What’s in News:

• UNESCO released a list of 50 exclusive and iconic heritage textile crafts of India.

About

• The list describes the complicated and secret processes behind their making, mentions the causes for their dwindling popularity, and provides strategies for their preservation.
• According to UNESCO, one of the major challenges to the safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in South Asia is lack of proper inventory and documentation.
• The publication, which aims to bridge this gap, brings together years of research on the 50 selected textiles.

Some of the iconic handcrafted textiles documented are

• Khes from Panipat,
• Chamba rumals from Himachal Pradesh,
• Thigma or wool tie and dye from Ladakh
• Awadh Jamdani from Varanasi.
• Ilkal and Lambadi or Banjara embroidery from Karnataka,
• Sikalnayakanpet Kalamkari from Thanjavur
• Kunbi weaves from Goa,
• Mashru weaves and Patola from Gujarat,
• Himroo from Maharashtra
• Garad-Koirial from West Bengal
• Toda embroidery and Sungadi from Tamil Nadu
• Himroo weaves from Hyderabad
• Bandha tie and dye weaving from Sambalpur in Odisha

History of Indian textiles

• India has one of the finest textile traditions in the world with respect to dyeing, weaving and surface embellishment.
• The richness of its crafts is evident in the excavated findings of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro in the Indus Valley, which can be dated back to 5000 years.
• The journey of Indian artisans from royal patronage to a life of forced workers under the British rule was not a deterrent for the evolution of weaves and designs.
• The freedom movement under Gandhi’s leadership gave importance to hand spinning and hand weaving of Khadi and hence provided political, economic and moral arguments around cloth known as ‘swadeshi’.

Usage of  dyes

• India’s expertise in vegetable dye dates back to ancient times, as the remnants of madder-dyed fabrics, printed in gujarat were found in early egyptian excavations in Fostat.
• The Indian dyer’s expertise was known worldwide, for their mastery of the craft and their skill was unparalleled in colouring textiles using natural material.
• Apart from some literary sources, the visual evidence of expertise in dyeing is witnessed in the 6th or 7th century dated fresco paintings of Ajanta Caves of Aurangabad in Maharashtra. The exquisite and intricate resist dyed ikats and tie – dyed fabrics in the attires of people, as painted in the frescoes are evident of proficient dyeing skills of craftsmen.

Embroidery on textiles

• Bronze and copper awls excavated in Harappa confirm that embroidery was a practiced craft in ancient times. Though none of the embroidered samples exist from primitive times, travelogues of foreign visitors to India mention the prevalence of ornamented textiles in Indian kingdoms.
• Megasthenes, a Greek traveler during the Mauryan period in 4th century BC has referred to elaborate gold patterning on robes of royalty, possibly using embroidery as a technique for fabric decoration.
• Another traveler from the 13th century, Marco Polo has described the intricate embroidered textiles from eastern and Western India.
• The oldest existing embroidered pieces that are available for reference are from the 16th century AD, which include textiles exported to Europe or articles prepared for royalty.

Reference:

1. https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/unesco-launches-list-documenting-50-iconic-indian-heritage-textiles/article65950852.ece
2. http://cbseacademic.nic.in/web_material/Curriculum/Vocational/2015/Traditional_India_Textile_and_Basic_Pattern_Dev_XII/CBSE_Traditional_Indian_Textiles%20_XII.pdf