|
Rajasthan
has been associated with the production of colour fabrics in
the Maru-Gurjar tradition since ancient times. Both
men and women are fond of costumes, making events such as
the Pushkar or Beneshwar fairs a spectacular feast of
colours. Their sense of colour-aesthetics has led to the use
of colours and motifs intended for different occasions. For
example, the lehariya is a zigma pattern created in
the tie-dye process that is specially worn in the monsoons
while the phaganya odhni or mantle is intended for
the spring festival of Holi. There are regional variations
too: in western Rajasthan, Garasia women wear Garasion ki
phag, a veil with a yellow ground and red border, and a
large round in the centre. Mina women wear dhaniya
chunari while Gujar women prefer rati chunri, and
a Malan wears a ghaghara or skirt of asmani, dhani
and chakari farad or yardage.
Weaver, dyer, printer, block-maker: all the craftsmen
associated with the textile industry were, and are, highly
skilled and have been producing fabrics and embellishing it
for centuries.
Woollen fabrics have been made in north-western Rajasthan
since very old times. The industry arose as a result of poor
agricultural lands and a dependence on the rains, making
animal husbandry the main stay. The need to shear wool off
the skins of their camels, sheep and goats, led to a cottage
industry of spinning yarn on indigenous spinning wheels, a
job performed mostly by women. The woollen yarn was then
given to a weaver for weaving. The woven textile was dyed
and embroidered by the women.
The weaving communities consisted of the Kolis, Chamars
and Meghwals. The Jat and Bishnoi women were
highly proficient in embroidery on woollen fabrics which was
done in cross-stitch using multi-coloured threads. Two or
three pieces needed to be joined together to make odhanis.
The woollen ghaghara was of a special variety known as
dhabla which was unstitched and held together by twists
of a coloured woollen string. Men too used the same fabric
for garments to cover the lower half of their bodies while
blankets were to cover their torsos. |
