BANDHAPOETRY ON LOOM

What is Bandha?

• Bandha from Orissa is a type of ‘Ikat’ which stands apart not only in it’s unique designs but also the process, it’s expression

but the way it is summed up onto the loom.

• It is acknowledged for distinctively rendered curvilinear

motifs and relief texture due to supplementary warp and

weft weaves.

• The tying of threads for elaborate dyeing processes before

weaving, requires precision.

BANDHA SAARI, COTTON 55O cm X 118 cmBHUVANESHWAR

• The distinctive hand-woven textiles of Orissa in unusual patterns and vibrant colours have supported a thriving

cottage industry employing thousands.

• Orissa is famous for its silk Ikat weaves created by an intricate process called the "Bandha" in which warp and weft threads

are tie-dyed to produce the pattern on the loom while weaving.

• Typical design motifs include rows of birds and animals, fish, seashells, rudraksh beads and temple spires. While Sambalpur

is famous for its double-ikat textiles, Sonepur is known for its gold embroidered ones.

Development of Bandha Among the Communities

• In the Eastern region this art developed in Tigiria, Nupatna, Maniabadha and Badamba in Cuttack district.

• In the Western parts the art is limited to Bhulia and Kostha communities and they are settled in Balasore and Mayurbanj

districts.

• This art has again developed in certain villages like Barpalli, Remunda, Jhiliminda villages of old Bolangir districts.

THE TRIBAL PEOPLE FROM ORRISA INVOLVED IN THE BANDHA MAKING PROCESS

The Process

• In this method of textile process dyeing plays a very prominent role.

• The pattern is not formed by weaving together yarns of different color nor it is printed on the fabric : it is made

by dying the warp and weft threads before weaving.

• Following the precise plan, pieces of another material are tied hanks of yarn at certain points.

• This material absorbs dye stuff and is removed on completion of dyeing, leaving the yarn dyed only where it

is exposed to the dye-liquor.

1.A woman preparing indigo dye to be used2.Worker applying the dye before the weaving process3.Application of dye after the warp has beenset.

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1.Application of dye on tied warp2.Application of the dye3.Weaving process going on

HISTORY

• Traditionally the Ikat Saris have been produced in Orissa since time immemorial.

• The discovery of Ikat woven cloth found in a Pharaoh’s tomb pointing to 5,000-year-old trade connections with India.

• The Ikat tradition of Orissa is the intricate process of Tie and Dye.

Places and their speciality

• Sambalpur, Berhampur, Mayurbhanj and Nuapatna produce a striking range in tussar silk with a brilliance, glaze and texture

that is unmatched.

• The rare silk fabric produced at Nuapatna in Cuttack district embellished with verses from the Gitagovinda is used to dress

the idols at the Jagannath Temple.

• The masters are well versed with the centuries old art of silk worm cultivation and create silk ties, stoles, furnishings and

dress materials apart from saris.

The technique of single ikat is used predominately in the saktapar designs which is done in double ikat.

The two main bandha weaving clusters are Sambalpur in the west including Bargarh, Barpali and Sonepur; and

Nuptana in the east.

The weaversin the Sambalpur – Bargarh region belong to the Meher community and in Nupatana they belong

to the Patra communtiy.

MOTIFS

• Even the motifs such as the temple border, lotus, conch and wheel, signify the affinity with the reigning deity.

• The traditional Orissa Saris have undergone vast changes as weavers try to adapt the designs to popular taste.

• The bichitrapar and saktrapar saris are unique examples with motifs of duck, fish, lotus, creeper, elephant, lion, deer ; the kumbh, temple or serrated edge, and in fine white otline of

the ikat motif.

BOMKAI SARIS

• Orissa the Bomkai sari is named after the village where the craft is practiced.

• Using a time consuming weaving technique the field warp threads are cut and then retied to different colored warps to create the unusually large pallu.

• This technique is locally called muhajorhi (or pallu with joined threads).

• Some Bomkai saris have small fishes woven onto the border. Fish symbolizes prosperity and good health

• Bomkai saris feature thread work ornament borders and pallu.

• These saris are much in demand owing to their traditional look as well as their understated and elegant color palette.

The specimen of Bomkai Sari

The pallu of the sari contains motifs of the

wheel, fish, which symbolize prosperity.

Calligraphy Textiles/Phetas of Orissa

• Historical records available at the Jagannath Temple in Puri dating back to 1719 indicate that verses (shlokas) from the Geeta Govinda were woven into cloth donated to the temple.

• This unique Orissa tradition continues to this day with weavers from the Patra community in Nuapatna weaving these textiles.

CALLIGRAPHY ON THE SAARIS IN BANDHA

Sonepur saris are woven in mulberry and tussar silk with calligraphy and nagabandi, the coiled serpent motif.

Ceremonial cloth called Gitagobind pheta with calligraphic forms.

KORAPUT SARIS

• The tribal saris, scarves, and woven fabric lengths of the Koraput-Bastar region are woven in heavy count cotton ranging from 10 to 20.

• The weaver uses a three-shuttle interlock patterning, which makes available innumerable combinations in scale and volume.

• The characteristic natural dye coloring used is derived from the deep red aal or madder dye which is extracted from the root of the Indian Madder tree.

• The powerful and vibrant deep maroon that is obtained is often darkened to brown with the addition of harikari or sulphate of iron.

PICTORIAL SARIS

• Peculiar to Orissa are the pictorial saris that are woven for the rural market.

• Unappealing to their urban counter parts these saris are woven with architectural building patterns, religious temple outlines, landscapes and often objects that figure large in the mindscape of the weaver including aero planes.

PASAPALLI SARIS

• The Pasapalli Saris with its distinctive black-and-white squares is a replica of the chessboard.

• The earlier yarns of coarse cotton have been replaced with fine cotton, silks, tussar and a cotton-silk mix called ‘bapta’. Gold thread and tissues are also used to enhance the patterns.

Contemporary cotton yardage of ‘saktapar’ design woven in Sambalpur.Saktrapar refers to the board game chaupad, depicted with red and white squares with black outlines.

THANK YOUHANSIKA SHARMAVITIKA MEHTAMANINDER SINGHKUMAR SUBHASHISHMANISHA BHANMALAY BARGALI

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FASHION TECHNOLOGY, KANGRA