PATOLA WEAVING MASHRU WEAVING Production ... - cohands

PATOLA WEAVING
MASHRU WEAVING
Mashru fabrics are effectively teamed with embroidered cotton textiles to create the
festive apparel of the Rabaris of Kachchh.Seen on the left is a bridal ghagharo,or skirt.
Production Clusters
Patan district:
Patan
Products
Sari,Scarves
Border
Tools
Loom
Kamthi-bamboo
Poles
Tokaru-bamboo shed
pole
Vi-wooden sword or
beater
Katar-temple
Tor-Cloth beam
Nali-shuttle
Parita-yarn winder
Porcupine quills
Vessels for dyeing
Production Clusters
Patan district:Patan
Products
Stripes
Khajuria-chevron
Kankani-pattern of
dotted lines
Danedar-pattern with
floats of cotton weft
Khanjari-wavy lines
in ikat
Tools
Shaal-pit loom
Puchado -small
brushes
Shuttles,Yarn
winders
PATOLA,THE TEXTILES woven of
selectively dyed warp and weft threads
are characterized by their distinctive
geometric,floral and figurative double
ikat patterns.Of these,the textiles with
geometric patterns and tiger and
elephant motifs constituted a significant
luxury good that was exported to
southeast Asia,especially Indonesia,in
the 17th and 18th centuries.The floral
and geometric patterns were worn
largely by the Bohra community while
a patola sari with figures of danceing
women,elephants or parrots is
traditionally presented to pregnant
women during the srimant,the ritual
held during the seventh month of
pregnancy.The silk warp and weft
threads of the patola are tied separately
with cotton thread and then dipped in
coloured so that only the open threads
may absorb the dye.The area that have
been coloured are then tied and the
threads are immersed in the second
colour,so that once again only the
untied areas may be coloured.The
process is repeated depending upon the
number of colours desired and after all
the colours appear on both sides of
warp and weft the cotton threads are
loosened.The process of colouring the
threads itself takes nearly 75 days,even
with three craftsmen participating in the
activity.The weaving requires two
craftsmen to work simultaneously on
the same loom.At the most,10 inches of
cloth can be woven in a day and it takes
about 25 days to complete the weaving
and finishing of a sari.
Inset Detail of the double ikat
charactteristics of the patola textiles.
1. A craftsman at Patan
painstakingly straightening the
threads of a patola textile while it
is still on the loom.
2. Dyed blue except for the areas
that have been tied,these threads
shall now be retied and dyed in
another colour.
3. The border of a silk patola sari.
4. The border of a silk patola sari
patterned with the peacock and
elephant motifs.
THE TERM MASHRU refers to a
mixed fabric that was woven with
a silk warp and cotton weft textile
and was used by Muslim men who
were prohibited by a hadith,rule,to
wear pure silk fabric.As the silk
yarns were on the outer side while
the cotton yarns were worn close
to the body,these textiles were
considered dervied `lawful and
permitted by sacred law` or
mashru;this Arabic word therefore
came to be the name of the
textile.The satin weave used in the
fabric`s construction gives it a
luxurious sheen,an appearance
further augmented in textiles with
multicoloured stripes of ikat or tieresist-dyed
yarns.In addition to
being exported as a conveted item
of men`s clothing in Turkey and
the Middle East,mashru was also
used by the Folk communities of
Kachchh to stitch garments for
their dowry.Due to a decline in the
export market,the silk was soon
replaced by a cheaper
substitute,rayon.Although once

woven in many areas of the Indian
subcontinent,the tradition of
weaving mashru today survives
only in Patan,north Gujarat and
Mandvi in Kachchh district,both
places in needed of revitalization.