourage government investment in the sector. As the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world, its devastating impact on the creative sector is the hot subject of policy debate and analysis. However, many of these papers with macro-analysis do not always provide useful guidance for action. And yet, behind the abstract debate are the lives of many micro-small businesses and self-employed people struggling for better opportunities. United Nations General Assembly declared 2021 as the International Year of Creative Economy (https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/74/198), acknowledging the importance of supporting mass entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, to create new momentum for inclusive economic growth. Compared to three decades earlier when the Global North primarily debated the topic, today, more and more countries from the Global South have embraced the concept and led the discussion, exploring their creative economy model. So naturally, nurturing competent human resources to lead the cultural industry is one of the key tasks therein. The question, however, is how. The creative sector has its peculiar challenges that a standard approach for formal education and vocational training would probably be not conducive. Besides, the stakeholders’ profile also differs from one country to another. The existing pieces of literature and theories, largely based on the experience of the Global North, have not been of practical use in Southeast Asia. This short paper presents the UNESCO Jakarta Office’s experience and approach in nurturing creative youth hubs around the heritage sites in Indonesia since late 2017. What is the characteristic of the creative industry in Southeast Asia? It is first and foremost a vast arena with all types of sub-sector and communities. They are both in a rural and urban settings. They include heritage-based goods and services, such as hand weaving, batik-making and shadow puppets, as much as non-traditional activities such as rock-band, tourism, fashion, graphic design, to name a few. In Southeast Asia, food-related service often accounts for a large percentage of the creative industry. While some are big players (such as media houses, movie production companies, etc.), most of them are typically family-based cottage industries or individual-based micro enterprises, often in the informal economy. The educational background of the actors also varies. In the cities, some have a university degree. However, in rural areas or smaller towns, very few have higher education. How can we address human resource capacity-building in such a diverse, complex sector? A straight-jacketed one-fit-all training curriculum is certainly not the answer. In response, the UNESCO Jakarta Office began an experimental Kita Muda Kreatif (KMK - We, the Creative Youth) programme - to support young creative entrepreneurs living around famous heritage destinations to develop their business skills. The target beneficiaries are unregistered small businesses, typically unaccounted for in the Marco statistic. Our target would be to groom them to become registered businesses, thus recognizable and eligible for government support schemes, including grants, scholarships and invitations to the trade fairs The KMK programme offers various training topics, including basic financial literacy, business planning, market assessment, brand image development and use of social media for marketing, just as any other business training programme would. Sessions on local heritage are also on the menu to inspire their products and enhance their story-telling skills while raising the sense of social responsibility for heritage protection. The programme also provides opportunities for matchmaking between the youth and industrial players for possible collaboration. However, our approach would be unique because the KMK programme does not use any pre-designed curriculum or textbook, as would be the case of government-driven vocational training. After all, it is simply not possible to develop fixed modules for a group with such a wide variety of backgrounds. Instead, the programme has strived to create a pool of a wide range of experts and resource persons with their practical experience. They include, amongst others, master craft persons, anthropologists, historians, fashion designers, marketing firms, business advisors, videographers and social media to be deployed based on the need of the beneficiaries. The project at each site begins with the mapping of the target beneficiaries and their training need assessment. Then, the consultation process is repeated at the beginning of each project cycle to determine the training plan based on the learning progress of the beneficiaries. While the project currently operates in six different sites, each site has an individual training plan specifically catered to the local need. This bottom-up and flexible planning has allowed us to remain relevant while quickly responding to emerging needs, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, as soon as the public lock-down was announced in Indonesia in March 2020, the UNESCO project team immediately organized training on business crisis management. The team also introduced practical training to make a fashionable facemask and organize virtual market sales for the youth in the craft and fashion sectors to survive this difficult period. In addition, training on developing virtual tours and guiding visitors under the new health protocol was also devised for those working in the tourism sector, while the technical support to make a promotional video was given to those working in the performance sector to ensure their online presence. Another specific feature of the KMK programme is continuous mentorship and dialogues between the experts and the beneficiaries and peer-to-peer exchange amongst the beneficiaries. KMK programme would not stop at organizing just a series of training. Much effort is spent advising individual youth entrepreneurs in-between to track their progress and motivate them. A series of online courses and the WhatApp dialogue platform prevented the youth entrepreneurs from isolation during the lock-down. While it is premature to assess the project impact in just a few years, the UNESCO project team rejoices that out of our 400 youth beneficiaries, about 50% of them developed their branding material and company portfolio, ready for government business registration. About 30% of them developed new products or services. 24% of them even reported having increased their business turnover compared to previous years, and about 12% even hired new staff because their business expanded even during the pandemic. This encouraging figure supports that the KMK programme probably has the right approach for uplifting the micro-scale cultural industries, with bottom-up, flexible and continuous as the keywords. Notwithstanding the importance of global debate and macro-analysis, the KMK project team hopes for more tangible experience sharing amongst the field practitioners than generalized debates on the sector. The creative economy is not an abstract concept but about individual people striving to meet their end through ideas and skills. Therefore, the response from international development agencies cannot merely be a global report and statistics but concrete supports and solutions. This is even so now.
Wear Your Mask Campaign implemented in mid-2020 supported the youths in craft and fashion sectors to produce quality facemasks from traditional textiles, such as ulos, batik and lurik. The campaign involved technical trainings in product quality standard and lectures on the cultural background and philosophy of traditional textiles, thus encouraging youth to promote heritage even during the pandemic.
Government business permit is one important feature to support youth business sustainability. The KMK also facilitated youths to register their business through the government online system.
The KMK programme supports youth at the multiple levels
A junior high school graduate and a tour guide in Borobudur, Cempon Sebastian joined the KMK program in 2018. Over the course of three years, she opened a café in her village. She further started a new herbal drink business with her village folks during the pandemic to overcome the loss of tourism revenue. Her spirit did not go unnoticed. The Ministry of Tourism & Creative Economy invited her to join the Ministry’s team in developing new travel itineraries to promote Borobudur villages.
The KMK programme supported more than 200 youth entrepreneurs to develop brand identities to enhance their marketing. Hundreds of university students in marketing and design joined the process to support the process.
Note: Kita Muda Kreatif is a UNESCO-Citi programme supported by the Citi Foundation to nurture entrepreneurial capacity-building of youth working in the creative industry living around famous heritage destinations. The programme currently targets more than 400 youth in 6 sites, including Central Java, Yogyakarta, Kotatua Jakarta, Toba, Bali and Lombok. In 2022, the programme will further expand to more areas in Central Java including Solo, Sangiran and Semarang.
First Published in ASEAN magazine.
The power of the creative industry has been much talked about globally over the last few decades with a show of promising statistics. Its possibility to generate high GDP and jobs has been underscored to encourage government investment in the sector. As the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world, its devastating impact on the creative sector is the hot subject of policy debate and analysis. However, many of these papers with macro-analysis do not always provide useful guidance for action. And yet, behind the abstract debate are the lives of many micro-small businesses and self-employed people struggling for better opportunities. United Nations General Assembly declared 2021 as the International Year of Creative Economy (https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/74/198), acknowledging the importance of supporting mass entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, to create new momentum for inclusive economic growth. Compared to three decades earlier when the Global North primarily debated the topic, today, more and more countries from the Global South have embraced the concept and led the discussion, exploring their creative economy model. So naturally, nurturing competent human resources to lead the cultural industry is one of the key tasks therein. The question, however, is how. The creative sector has its peculiar challenges that a standard approach for formal education and vocational training would probably be not conducive. Besides, the stakeholders’ profile also differs from one country to another. The existing pieces of literature and theories, largely based on the experience of the Global North, have not been of practical use in Southeast Asia. This short paper presents the UNESCO Jakarta Office’s experience and approach in nurturing creative youth hubs around the heritage sites in Indonesia since late 2017. What is the characteristic of the creative industry in Southeast Asia? It is first and foremost a vast arena with all types of sub-sector and communities. They are both in a rural and urban settings. They include heritage-based goods and services, such as hand weaving, batik-making and shadow puppets, as much as non-traditional activities such as rock-band, tourism, fashion, graphic design, to name a few. In Southeast Asia, food-related service often accounts for a large percentage of the creative industry. While some are big players (such as media houses, movie production companies, etc.), most of them are typically family-based cottage industries or individual-based micro enterprises, often in the informal economy. The educational background of the actors also varies. In the cities, some have a university degree. However, in rural areas or smaller towns, very few have higher education. How can we address human resource capacity-building in such a diverse, complex sector? A straight-jacketed one-fit-all training curriculum is certainly not the answer. In response, the UNESCO Jakarta Office began an experimental Kita Muda Kreatif (KMK - We, the Creative Youth) programme - to support young creative entrepreneurs living around famous heritage destinations to develop their business skills. The target beneficiaries are unregistered small businesses, typically unaccounted for in the Marco statistic. Our target would be to groom them to become registered businesses, thus recognizable and eligible for government support schemes, including grants, scholarships and invitations to the trade fairs The KMK programme offers various training topics, including basic financial literacy, business planning, market assessment, brand image development and use of social media for marketing, just as any other business training programme would. Sessions on local heritage are also on the menu to inspire their products and enhance their story-telling skills while raising the sense of social responsibility for heritage protection. The programme also provides opportunities for matchmaking between the youth and industrial players for possible collaboration. However, our approach would be unique because the KMK programme does not use any pre-designed curriculum or textbook, as would be the case of government-driven vocational training. After all, it is simply not possible to develop fixed modules for a group with such a wide variety of backgrounds. Instead, the programme has strived to create a pool of a wide range of experts and resource persons with their practical experience. They include, amongst others, master craft persons, anthropologists, historians, fashion designers, marketing firms, business advisors, videographers and social media to be deployed based on the need of the beneficiaries. The project at each site begins with the mapping of the target beneficiaries and their training need assessment. Then, the consultation process is repeated at the beginning of each project cycle to determine the training plan based on the learning progress of the beneficiaries. While the project currently operates in six different sites, each site has an individual training plan specifically catered to the local need. This bottom-up and flexible planning has allowed us to remain relevant while quickly responding to emerging needs, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, as soon as the public lock-down was announced in Indonesia in March 2020, the UNESCO project team immediately organized training on business crisis management. The team also introduced practical training to make a fashionable facemask and organize virtual market sales for the youth in the craft and fashion sectors to survive this difficult period. In addition, training on developing virtual tours and guiding visitors under the new health protocol was also devised for those working in the tourism sector, while the technical support to make a promotional video was given to those working in the performance sector to ensure their online presence. Another specific feature of the KMK programme is continuous mentorship and dialogues between the experts and the beneficiaries and peer-to-peer exchange amongst the beneficiaries. KMK programme would not stop at organizing just a series of training. Much effort is spent advising individual youth entrepreneurs in-between to track their progress and motivate them. A series of online courses and the WhatApp dialogue platform prevented the youth entrepreneurs from isolation during the lock-down. While it is premature to assess the project impact in just a few years, the UNESCO project team rejoices that out of our 400 youth beneficiaries, about 50% of them developed their branding material and company portfolio, ready for government business registration. About 30% of them developed new products or services. 24% of them even reported having increased their business turnover compared to previous years, and about 12% even hired new staff because their business expanded even during the pandemic. This encouraging figure supports that the KMK programme probably has the right approach for uplifting the micro-scale cultural industries, with bottom-up, flexible and continuous as the keywords. Notwithstanding the importance of global debate and macro-analysis, the KMK project team hopes for more tangible experience sharing amongst the field practitioners than generalized debates on the sector. The creative economy is not an abstract concept but about individual people striving to meet their end through ideas and skills. Therefore, the response from international development agencies cannot merely be a global report and statistics but concrete supports and solutions. This is even so now.
Wear Your Mask Campaign implemented in mid-2020 supported the youths in craft and fashion sectors to produce quality facemasks from traditional textiles, such as ulos, batik and lurik. The campaign involved technical trainings in product quality standard and lectures on the cultural background and philosophy of traditional textiles, thus encouraging youth to promote heritage even during the pandemic.
Government business permit is one important feature to support youth business sustainability. The KMK also facilitated youths to register their business through the government online system.
The KMK programme supports youth at the multiple levels
A junior high school graduate and a tour guide in Borobudur, Cempon Sebastian joined the KMK program in 2018. Over the course of three years, she opened a café in her village. She further started a new herbal drink business with her village folks during the pandemic to overcome the loss of tourism revenue. Her spirit did not go unnoticed. The Ministry of Tourism & Creative Economy invited her to join the Ministry’s team in developing new travel itineraries to promote Borobudur villages.
The KMK programme supported more than 200 youth entrepreneurs to develop brand identities to enhance their marketing. Hundreds of university students in marketing and design joined the process to support the process.
Note: Kita Muda Kreatif is a UNESCO-Citi programme supported by the Citi Foundation to nurture entrepreneurial capacity-building of youth working in the creative industry living around famous heritage destinations. The programme currently targets more than 400 youth in 6 sites, including Central Java, Yogyakarta, Kotatua Jakarta, Toba, Bali and Lombok. In 2022, the programme will further expand to more areas in Central Java including Solo, Sangiran and Semarang.
First Published in ASEAN magazine.
Bhotiya Carpets,
Introduction
Bhotiyas are a nomadic tribe that moves from place to place in Garhwal and three districts of Himalayan Uttar Pradesh - Uttarkashi, Chamoli and Pithoragarh.
Bhotiyas are a nomadic tribe that moves from place to place in Garhwal and three districts of Himalayan Uttar Pradesh - Uttarkashi, Chamoli and Pithoragarh.
It is noted that for nomads, floor is the most important place. It served as a sitting place and also a bed to sleep on. Man’s urge to beautify his surroundings was reflected in wall and floor paintings and was probably the main reason for development of floor coverings. All forms of present day floor coverings have had their origin in the humble dwellings of the nomads.
Amongst the Bhotiyas, the cold climate of the mountains is another factor that necessitated the used of carpets (Chottopadhaya,1965). For these mountain dwellers, carpet is the main form of furniture. They sleep on it, seat their guests on it and spread it out for ceremonies and feasts. The history of pile rugs and wool is like a legend with the Bhotiyas. Since time immemorial, they have been using wool and their life seemed to be revolving around it, so much so, that it has become deep rooted in many of their ritualistic practices.
It is reported that trade was the main source of income for Bhotiyas and links existed between Bhotiya and Tibetans across the mountains. The trade was chiefly in the hands of Bhotiyas, who alone were permitted to cross the frontier (The Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1908)
Long strips of woolen fabric are woven in variety of colours. The width of the woven strip is about 1.5 feet and length could be upto 20 feet. After weaving the strip, the central looped portion called garbha is woven.
The traditional Chhayara Dan from Harijan community
It is a simple looped uncut pile. For this, a bamboo stick called ringaal is passed through the woolen warp-shed. The height of the pile obtained is determined by the diameter of the ringaal. To create the pile, woolen hand-spun yarn is looped around the 0.5-2" thick stick. Beating is then done with wooden hammer and weft yarn laid. After removing the ringaal, again beating is done which raises the loops to the surface. The process continues till the required length is achieved (generally 3 feet) Edge binding is done by simple knotting.
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Caste distinction in Bhotiya community is reflected in this craft. The people of Harijan community made simple check patterns. They do not create elaborate designs which members of higher caste can use.
The metamorphic change from simple Chhayara Dan to hand-knotted carpets, still remains a mystery. The origin of hand-knotted carpets and transformation from loin-loom(pitha-chaan) to the vertical loom could neither be traced in books nor in conversation with the community but they were of the opinion that hand-knotted carpets were introduced around the turn of 20th century.
These carpet pieces were used as covers for cots, asans and saddle-rugs called Satan-Batan (Satan means hanging on sides and Batan means the seat).
With the Chinese invasion, the traditional trade between Bhotiyas and Tibetans came to a halt. The economy of the Bhotiya people
based upon trade with Tibetans through rearing of a large number of animals like sheep, goats, jibbers, ponies and mules staggered under this blow (shashi, 1979).To make the two ends meet, Bhotiya weavers had to concentrate more on weaving punkhee, shawl and lava. The time taken to produce the above stated items was far less than required to produce a carpet. A rough estimate proved by a respondent at Bhimtalla shows that one carpet takes nearly one month to finish but in the same time period, around 15-16 lava could be produced. Hence, it was more profitable to produce these items than carpets.
Raw Material
The main raw materials required for carpet weaving are wool and cotton. Earlier, large amounts of wool were imported from Tibet. Wool obtained from locally reared sheep was also used but the quality of the local wool was inferior to that of Tibetan wool. It was coarse, thick and had short fibre length (1.5 -3.0"). Tibetan wool on the other hand was supple, lustrous and had long fibres (4-6").
Wool was brought from Tibet in form of balchas, each weighting upto 12-15 kg. Balcha had wool in sliver-like form wound around a rim to form a tyre-like structure that made opening of fibres easy and free form entanglements. The entire process was a five stage process involving opening and cleaning, washing, carding, spinning and dyeing.
Opening and Cleaning
Wool fibers were first separated by hand. Opening also helped in separating out the entangled twigs and other loosely held vegetable impurities. After opening, the fibres were laid on a flat surface and beaten with two wooden sticks. This removed the dirt and entangled burrs, straw and other vegetable impurities.
Washing
Cleaning was followed by scouring wool in boiling water. Reetha was added in water that acted as a surface active agent to remove grease from the fibres. Wool fibres were boiled for nearly one hour, thorough rinsing done and fibres dried in sun.
Carding
Fibers were then carded by means of big wooden combs called kangi. Carding removed entanglements and broken fibres form the lot. After carding, the web of parallel fibres was converted into balls ready for next processing step, spinning.
Spinning
Fibers were hand-spun generally by ladies of the household. Yarn was spun by using a spindle and whorl. Women did spinning while sitting, standing and even taking their sheep for grazing. Two ply yarn was prepared with little or no twist in individual yarn and stored in form of balls.
Dyeing
Both local wool and Tibetan wool provided a wide range of natural colours ranging from pearl white, fawn, camel brown, dark brown, grey and black. Many a times, natural wool colour is used as the field colour and for motifs.
When dyeing is to be done, the balls of wool are made into hanks. Later, these would be reconverted to balls. It was learnt that the art of dyeing with natural dyes is limited to a few people and is kept a secret by those who excel in the art. Dyes are obtained from tree barks, roots, fruit coverings, flowers and from other natural substances.
Acid dyes were introduced because the state Government placed restriction on plucking certain plants as they were medicinal plants e.g. Dolu.
Loom
Traditionally loin-loom was used for weaving Chhayara Dan. But when manufacture of hand-knotted carpets started, it lost its popularity. According to the Pradhan of Chhinka Village, the first vertical loom developed for carpet weaving was called Dan Raanchh or Khadda. He described the loom as a 4'x4' structure consisting of 2 vertical beams, kharha balli. The beams are mounted on 2 flat rectangular 
wooden platform for balance and support. Another wooden rod called fatti is used at the base for extra support. There are 2 pairs of holes in the vertical beams to accommodate both the warp and the cloth beam. After placing the beams through their respective holes, they are tightened by means of screw. At one edge of the cloth beam is a small hole for an iron rod called Khunti. Khunti is used to rotate the cloth-beam for winding the carpet.
When Bhotiyas shifted their attention from carpet weaving to shawl weaving the vertical loom was simplified. The size of the simplified vertical loom is 4'x4'. It consists of a pair of uprights with 2 cross-bars. Cross-bar is about 5" wide and 1.5'' thick and 4-5" longer than the size of the frame. There are no extra pegs or beams for support or tensioning devices.
The loom rests against the wall while the weaver weaves the carpet. In case of simple loom, the woven carpet moves to the backside of the loom automatically when beating is done.
Weaving
Mainly two techniques of knotting are being employed by the weavers in Chamoli District viz. The hand knotting and using gauge rod of which hand knotting is an older technique. The knot used is Turkish knot which would indicate that the art of carpet weaving in Chamoli could be older than carpet weaving in Kashmir.
The second method i.e. knotting by the use of gauge rod was introduced by District Industries Centre around 1954.
Carpets produced by gauge-rod technique look neat and are commercially more acceptable. The gauge-rod technique produces carpets at a faster rate, the pile obtained is more uniform and reverse of the carpet does not show the rows of cotton weft insertions as they do in hand-knotted carpets.
The accessories required for weaving and finishing the carpet are:
Hand Knotting Technique
The technique employing Turkish knot is the traditional way of creating the pile. This technique has the advantage of using whatever colour as and when required as per the design specifications. Changing colours is easy and each product has its individuality and is a beauteous work of art.
Knotting With Gauge Rod Technique
In this technique, end binding and edge binding are similar to hand knotting technique. The difference lies only in the pile knotting technique.
Finishing The Carpet
In Bhotiya households, carpets are either used without any kind of finishing process or at the most a little shearing was done to level the pile. Shearing is done keeping the carpet flat on the ground.
Designing The Carpet Pattern
There is no written record of the technique to guide the weavers to make the designs on carpets. Unlike the Talim in Kashmir, Bhotiyas had no graphical or pictorial representation that would guide through the knotting process. It was probably because Bhotiyas produced carpets for personal use at a leisurely pace whereas in Kashmir, carpets being commercial products, emphasis was on both accuracy of the pattern and speed of execution.
In Bhotiya households ladies generally use old carpets to copy the design.
Colour
The colours used in Bhotiya carpets are generally bold and brilliant but always harmonious giving warmth to the surrounding. The ground color is generally dark and provide an ideal base for vibrantly coloured motifs. 
Traditionally, the ground color was either of natural colored fleece ie. dark brown (bhoora), black (tind), fawn (halka bhoora) and occasionally white(sheed) or dyed in dark colours like dark blue(neela), maroon(mahroon) and shades of brown were obtained.
The motifs were often worked out in bright combinations or monochromes and the outline sculpted in white or light colurs. The outline gave a 3-dimensional effect to the carpet. The popular colours for motifs in old pieces as observed were turquoise blue, sky blue(aasmani), red (mangd), yellow and shades of green.
Traditionally, carpets made for bride's trousseau often had yellow as one of the colours.
Motifs
The patterns used in Bhotiya carpets are often reminiscent of snow-capped mountains and surrounded by the sky and the brown and red earth with flowing waters. The entire surface is not coverd with designs but the design is worked into a smaller area and an impression of space is given. Quite often along with the border enclosing the four sides, three circular motifs are worked out in the central field. Sometimes a single pattern is woven in the centre of the field.
The designs woven in most of the carpets are essentially central Asian. The motifs are inspired by Mahayana Buddhist symbolism.
Swastika or Laabh Chinh or Shubh Chinh - It is the most common motif used . Swastika is considered auspicious by the Bhotiyas.
Double key meander design - Locally called Matu design. It is a popular motif.Traditionally, carpets made for bride's trousseau often hand yellow as one the colurs used.
A close study of old pieces reveals an influence of Tibetan motifs, motifs like Dug the dragon; Dak and Jira, the mythological birds and cloud and mountain motifs have been adopted from Tibetan iconography.
I. Border Designs
Border is one of the important element in Bhotiya carpets. It is often wide and can go upto 8" in width.
a) Swastikaor Laabh Chinhor Shubh Chinh - It is the most common motif used . Swastika is considered auspicious by the Bhotiyas.
b) Double key meander design - Locally called Matu design. It is a popular motif for narrow borders.
c) Changri motif - This important traditional design was used in combinations with other motifs.
d) Pearl border - Locally referred to as Moti border is either used as edging of main border or used exclusively as narrow border.
II Corner Desgins
Corner motifs were either geometrical or floral.
III. Central Field Designs
Central motifs are both floral and animal motifs.
1. Floral motifs -
a). Lotus - Locally referred to as Kamal is a popular motif used to represent the Brahma Kamal, a flower considered sacred by the Bhotiyas. Lotus flower is represented in both simple, geometrical and stylized forms.
b) Chameli - often used as a filler motif in the field.
Significance of The Carpets
On all auspicious occasions the Bhotiyas use wool in some form or the other. It was found that amongst the Bhotiyas it is imperative to give carpets to the bride in her trousseau as symbol of blessings for marital bliss. The number of carpets given to the bride depended on the financial status of the family.
The priest while chanting the vedic versus/hymns during the marriage ceremony sat on the asan provided by the bride's family. This was a small square piece (2'x 2') and was given as a gift to the priest.
Summary and Conclusion
Grandeur of the nostalgic Bhotiya carpets entices their beholders. The bright and brilliant colors of these flat woolen pieces add colour and warmth to the otherwise hard and challenging life of these mountain dwellers. For long Bhotiyas have led a somewhat isolated life due to the remoteness of area and poor means of communication.
The craft of carpet weaving has for long remained a household craft. It was little known to the outside people. But in recent years, this vocational craft has made its headway into the commercial market. Government and Government-aided Centres are trying their utmost to improve upon the quality and technique employed for weaving. D.I.C. introduced the faster gauge-rod technique and is also working on improving the quality of the product by giving good finishing to the carpets. The gauge-rod technique is now gaining popularity with the younger generation. However, the older people still refuse the technique of gauge-rod as they believe that the carpet produced would be less durable. New designs other than traditional designs are being used at different centres.
BHOTIYA CARPETS - New notes to an unsung legacy
| This monograph is part of the research done towards a MSc. Degree under the guidance of Mrs. Veena Kapur in the Department of Home Science, Delhi University. |
CARPETS
Carpet’s weaving is an art form surrounded with the aura of mystique. It has been romanticized to such and extent that it is difficult to separate fact from fancy, there are number of stories and legends associated with the birth of carpets. One such legend recorded in the rabbinical literature states, "When God appointed Soloman, King over every created thing. He gave him a carpet, sixty miles long and sixty miles wide, made of green silk interwoven with pure gold and ornamented with figured decorations and surrounded by four princes: Prince of men, prince of demons, lion the prince of animals, eagle the prince of birds, When Soloman sat upon the carpet, he was caught up by the wind and sailed through the air so quickly that he breakfasted at Damascus and supped in Media." (c.f. Chattopadhaya, 1969) The oldest example of carpets known as the Pazyryk carpet, was found in southern Siberia in the Atlai Mountain valley of pazyryk. The carpet is approximately 2,500 years old. According to Kamla Devi Chattopadhaya(1969), there seems to be little evidence to date the antiquity of carpets, especially in India. It is accepted that art of felting and later of embroidery preceded that of spinning and weaving. It is presumed that Patalika mentioned in the Pali literature as a floor-covering was a kind of carpet. In the later Buddhist literature of early Christian era, reference is made to Kachilindika, which is described as a soft stuff. There is a theory that this may be a Sanskritised form of Kalin, the Persian term for carpet. Hand-knotted carpets were probably initiated in India by Zain-ul-Abadin Shah, Akbar of Kashmir (A.D. 1425-75). He established the wool industry in India. Major breakthrough in carpet weaving came during the reign of Mugal Emperor, Akbar in 16th Century A.D. He provided boost to the industry by bringing some weavers from Persia to India and by setting up a Royal workshop. Carpet weaving flourished and important carpet weaving centres developed from Kashmir to Tanjore. In the year 1962, the flourishing trade between the Bhotiyas and Tibetans received a severe blow with Chinese invasion in Tibet. Both suffered severe economic crisis. Due to financial reasons, the craft of carpet weaving lagged behind as Bhotiya found weaving of punkhees, lava and other woolen items more remunerative. Significance of the Study Carpets in India have existed at two levels - the royal workshops and the abodes of the weavers. Bhotiyas, a nomadic tribe, produce carpets mainly for personal use. They have a distinctive style of weaving and designs used. But because of certain reasons, the art of carpet weaving could not flourish in the region. Consequently, the importance of Chamoli as an important weaving centre for carpets is not widely known. In recent years, Office of Development Commissioner (Handicrafts), Government of India, has opened a number of government and government-aided centers to help revive and encourage the craft of carpet weaving. Process and Material Required The history of carpet weaving in the region dates back to antiquity. It was learnt that till a century back, the only form of pile rugs known to Bhotiyas were Chhayara Dan. These 'woven carpets' were used as saddle rugs, asans and as bed mattresses to provide warmth and comfort. The sizes varied but the construction remained the same. Construction of Chhayara Dan
Long strips of woolen fabric are woven in variety of colours. The width of the woven strip is about 1.5 feet and length could be upto 20 feet. After weaving the strip, the central looped portion called garbha is woven.
The traditional Chhayara Dan from Harijan community
It is a simple looped uncut pile. For this, a bamboo stick called ringaal is passed through the woolen warp-shed. The height of the pile obtained is determined by the diameter of the ringaal. To create the pile, woolen hand-spun yarn is looped around the 0.5-2" thick stick. Beating is then done with wooden hammer and weft yarn laid. After removing the ringaal, again beating is done which raises the loops to the surface. The process continues till the required length is achieved (generally 3 feet) Edge binding is done by simple knotting.
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'Garbha' of Chhayara Dan being woven on loin loom (Source: Personal album of Principal, Govt. Inter College, Chhinka Village)
After finishing the garbha, the Dan is given an edging of previously woven woolen strips. Around this a 2" wide facing is hand sewn which apart from providing strength adds to the aesthetic appeal of the Dan. Chhayara Dan is also given a backing of white canvas to increase its serviceability.Caste distinction in Bhotiya community is reflected in this craft. The people of Harijan community made simple check patterns. They do not create elaborate designs which members of higher caste can use.
The metamorphic change from simple Chhayara Dan to hand-knotted carpets, still remains a mystery. The origin of hand-knotted carpets and transformation from loin-loom(pitha-chaan) to the vertical loom could neither be traced in books nor in conversation with the community but they were of the opinion that hand-knotted carpets were introduced around the turn of 20th century.
These carpet pieces were used as covers for cots, asans and saddle-rugs called Satan-Batan (Satan means hanging on sides and Batan means the seat).
With the Chinese invasion, the traditional trade between Bhotiyas and Tibetans came to a halt. The economy of the Bhotiya people based upon trade with Tibetans through rearing of a large number of animals like sheep, goats, jibbers, ponies and mules staggered under this blow (shashi, 1979).To make the two ends meet, Bhotiya weavers had to concentrate more on weaving punkhee, shawl and lava. The time taken to produce the above stated items was far less than required to produce a carpet. A rough estimate proved by a respondent at Bhimtalla shows that one carpet takes nearly one month to finish but in the same time period, around 15-16 lava could be produced. Hence, it was more profitable to produce these items than carpets.
Raw Material
The main raw materials required for carpet weaving are wool and cotton. Earlier, large amounts of wool were imported from Tibet. Wool obtained from locally reared sheep was also used but the quality of the local wool was inferior to that of Tibetan wool. It was coarse, thick and had short fibre length (1.5 -3.0"). Tibetan wool on the other hand was supple, lustrous and had long fibres (4-6").
Wool was brought from Tibet in form of balchas, each weighting upto 12-15 kg. Balcha had wool in sliver-like form wound around a rim to form a tyre-like structure that made opening of fibres easy and free form entanglements. The entire process was a five stage process involving opening and cleaning, washing, carding, spinning and dyeing.
Opening and Cleaning
Wool fibers were first separated by hand. Opening also helped in separating out the entangled twigs and other loosely held vegetable impurities. After opening, the fibres were laid on a flat surface and beaten with two wooden sticks. This removed the dirt and entangled burrs, straw and other vegetable impurities.
Washing
Cleaning was followed by scouring wool in boiling water. Reetha was added in water that acted as a surface active agent to remove grease from the fibres. Wool fibres were boiled for nearly one hour, thorough rinsing done and fibres dried in sun.
Carding
Fibers were then carded by means of big wooden combs called kangi. Carding removed entanglements and broken fibres form the lot. After carding, the web of parallel fibres was converted into balls ready for next processing step, spinning.
Spinning
Fibers were hand-spun generally by ladies of the household. Yarn was spun by using a spindle and whorl. Women did spinning while sitting, standing and even taking their sheep for grazing. Two ply yarn was prepared with little or no twist in individual yarn and stored in form of balls.
Dyeing
Both local wool and Tibetan wool provided a wide range of natural colours ranging from pearl white, fawn, camel brown, dark brown, grey and black. Many a times, natural wool colour is used as the field colour and for motifs.
When dyeing is to be done, the balls of wool are made into hanks. Later, these would be reconverted to balls. It was learnt that the art of dyeing with natural dyes is limited to a few people and is kept a secret by those who excel in the art. Dyes are obtained from tree barks, roots, fruit coverings, flowers and from other natural substances.
Acid dyes were introduced because the state Government placed restriction on plucking certain plants as they were medicinal plants e.g. Dolu.
Loom
Traditionally loin-loom was used for weaving Chhayara Dan. But when manufacture of hand-knotted carpets started, it lost its popularity. According to the Pradhan of Chhinka Village, the first vertical loom developed for carpet weaving was called Dan Raanchh or Khadda. He described the loom as a 4'x4' structure consisting of 2 vertical beams, kharha balli. The beams are mounted on 2 flat rectangular wooden platform for balance and support. Another wooden rod called fatti is used at the base for extra support. There are 2 pairs of holes in the vertical beams to accommodate both the warp and the cloth beam. After placing the beams through their respective holes, they are tightened by means of screw. At one edge of the cloth beam is a small hole for an iron rod called Khunti. Khunti is used to rotate the cloth-beam for winding the carpet.
When Bhotiyas shifted their attention from carpet weaving to shawl weaving the vertical loom was simplified. The size of the simplified vertical loom is 4'x4'. It consists of a pair of uprights with 2 cross-bars. Cross-bar is about 5" wide and 1.5'' thick and 4-5" longer than the size of the frame. There are no extra pegs or beams for support or tensioning devices.
The loom rests against the wall while the weaver weaves the carpet. In case of simple loom, the woven carpet moves to the backside of the loom automatically when beating is done.
Weaving
Mainly two techniques of knotting are being employed by the weavers in Chamoli District viz. The hand knotting and using gauge rod of which hand knotting is an older technique. The knot used is Turkish knot which would indicate that the art of carpet weaving in Chamoli could be older than carpet weaving in Kashmir.
The second method i.e. knotting by the use of gauge rod was introduced by District Industries Centre around 1954.
Carpets produced by gauge-rod technique look neat and are commercially more acceptable. The gauge-rod technique produces carpets at a faster rate, the pile obtained is more uniform and reverse of the carpet does not show the rows of cotton weft insertions as they do in hand-knotted carpets.
The accessories required for weaving and finishing the carpet are:
- Chhuri - Knife for cutting yarn after knotting.
- Panja - Fork-like wooden object for beating the pile and weft yarns.
- Kainchi - Scissors for leveling the pile on the loom.
- Chhatti - Gauge rod.
- Khurpa - Sickle shaped knife with sharp outer edge, used for slicing the knots in gauge rod Technique.
- Hathoda - Wooden hammer used for beating the pile & weft yarns especially in gauge rod method.
- Badi Kainchi - Big sized flat-blade scissors for shearing while finishing the carpet.
- Brush - Flat board of about 5x8" with a wooden handle on one edge and many short nails projecting from one side of the surface.It is used for teaseling while finishing the carpet.
Hand Knotting Technique
The technique employing Turkish knot is the traditional way of creating the pile. This technique has the advantage of using whatever colour as and when required as per the design specifications. Changing colours is easy and each product has its individuality and is a beauteous work of art.
Knotting With Gauge Rod Technique
In this technique, end binding and edge binding are similar to hand knotting technique. The difference lies only in the pile knotting technique.
Finishing The Carpet
In Bhotiya households, carpets are either used without any kind of finishing process or at the most a little shearing was done to level the pile. Shearing is done keeping the carpet flat on the ground.
Designing The Carpet Pattern
There is no written record of the technique to guide the weavers to make the designs on carpets. Unlike the Talim in Kashmir, Bhotiyas had no graphical or pictorial representation that would guide through the knotting process. It was probably because Bhotiyas produced carpets for personal use at a leisurely pace whereas in Kashmir, carpets being commercial products, emphasis was on both accuracy of the pattern and speed of execution.
In Bhotiya households ladies generally use old carpets to copy the design.
Colour
The colours used in Bhotiya carpets are generally bold and brilliant but always harmonious giving warmth to the surrounding. The ground color is generally dark and provide an ideal base for vibrantly coloured motifs. Traditionally, the ground color was either of natural colored fleece ie. dark brown (bhoora), black (tind), fawn (halka bhoora) and occasionally white(sheed) or dyed in dark colours like dark blue(neela), maroon(mahroon) and shades of brown were obtained.
The motifs were often worked out in bright combinations or monochromes and the outline sculpted in white or light colurs. The outline gave a 3-dimensional effect to the carpet. The popular colours for motifs in old pieces as observed were turquoise blue, sky blue(aasmani), red (mangd), yellow and shades of green.
Traditionally, carpets made for bride's trousseau often had yellow as one of the colours.
Motifs
The patterns used in Bhotiya carpets are often reminiscent of snow-capped mountains and surrounded by the sky and the brown and red earth with flowing waters. The entire surface is not coverd with designs but the design is worked into a smaller area and an impression of space is given. Quite often along with the border enclosing the four sides, three circular motifs are worked out in the central field. Sometimes a single pattern is woven in the centre of the field.
The designs woven in most of the carpets are essentially central Asian. The motifs are inspired by Mahayana Buddhist symbolism.
Swastika or Laabh Chinh or Shubh Chinh - It is the most common motif used . Swastika is considered auspicious by the Bhotiyas.
Double key meander design - Locally called Matu design. It is a popular motif.Traditionally, carpets made for bride's trousseau often hand yellow as one the colurs used.
A close study of old pieces reveals an influence of Tibetan motifs, motifs like Dug the dragon; Dak and Jira, the mythological birds and cloud and mountain motifs have been adopted from Tibetan iconography.
I. Border Designs
Border is one of the important element in Bhotiya carpets. It is often wide and can go upto 8" in width.
a) Swastikaor Laabh Chinhor Shubh Chinh - It is the most common motif used . Swastika is considered auspicious by the Bhotiyas.
b) Double key meander design - Locally called Matu design. It is a popular motif for narrow borders.
c) Changri motif - This important traditional design was used in combinations with other motifs.
d) Pearl border - Locally referred to as Moti border is either used as edging of main border or used exclusively as narrow border.
| BORDER DESIGNS | |
 'LAABH CHINH' |
 'LAABH CHINH'
|
'MOTI' or PEARL |
'MATU' or DOUBLE KEY MEANDER |
'MATU' or DOUBLE KEY MEANDER |
'KAAN' or EAR-LIKE DESIGN |
| VARIATIONS OF 'CHANGRI' | |
PHOOL CHANGRI |
MAKRAND CHANGRI |
GYANIG CHANGRI |
|
| OTHER COMMON BORDER DESIGNS | |
PHOOL - PATTI |
|
 |
|
III. Central Field Designs
Central motifs are both floral and animal motifs.
1. Floral motifs -
a). Lotus - Locally referred to as Kamal is a popular motif used to represent the Brahma Kamal, a flower considered sacred by the Bhotiyas. Lotus flower is represented in both simple, geometrical and stylized forms.
b) Chameli - often used as a filler motif in the field.
| 4-petalled lotus with Phool-Changni border | 8-petalled lotus with Phool-Changri border | 8-petalled lotus with Phool-Changri border | 12-petalled lotus |
| 12-petalled lotus carpet with unusual peacock border. | 12-petalled lotus with Phool-patti border |
- Animal motifs -
a) Dug, the dragon motif
b) Dakand Jira, mythical birds
c) Hiran, deer
d) Yak
Significance of The Carpets
On all auspicious occasions the Bhotiyas use wool in some form or the other. It was found that amongst the Bhotiyas it is imperative to give carpets to the bride in her trousseau as symbol of blessings for marital bliss. The number of carpets given to the bride depended on the financial status of the family.
The priest while chanting the vedic versus/hymns during the marriage ceremony sat on the asan provided by the bride's family. This was a small square piece (2'x 2') and was given as a gift to the priest.
Summary and Conclusion
Grandeur of the nostalgic Bhotiya carpets entices their beholders. The bright and brilliant colors of these flat woolen pieces add colour and warmth to the otherwise hard and challenging life of these mountain dwellers. For long Bhotiyas have led a somewhat isolated life due to the remoteness of area and poor means of communication.
The craft of carpet weaving has for long remained a household craft. It was little known to the outside people. But in recent years, this vocational craft has made its headway into the commercial market. Government and Government-aided Centres are trying their utmost to improve upon the quality and technique employed for weaving. D.I.C. introduced the faster gauge-rod technique and is also working on improving the quality of the product by giving good finishing to the carpets. The gauge-rod technique is now gaining popularity with the younger generation. However, the older people still refuse the technique of gauge-rod as they believe that the carpet produced would be less durable. New designs other than traditional designs are being used at different centres.