Threads of Tradition: Exploring the Art of Jamdani Weaving

Jamdani represents one of the finest and most ancient methods of weaving, originating in the Bengal region of Eastern India. It is the amalgamation of Mughal designs, coming into prominence from that period, and a touch of non-Mughal traditions. It is as light as a feather with transparency, fine fabric and intricate motifs designed on it. Jamdani is a weaving method that uses fine cotton muslin, linen, or silk as the basis to create intricate flowers, geometric, and abstract designs. Jamdani weaving has been performed in the Bengal area. It is a handwoven technique that creates patterns of various colours and designs on cotton or silk sarees. In 2013, the traditional craft of Jamdani weaving was inscribed on the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

HISTORY

It is also believed that Jamdani has been derived from the two words ‘Jam’ and ‘Dani’, meaning flowers and vase. Thus, it means vase of flowers. It is a saree weaving technique, and usually the process is time-consuming. Jamdani also stands for muslin cloth. Historically, the muslin material has been mentioned in the infamous ‘Periplus of the Erythrean Sea’ and also in travellers’ accounts of the Arabs, Chinese and Romans.

Primarily the material originated in the capital of Bangladesh (the then undivided Bengal Province), Dhaka, and the famous town of Nayarganj in present-day Central Bangladesh. An Arab traveller from the ninth century named Sulaiman described cotton textiles from the state of Rahmi that were so delicate that they could fit under a signet ring. Numerous designs and colours were included in the cloth by Islamic influences during the 12th century. It transformed into a platform for captivating designs with the help of a single inlaid thread that was inserted sporadically onto the loom. The method produced textiles with a lot of motifs and lyrical titles like Baftnama, Ab-i-rawan, and Shabnam. Jamdani, or flowered muslin, was the most beautiful form of the craft during the time of Akbar, the Mughal emperor.

Handloom weaving had become a fine art in the 15th and 16th centuries. Later in the 17th century, this Jamdani fabric was also used for dresses.

TYPES OF JAMDANI SAREE

• Shantipur Jamdani: The off-white ground is smooth, transparent, and densely woven; the narrow border is compactly patterned and traps the vibrant colours inside a small mesh; the jalchuri, or thin white stripes over the border, are a hallmark of Shantipur that softens the change from the base to the border. The ankh end piece is solely marked with a combination of wide and narrow stripes. The cloth is soft, limp, and smooth. The bodies are adorned with what are known as Tangail-style butis or motifs in additional weft, in cotton, art silk, and even lurex, and they have given birth to a vast array of jacquard borders.

  

• Tangail Jamdani: Dhaka’s jamdani method, which contains additional weft embellishment on the second, third, and even fourth picks in the body as well as the end piece, has been grossly simplified. This was paired with additional warp designs, such as the lata-pata vine pattern, which most likely originated from the primary medium-count Tangail. On the dobby and jacquard, it eventually acquired all the Shantipuri evolutions.
• Dhonekali Jamdani: Nearly opaque off-white background with a simple, thin, 2.5-inch-wide coloured border highlighted by delicate stripes above. The final item has weft stripes. The borders’ hues include orange, green, violet, black, and red, among others. The borders are designed with a ragged-edged pattern. Occasionally, the border was extended to 6 or 8 inches. Vibrant, numerous colours were dyed on the base and were designed with a wide range of stripes and checks. The texture was compact, dobby and jacquard with the use of art silks and zari.

  

• Dhakai Jamdani: It has additional weft loom stitching at each border, end piece, and frequently body pick. About 80-200s of this type has been woven in Dhaka. In order to create the illusion of shadows on the ground, the best jamdani had an elevated reed or pick with white and organic cotton foundation with a yarn of slightly lower count or plied yarn for more weft. Sometimes the patterning was enhanced by the use of silk or gold and silver zari. The Neelambari, the most famous of the coloured jamdanis, had an indigo ground that was adorned with gold, silver, or red that shined out of the ground’s blackness.

PROCESS OF MAKING THE JAMDANI

The technique of making jamdani is complicating and elaborating but also advanced. Weaving a beautifully patterned jamdani might take anything from six months to a year.

• Earlier only natural colours were used to dye the threads. Aniline colours were gradually used by the weavers and dyers. Nowadays, the jamdani saree manufactured with vegetable dye is only produced upon request. The weavers are developing a new palette of hues using natural dyes such as pomegranate, sunflower, ratanjot, kattha, indigo, and onion skin. The Weaver’s Service Centre in Varanasi assists in the specific development of these natural colours.
• The warp thread has to be prepared next. A paste made of rice water starch softens and stiffens the coloured thread, making it simpler for the women to wound it onto the needles. In order to prevent the threads from withering up in the rising heat and becoming difficult to handle, this laborious task is completed early in the morning, between 4 and 9. Another employee receives the wound bobbins and gets the warp ready on a beam. The warp is then delivered to the weaver’s home and put up on a loom there.

• On paper, the designer creates the design, which the naqshaband then transfers to graph paper. When creating a jamdani, this is a crucial stage. Following the punching, the cards are placed on the loom’s jacquard.
• The most crucial aspect of this procedure is brocading, which is accomplished on the loom by weaving a special pencil shuttle or tiny needle, similar to a spool, in and out of the warp yarns in accordance with the pattern’s requirements. The process of weaving jamdani involves transfixing the motif thread between a variable number of warp threads according to the dimension of the design and tossing the shuttle through the standard weft. Every time a weft of warp thread goes through the warp, the weaver uses one or more of the needles to stitch down the design’s intersecting sections as needed. This process is done repeatedly to create more designs.
• The finished product is polished for glazing and removed off the loom. They are incorporated into the fabric using additional spools, whose threads are passed over and under the ornament as often as necessary to create the design.

MOTIFS

Depending on how they are made, jamdanis go by several names. The butis, small dots, or geometrical motifs scattered throughout the sari’s body serve as the basis for the designs, which are based on geometric patterns. White, maroon, black, green, gold, and silver are the most common backdrop colours for Jamdani saris. The sari is known as terchha when it is adorned in beautiful flower sprays with diagonal stripes.

The anchal is frequently embellished with jhalar, which are hanging corner motifs that resemble tassels. Depending on how they are made, jamdanis go by several names. The ground patterns of modern Jamdani saris include roses, lotuses, jasmine, banana bunches, ginger, and sago.

• Aribel: – creeper or climber; diagonally aligned running figures.
• Laharia: Lahar means wave; it is shaped like the sea’s waves.
• Harava: – Small flower-like patterns interspersed with straight or wave-like vertical lines.
• Kharibel: Horizontally positioned running figures.
• Saro: Stylised trees or vertical pillars.

  

• Konia: The lower part of the saree pallu or dupattas features an arrangement of kairi and petal designs.
• Chanda: Moon-like pattern
• Patri: Horizontal running figures.
• Jaldar: Net-like arrangement of ornamental motifs.
• Phuldar: The sari’s body is decorated with flowers.
• Buta: One decorative motif inside the fabric’s body.
• Fardibuti: Tiny, closely spaced dots.
• Masurbuti: Tiny ornamental elements around the shape of a Masur dal.
• Makkhibuti: Tiny, fly-sized dots.
• Shahibuta: One Sirki (little spindle) was used in the design.
• Jamewar: Cotton with an intricate all-over pattern.
• An arrangement of tiny leaves in the shape of a creeper is called an ishqapench.
• Chaukora: flowery arrangements around a moon-shaped motif in the middle.

THE CURRENT JAMDANI MARKETS

The figured muslins were traditionally seen to be the most costly products of the Dhaka looms due to their intricate patterns, according to John Forbes Watson‘s most valued study, Textile Manufactures and Costumes of the People of India. Over time, the patterns and hues also evolved. The designs were originally created on grey cloth. Eventually, different coloured textiles were also utilised. Jamdani embroidery on crimson silk gained immense popularity in the 1960s. There is a good collection of Jamdani pieces in white on white cloth at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Additionally, the production techniques have evolved. Recently, it has become popular to add “paars” or embroider jamdani on sarees. This tendency is strongly opposed by many traditionalists, who say it is ruining a tradition. There are six types of modern jamdani in terms of colour and design:

1.  Natural-colored, unbleached cotton grounds with added bleached white cotton work.
2.  White supplemental work on pastel-colored backgrounds.
3.  Dark-coloured bases with additional white threads.
4.  Any of the aforementioned pairings with additional zari threads included in the mixture
5.  Additional work on the dark grounds with zari.

In order to create the usual opaque design against a transparent material, the patterning is always white-on-white and knitted into thicker threads than the ground. The majority of Tanda Jamdani are now woven into yards or dupattas, while previously affluent widows and elderly ladies wore these kinds of saris.

CONCLUSION

Jamdani sarees, which combine exquisite workmanship with cultural narrative, are a monument to India’s rich textile tradition. Even though mass manufacturing and shifting fashion trends present difficulties, jamdani still has an importance in conventional as well as contemporary wardrobes. With rising demand in urban boutiques, internet marketplaces, and among conscientious buyers who appreciate handcrafted and traditional textiles, the Indian market for Jamdani sarees continues to be resilient and adaptable. The Jamdani weaving heritage may not only endure but flourish by encouraging fair trade, ecological methods, and artisan assistance, regaining its proper position as a representation of classic style and cultural esteem in India’s varied textile environment.

REFERENCE

• https://www.ijfmr.com/papers/2023/4/4778.pdf
• https://www.scribd.com/document/445912287/Jamdani-Saree
• https://content.patnawomenscollege.in/home-sci/JAMDANI%20SAREES.pdf