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This is a student craft documentation underatken in partial fulfiliment of the Bachelors of Design programmme in Fashion Communication at National Institute of Fashion Technology, Kolkata Documented by: Amrita Mitra Richa Parashar Risha Yadav R k Vishal Gourav Sanjana Shashi Shristi Kumari B.Des Fashion Communication(2015-2019) Mentor: Souvik Bose
Acknowledgemnet We would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to our professor Shouvik Bose , Shreenanada Patil who gave us this golden opportunity to do this wonderful craft visit which also helped us in doing lots of filed research , interaction with artisans and we came back to know so many new things about Jamdani, the heritage textile. We started with a blank slate. During our craft visit we get in touch with various people and institutions involved in the craft.Each person guided us and this way we gathered a wealth of information and understanding. We would like to thank Montu Sir ,who was kind enough to put us in touch with Weavers of Kalna, Samndargadh, Dhatrigram. We would like to thank our group members who helped each other in finishing this report within the time limit. Lastely we would like to thank our parents, friends and family for constantly supporting and encouraging us throughout the process.
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Preface Craft is innate to Indian culture. Jamdani craft study was done to understand the several aspects involved in the parctice.The study focuses on the authencity of Jamdani textile, it’s technique., varities of products, developmnet, history, challenges faced by the artisans, current postion in the market, government initatives and suggesting ways for the overall development and expansions of the craft in niche as well as international market. Further this reserach provide indepth knowledge about the craft and the people who all the dependent of Jamdani for their livelihood.
Content 1. Introduction 2. Historical Context of Jamdani 3. Area of Filed study -Kalna -Journey of the cluster 4. Area of study -Kalna -Introduction -Weaving tradition -Weaving Setup 5Jamdani indeginous to Kalna 6 Characterstics of jamdani 7 Jamdani- The heritage textile 8 How to identify jamdani 9 Weaver’s profile 10 Design language of Jamdani -Traditional -Contemporary -Motif
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6 Making of Jamdani -Sizing -Winding -Wraping and beaming -Drafting and Denting 12Initiatives taken from Government and other organizations. 9Market study -Local market -Domestic market -International and E-commerce Problems faced by craftsmen and weavers 11 Proposed Guidelines for Future Development 13Designers working with Benagl Jamdani 14Design Perspective on Jamdani 15Conclusion 16Glossary 17Works Cited
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A grand example comes from the Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore. In a famous poem titled „Banshi‟, Tagore writes this: এ গান যেখানন সত্য অনন্ত যগাধূলীলনে যসই খানন বহি চনল ধনলশ্বরী, ত্ীনর ত্মানলর ঘনছায়া আহিনানত্ যে আনছ অনক্ষা কনর, ত্ার রনন ঢাকাই শাহি, কানল হসিঁদরু। Where this song is true In the meadow of infinite dusk There Runs the Dhaleswari [river], On its banks are the dense shadow of tamals [tree]— And in the courtyard Who waits [for her beloved] Is wearing Dhakai Sharee and vermilion on the forehead.
Image 1. Hertiage Textile of Jamdani in the House of Mr. Nilkamal
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Introduction Weaving is thriving today due to the fabric’s popularity for making saris, the principal dress of Indian women at home. The Jamdani sari is a symbol of identity, dignity and self-recognition and provides wearers with a sense of cultural identity and social cohesion. Jamdani is a vividly patterned, sheer cotton fabric, traditionally woven on a handloom by craftspeople and apprentices. The weavers develop an occupational identity and take great pride in their heritage; they enjoy social recognition and are highly respected for their skills. However only a few master weavers are recognized as bearers of the traditional Jamdani motifs and weaving techniques, and transmit the knowledge and skills to disciples. However, Jamdani weaving is principally transmitted by parents to children in home workshops. A strong sense of unity, identity and continuity.
Image 2. A weaver in process of making a jamdani saree
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Historical Context of Jamdani
The name Jamdani is of Persian origin and is strongly suggestive of Mughal influence. It is a compound word wherein “jam” means flower and “dani” means vase. The name is suggestive of the beautiful floral motifs that adorn these gorgeous sarees. The Bengali version of the name, Dhakai, comes from the place of its origin — Dhaka in Bangladesh. Interestingly, the earliest mention of Jamdani sarees can be found in Chanakya’s Arthashastra, dating back to the 3rd century BC. Though Jamdani has enjoyed immense popularity right from the beginning, the art form bloomed during the Mughal period. However, colonisation by the British saw a decline in the production of this fabric. Export of cheaper yarn from European countries in the 19th century was one of the primary reasons for the decline of Jamdani.
with the decline of Mughal rule in India, producers of Jamdani were deprived of their most influential patrons. Villages like Madhurapur and Jangalbadi, once famous for the intricate Jamdani industry, faded into oblivion. Post the partition, many weavers migrated to present day West Bengal, and that marked the beginning of the art form in India.
Image 3.Cutwork Jamdani sarees in display in showrooms
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Area of Field study in Kalna The Kalna c;uster holds a significant place in the Bengal handloom industry. The weaving community is largerly concentrated in Dhatrigram, Samundragadh and Kalna regin of Burdwan. We took a private bus along with our Prof Shouvik Bose from our college campus and we arrived at Kalna after completing a journey of 420km in 5 hours. Even during the journey we catch a glimpse of small houses with a loom outside.When we went deeperer into Klana we got to see a lot of it. In Kalna Montu sir joined us who had very clear aidea about the local market and weavers. During our first day we went to join a small diiscussuion in Kalna about weavers conditions followwed by visiting weavers and their family We made a visit to the Weavers Service Centers, NGO’s , small co-operative society. At the end we did local market survey and got to see beautiful traditional Jamdani Saares.
KALNA, a subdivision in West Bengal’s Bardhaman district, is known for its temples and hand-woven saris, particularly the jamdani weave. However, over the years, the delicate art of making jamdani with homespun yarn has practically disappeared, with mill-made yarn replacing khadi. Handloom purists can easily discern the difference between a traditional handwoven fabric and a mill-made one by the texture of the fabric. Much as anyone would want to possess the whole six yards of khadi jamdani, producing an authentic jamdani with traditional motifs is time consuming.
Image 4. Local market survey in Kalna Local Market
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Geography Kalna is a small township located in Burdwan about 400kms northwest of Kolkata. The Kalna Subdivision consists of Kalna municapility and five community developlment blocks. The five blocks consists of 47 gram panchayats.
Agriculture Kalna being located in the agriculturally rich alluvial plain between Bhagirathi, Ajay and Damodar rivers, an agriculture based economy flourished here. There are several rice mills and cold storage here.After jamdani weaving agriculture is the main source of income.
Transportation Kalna has a well developed transportaton network. Th emain mode of local transport is cycle rickshaw and auto rickshaw.Th etown can be accesses by rail and road from Howrah towrads Katwa
Image 5. A Tourit map of Kalna
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Weaving tradition of Kalna Kalna as a handloom cluster is monstly known for its tangails and jamdani. However the number of weaving community had considerably reduced over the years. Rajib Debnath the son of master weaver, Jyotish Debnath says that in the old days one could have 20,000 to 30,000 weavres. Now weavers sre moving out in serach of better oppurtunities. In Kalna we can barely see any weaver weaving traditional Jamdani. Most of them ahs started weaving plain fabrics, tangails or cheaper immitations of the jamdani on jacquard or those where
In our search for authentic jamdani, we spoke to several entrepenuers working in the craft. Through the interaction with them we got to know that authencity of Jamdani is important. Craft Council of West Bengal is working in the revival of authentic traditional jamdani.
Image 6.A Female waever setting the handloom machine before weaving
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Weaving set up Our first stop in Klana was Tantubaya Samabaya Samity Ltd, A cooperative society for weaving affiliated with the Weavers Service Centre, Kolkata. What we got to see was number sof Jacquard looms. By the use of Jacquard it’s become easy to immitate the look of jamdani saare. The beauty of Jamdani is so oftern seen in the back with the rounded edges of the extra welft is completely lost.Even in terms of the materials, fabric construction, and the design.They take about two days to manufacture one sari as opposed to the time consuming and laborious process of weaving an aunthentic jamdani sari which take a month or two to weave depending on the intricacy of design
We got to see pit loom where the jamdani technique being practiced on the pit loom had extra weft was inserted after every two weft inserted of traditional one weft.
Image 7 and 8 Weavers at tantubya samabaya samiti taking about their problems that they face in the craft and how that can be solved
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Jamdani Indeginous to Kalna Traditionally base fabric for Jamdani is unbleached cotton yarn and the design is woven using bleached cotton yarns so that a light-and-dark effect is created. The process was extremely time consuming as it involves a tedious form of hand looming. With the latter, the base sheer material is made on which thicker threads on used to create designs Each of the supplementary weft motif is then added manually by interlacing the weft threads with fine bamboo sticks using individual spools. This process results in the vibrant patterns that appear to float on a shimmering surface, which is a feature unique to traditonal Kalna Jamdani sarees and its nearby area.
Image 9. A completely hand done Jamdani saree
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Characterstics of Jamdani •One of the most laborious forms of handloom weaves, it’s no surprise that it is considered to be one of the most prized fabrics in the world. •Jamdani weaving is time-consuming and labour-intensive because of the richness of its motifs, which are created directly on the loom using the discontinuous weft technique. •Threads of gold and silver are usually woven together with these sarees to create a variety of patterns and motifs on a brocade loom. •It has the supplementary weft technique along with the standard weft technique. The standard weft creates a fine, sheer fabric while the supplementary weft with thicker threads adds the intricate patterns to it. Each of the supplementary weft motif is manually added by interlacing the weft threads with fine bamboo sticks using individual spools. It gives an illusion of the designs floating on a shimmering surface, a characteristic of Jamdani weaves.
•Two current favourites in Jamdani saree are the self-coloured style where the work is in the same colour as the base fabric and the half and half style where the inner and outer halves of the saree are in complementary colours. •The designs and colors also changed with time. Originally, the motifs used to be made on grey fabric. Later on, fabrics of other colours were also used. In the 1960s, Jamdani work on red fabric became very popular. •The most remarkable part of about the Jamdani weaving technique is that the motifs are not sketched or outlined on the fabric. Instead, they are drawn on a translucent graph paper and placed underneath the warp.
Image 10 and 11. A traditional Red and white Jamdani Saree A modern rendetion of jamdni saree done in a power loom
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Jamdani the heritage textile
The Jamdani sari is a symbol of identity, dignity and self-recognition and provides wearers with a sense of cultural identity and social cohesion. The weavers develop an occupational identity and take great pride in their heritage; they enjoy social recognition and are highly respected for their skills. A few master weavers are recognized as bearers of the traditional Jamdani motifs and weaving techniques, and transmit the knowledge and skills to disciples. However, Jamdani weaving is principally transmitted by parents to children in home workshops. Weavers together with spinners, dyers, loom-dressers and practitioners of a number of other supporting crafts form a closely knit community with a strong sense of unity, identity and continuity.
Jamdani textiles combine intricacy of design with muted or vibrant colours, and the finished garments are highly breathable. Jamdani is a time-consuming and labour-intensive form of weaving because of the richness of its motifs, which are created directly on the loom using the discontinuous weft technique.
Image 12. Hertiage Textile of Jamdani in the House of Mr. Nilkamal
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Identifying a Jamdani saree •Jamdani sarees are made of high quality cotton muslin, which is very thin and soft, making the saree very light and airy. •Jamdani sarees are characterised by eye-catching ornamental motifs woven onto the fabric. These intricate motifs in thicker thread seem to float on the surface of the ultra-fine fabric. •Floral motifs are almost always present on Jamdani sarees. You’ll find paisleys, diamond shapes as well as lotus, lamp, fish etc depending on where the saree is manufactured. •A genuine Jamdani saree will not cost less than Rs.2500 Image 13 and 14 .A Jamdani saree in its making Motifs identified in a jamdani saree
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Weaver’s Profile Mampi Mitra, 38years Works at Jyotish Debnath’s sampling karkhana in Kalna. She learnt weaving as a mean of livelihood as her family’s income was not enough. The products she weaves is the jamdani odhna. She mostly works with 100s and 200s count cotton khadi.She weaves around 2.5 meters of jamdani in 20 days for which she is paid Rs 3000/-. Her working timing 7:30 am to 7:00 pm.She lives nearby and has a 14 years daughter and 10 years old son.
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Gour Roy,45 years Works at Jyotish Debnath’s sampling Karkhana in Kalna. He has been weaving jamdani since he was 15 years old.He gained the skill from his Guru, Madhu Karmakar. He used to weave 100s count Tangali until he joined Jyotish da at the age of 20. He is also a part time electrician. He repairs fans and lights, changes coils and paints fans. He is paid Rs 100/- for an hour, whereas he gets Rs 3000/- to weave 2.5meters of intricate jamdani, which takes about a month to weave. He says he has faced no physical difficulties in his career. He keep taking short breaks between work to move around and changes his posture from time to time.
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Jamdani motif and its impact Aesthetic, graceful woven design and extraordinary craftsmanship of Jamdani art is an example of our glorious handloom tradition. George Watt has assumed and mentioned in his book Indian art at Delhi that Jamdani design has been borrowed from Persian tradition. Surprisingly the Jamdani weavers also assumed that the design of Jamdani had been influenced by Kingkhab woven design of Persia; because of the colour combination was moderated and charming. The age-old artifact of Jamdani which had been collected by individuals or preserved in world’s famous museums is the certificate of world class craftsmanship in the woven history. Jamdani motif is very popular because of its modified ornamented use, for instance, in shatranji, block print, leather art and jewellery design. Jamdani art is unparalleled because of two reasons. Firstly, it has sequence in geometric pattern, which has been influenced by Persian art.
Secondly, it has motif which is entwined with the fabric. The weaving technique of Jamdani Motif is both extraordinary and complex at the same time. It can be said that this craft of Jamdani is totally memory dependent in weaving method. And the master weavers pass on the techniques of geometric designs to their pupils through hereditary lineage; which remains stored in their memory. Though these motifs seem to be abstract, these are directly related to nature and these are the geometric representations of flowers, leaves and creepers, animals and birds. For instance, if floral motifs are spread on the body of the cloth, then it is called Tesri and the connection of motifs is called Jaal.
Image 17 and 18. Motifs on a jamdani saree
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The motifs are influenced by the creative minds of the Taantis (weavers). So, the names of motifs vary in accordance with weavers. Observing the sales of Jamdani in the market for the last 30 years, it is seen that there is a tendency of terming any new motif woven by Jamdani weavers as ‘Jamdani motif’. We identify the alphabets of any language in the world by comprehending their structural characteristics. Like that, Jamdani is glorious in its own aesthetic symmetry. For its use and application, the Taanti community, the designers and the entrepreneurs should be intimate. By making the Jamdani weavers implement any particular motif on Jamdani fabric, one cannot term that piece of clothing as ‘Jamdani’. And it would have to face questions on the edge of the age. In the present time, it has become most essential for the customers and retailers to be aware of patronage for the art of Jamdani, even though it is highly important for the Taantis to cooperate.
The preservation of Jamdani motifs, its characteristic features, its its formations, sequence of evolution, originality and intimate patronage have become extremely significant for its existence. When a traditional and cultural issue remains neglected and ignored for a long time and used for alternating trend, then the traditional and cultural motif loses its authenticity. Jamdani’s own characteristics and originality are now in danger. We should be very careful. The uniqueness of Jamdani should not be meddled only for emotional indecision. Jamdani shall live long in the weaving history of the world that dates back to a thousand years. As the heirs, we have to hold on to it for the endurance of our tradition.
Image 19. Motifs on a jamdani saree’s pallu
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Traditional design Language Pattern Layout
Persian influence The patterns and motifsar floral and geometric and believed to have strong Persian influence. It is said that Mohammad bin Tughluq brought in number sof weavers to work with their indeginious counterparts. The Mugals further strengthened the interaction under whom muslins and jamdanis reached unprecedented standards of excellence. The outstanding features of jamdani is its remarkable range of patterns executed with extreme delicacy and dexterity. The unique geometric representations of flowers, plants, leaves and creepers have been skillfully adapted to the weave of the fabric.
Individual floral motifs over the surface are called butidar. In butidar layouts the forms are not connected. The floral sprays when arranged diagonally are called terchi. When the motifs create a network of pattern covering the entire ground they are referred to as Jaal
Color Traditionally , jamdani was used to be in white, off white or grey in color.The design appeared like a shadow on the muslin.Simple palettes based on natural color of fibres were used. Colors like red, blue against a white or natural colors were used.Nowadays, jamdani of all colors are available.
Image 20 and 21.Hertiage Textile of Jamdani in the House of Mr. Nilkamal
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Traditional Motifs Over the years jamdani designs have taken on the indigenous names drawn from the images surrounding the weavers world. The motifs reflect their own depiction and representation from their environment, especially plants: petals, buds, flowers and creepers. The border designs is equally rich, with some of the forward ones being inchi, angurlata, shaal, peacock, rose, grass, scissors .Variations of the cone were used to great effect as corner motifs.
Motif Vocabulary Jamdani has intricate motifs and designs. Some of them are traditional while others are contemporary.The entire design language has evolved from simple lines and dots to rich textile expression. The construction, color variations, texturing in the jamdani extra weave, scale, different counts and different formats and repeats as well as space segregation.
Image 22 .Hertiage Textile of Jamdani in the House of Mr. Nilkamal
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Contemporaray Design Language Jamdani has immense potential to expand and transform it’s identity even with slight,seemingly insignificant changes. Nowadays majority of the fabrics used in weaving has newer and more modern designs and products not only in the regard to the colors and patterning but also in terms of tiny details within the products. The main products that seems to stand out is stoles where a new design language has been created. While traditional formats such as butidar which are most popular in stoles are still prevalent. One that prominently stood out is large scale patterning through the centre of the stole.The fabrics are now more opaque than traditional muslin.
Image 23 and 24 .Different Jamdani scarfs and sarees at Weaver’s Handloom Soceity
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Wraping and Beaming
Process of making jamdani Sizing It can be done by machine or hand. Starch is used as sizing for cotton wrap yarns. The cooked rice is converted into starch strong enough to hold through the infinite movements that go into weaving the fabric. Tetul is added to protect insect from attacking the yarn. The whole yarn is made to absord the starch at least 25v times.
Winding The wrap yarn is wound onto bobbins for easy wrapping. The sized threads are put on the shipping wheel and transferred on to bobbins. Pirns is the tool on which the weft yarn is wound and then inserted into the shuttle. The yarn ha sto be guided properly into the pirns by the fingers abd thumb in the form of spirals from top to bottom and then reverse.
It is the preparation of the base thread that run along the length of fabric. The extent of wrap is decided depending on the quality of fabric to be woven. Wraping is done on the drumming machine. The process of transferring the warp sheets to the warp beam to mount on a loom is called beaming.
Drafting and Denting It is done to keep the wrap ends parallel to each other. Drafting includes passing each wrap ends in consecutive order through healed eyes which is mounted on a shaft according to a plan furnished by the designer. Denting is the process of drawing wrap ends through the dents of the reed.
image 25 and 26 A spinned thread yarn left for drying Weaving of jamdani sarees in process
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Weaving It is the interlacement of two set of yarns. Weaving consist of three primary motions: Shedding, picking and beating. Shedding is the process by which some of the wrap yarns are lifted in order to form the shed through which the weft passes. The process is known as “ jhaap tola� in Bengali. Picking is the process by which the weft is inserted in the fly shuttle pit loom that is used for weaving jamdani. Beating is the process by which the inserted weft is pushed into place in the already woven fabric. Beating is the process by which the inserted weft is pushed into place in the already woven fabric.
Jamdani as a patterning technique is constantly evolving .It is a major shift from the earlier aesthetic. We see motifs such as dogs, musical notes, elephants, and so on. Basically, jamdani is viewed more as a technique than an aesthetic and used to draw anything and everything.
Image 27 and 28 Weaving of jamdaani sare in process Spinning of threads in process
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Government Initiatives Biswa Bangla An enterprise working toward the development of the crafts community of West Bengal is the Department of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Textiles.The aim is to encourage innovation, provide design aesthetic , open direct sale points and improve quality and supply chain. It fouses on back to end interventions to develop new products. They have launched ‘mProject Muslin’ which aims at reviving the muslin industry and ensuring that artisans get good return and appreciation.
Tantuja Initiative by the West Bengal State Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society Limited is Tantuja to save the weavers from economic hardship and exploitation. It is a wide store which carries a wide variety of handloom saris, shirts, dhotis and fabric.
It had both cut work imitataion saris as well as hand picked jamdani. Within them they had white on white and white base with colored motifs. The sare had the mark of hand picking however the pattern itself is woven with the help of jacquard. This is the third variety of jamdani saris.
Image 29. Biswa bangla, a state government organisation sporting an indigo blue jamdani saree
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Types of Jamdani Social , economical and political aspects played an important role in the identity of jamdani. The shift of population between east and west Bengal occurred at three junctures 1905, during first partition of Bengal. 1947, during independence with the formation of east Pakistan and West Bengal. 1971, with the transformation of East Pakistan into Bangladesh. Specially in market the constant overlaps between the Tangail and Dhakai jamdani. A salesman present to us a Tangail or the Kaata sari – a cheaper knock off of the jamdani.
Tangail imitates the extra weft loom embroidery but by greatly simplifying the technique , reducing labour and thereby reaching out to a larger customers. Over the years the extra weft element imitative of the imitative jamdani has been lost. Tangali has won over cotton and silk weavers by providing its own viability in terms of turnover, labour and markets. In retail market the sari that was being sold as a “Tangali” or a “Jamdani” is neither of the two but a mixed breed –giving rise to the name “Jangail jamdani”
Image 30 and 31 .Different Jamdani sarees at Weaver’s Handloom Soceity
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Pre- Loom Accessories Creel The creel is a large wooden frame with steel rods running through it. Creel is used for drumming to speed up the process of making a long and wide warp. The spool of yarn is divided into a number of reels which are then used for drumming.
Charkha
Swift
It consist of a wheel and a peg which are connected with a yarnso when the wheel is revolved the peg revolves as well. The bobbins is fixed onto the peg and yarn is winded onto if from a hank or creel of yarn.
The swift is used to mount the hank. It is a wheel like structure made of wood and yarn. The wheel has a central axis with six arms protruding on either side. The wooden planks have groves within which the swift is placed and secured. Bobbin and Pirn Bobbins come in two sizes. The larger
Spinning Wheel It is primarily used to spin cotton fibre into yarn. It can also be used as a charkha to wind bobbins.
Image 32 and 33 A Creel with thread loaded in it a female weaver spinning the threads
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Cuts and Uncuts Tangail sari is majorly woven in Kalna and popularly woven by women of West Bengal . Over the years several cross breeds have come up giving birth to different variations of the original. The authenticity has gotten lost somewhere. The feel of uncut jamdani is not to do with the technique only but the look, feel and touch as well.In uncut the beauty of handspun yarns can be seen which are interlaced together to make a fine fabric. The thousands of extra weft threads swaying around the fabric indicate the amount of intricacy and consequently time goes into making. Supplementary is the special features of jamdani. This is a supplementary weft technique of weaving, where the artistic motifs are produced by a non-structural weft, in addition to the standard weft that holds the warp threads together. . The standard weft creates a fine, sheer fabric while the supplementary weft with thicker threads adds the intricate patterns to it
However to cover a large market area the extra weft features is extincting. It’s a time consuming work which multiplies to the time and hence resulting in high cost of sari. Threads are being cut at each step of motif formation making it easier to manufacture it. This removal of flow of thread is causing remarkable changes in the authencity of jamdani. Also the pattern is not sketched or outlined on the fabric. Instead, it is drawn on a graph paper and placed underneath the warp. Needless to say, jamdani weaving is an extremely skillful, laborious and timeconsuming process and it could take anywhere from a month to a year to complete a saree.
Image 34 and 35. A uncut Jamdani and A cut jamdani
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Marketing Indian entrepreneurs keep pace with the new updates and participate in promotion and market exploring opportunities Historical influence on today’s market With the decline of the Mughal empire in the Indian sub-continent, Jamdani weavers lost their most influential patrons. This is considered to be the primary reason for the decline of this exquisite art form. The decline was accentuated with the subsequent import of lower quality and cheaper yarn from Europe. These issues have had repercussions in contemporary times as well. With the oldest generations of artisans unable to sustain their craft production, the younger generations did not have any training to fall back on.
Current market condition This remarkable piece of ancient knowledge and expertise was almost lost completely.
Today Jamdani fabric is mostly worn as a saree for formal/special occasions . At present, a major problem of the industry is that the weavers do not get adequate wages for their labour. A good piece of jamdani sari needs the labour of one to two months and the wage paid to the weavers does not compensate for their labour. The producers often do not have direct access to sari markets and because of their dependence on the middlemen, who often form informal cartels; they are deprived of their share of profit. Sometimes, the producers fail to recover the costs.
Image 36 and 37. The family of seven weaver brothers A local shop containing different types of sarees
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International market After meeting domestic demand, the Jamdani industry is supplying products to South Asia, Europe, Middle East and North America.Indian companies are using their branding and promotion strength to make money. However the artisans are only getting wages not the premium of the art they produce by their own hands. So, even though number of ‘Jamdani’ sarees sales is increasing that put little impact on the life of the artisans
E-commerce E commerce is a new platform and jamdani is trying to make an impact here. This could open new opportunities and scope of survival to this heritage textile. The mahajans are tying up with websites like Amazon and Flipkart for selling jamdani products online. Pricing of products depending upon intricacy of design, the fabric used, number of weavers involved in weaving the saree, time taken to make a saree, transport cost and other costs.
Domestic market Domestic market is still a major area of study. The prices in the stores are way different and the products are more expensive , this is because all the traditional sarees in the store are made using traditional technique of weaving where the entire saree is made by one to one weaving. The stores that make their sarees in powerlooms are way cheaper.
Image 38 and 39 Local market in samudragarh haat International market on the ramp
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For the development of JAMDANI -The supply chain of ‘Jamdani’ export should be in a transparent way. -More technical seminars, promotional fairs, fashion shows should be arranged where the entrepreneurs and weavers are given free access. -Modernize the design development process, conventional machineries should be upgraded keeping the originality of art intact. -Government should formulate appropriate rules and regulations to support this heritage. -Craftsman should be assured of basic needs and a better life at least for their next generation.
The heritage textileKeeping the authenticity intact. -Uniqueness – intricate designs -Constant scope for innovation -Adaptability -Rich comfort factor -Eco-friendliness -Consumer perception –Uniqueness in clothing and pride of being different than others -Multiple Handloom products with fusion of traditional and trendy designs are possible.
Image 40. A family (husband and wife) at work in bethua dohori (chandipur)
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Challenges and way outs for future marketing policy As Handloom industry is the biggest handicraft industry in our country, it is the second largest source of rural employment after agriculture .Although skills of our workers are up to the expectation level, they are lagging behind in capturing the modern technology due to lack of infrastructural support from the government. Immidately need to introduce modern technology with weavers. Due to low production, workers have low income. So, many of them are eyeing on other professional fields. In many clusters, only old age people do the Handloom weaving, young people are not taking weaving craft as their profession.Most of the weavers left their inherited profession as it became tough for them to earn a living.Declar some compensate from government to ensure weavers wages.
Training and skill development of the young and introducing them with modern designs can encourage joining the sector. Setting up of design development centre is urgently needed for producing new product and product diversification. Weavers need to be trained for better performance, innovation and technology to be provided for overall development of the sector in a design development institute.
Image 41. Dyeind and bleaching of colours in the threads
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Need to Integral effort to link the handlooms and its supply chain. Public or private authorities should come forward to make “Green Products” to claim special value addition and incentives for the products. Efforts are underway through close collaboration of public and private sectors toward product promotion, diversification and export marketing Integral effective research and development system is must for creating new international brands or reaching the existing local jamdani to the international area. Generally a large financial support with highly qualified engineers and extremely business experienced persons are required to run an industry which are absent in handloom industry. Hence naturally it is very unlikely to be able to arrange the financial support or manage the upper limit of loan for them. But some banks (such as Grameen Bank, Proshika etc.) offer small amount of loan for the changing of social view and developing micro finance indus
tries. By taking loan from these NGOs can help them to change their view of life and the national prospect By taking loan from these NGOs can help them to change their view of life and the national prospect Integrating and redefining of Jamdani industry is possible by separating Handicrafts from the “Textile Sector”. It will help to create a new branch of national trade as a unique business beside textile business, that‟s why at first EPB need to take steps by separating the handicraft exports from textile exports. Quality of raw materials to be ensured for product diversification.
Image 42 A Female trainee at the government training center
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Conclusion The whole field study gave us knowledge about the traditional design language and the contemporary design language of products being woven in Kalna. People like Jyotish Debnath towards the design language of Jamdani. However the deep understanding of jamdani weaving and patterning is still lacking among the majority of weavers and people who are involved with jamdani. Looms with jacquard and boddy acttachments are large in numbers in Kalna. The art of weaving and patterning has been changed along with the construction which questions about the authenticity of the craft.
Weavers are very open to new ideas and the number of products being finished is quite remarkable. However the weavers seemed unaware to a large extent of the integral role they are playing in retaining India’s diverse cultural and textile practices The business of Jamdani is now well established than before, there is still immense potential of growth. The legacy of authentic jamdani can totally transform the handloom industry .