Pattu fabrics are classified into several different types, based on their region of origin and pattern of motifs and colours used. The simple pattu comprises a plain base in a neutral colour, with no motifs and adorned with only a border, and is commonly used for shawls for older men in the region. Traditionally, brightly coloured shawls are used by young men, and chequered patterns by the women. Some of the most widely used pattu patterns are hiravalli, which comprises a colourful triple line pattern, and chatri-kangsia, which features temple and pellet drum motifs and is also known as Kashida pattu because of the intricate Kashmiri embroidery it resembles. Others include bhojasari from Jaisalmer, featuring triangular motifs with horizontal stripes in the border; malani from Barmer, which is densely ornamented all over its surface and typically features a fish motif; and bardi and bakla, which have a chequered pattern. Lunkar pattu features a predominantly red body and is used exclusively to make smaller shawls for women.

Pattu weaving has seen changes over the last few decades, most significantly in the raw materials used: the locally collected raw wool has largely been replaced by machine-spun yarn brought in from cities in Rajasthan and northern India, and cotton yarn is also commonly used for its easy availability and versatility. Despite its cultural significance among the region’s communities, the craft has suffered on account of a general decline in the demand for traditional handlooms, coupled with increased competition from cheaper synthetic alternatives. This has led to pattu weavers and dyers to take up other occupations. At the time of writing, the Government of India has schemes in place to showcase pattu woven fabrics in exhibitions, trade fairs and other such platforms to generate interest in the larger urban and international markets. Today, apart from shawls, pattu woven fabrics are also used to create other products such as floor mats, bed and cushion covers, dupattas and bags.

The majority of silk production today is domesticated, with the above process taking place in highly controlled environments. However, the tussar and muga worms are wild and harvested in their natural habitat, often because it is not possible to domesticate the trees that they feed on.

For the production of domesticated silk — mainly from Bombyx mori, which feeds exclusively on the leaves of the mulberry plant — silkworms must be reared in large numbers, ensuring optimal living conditions and food; the larvae feed continuously on leaves until they moult and form cocoons. The completed cocoon is subjected to heat, killing the silkworm inside, in order to obtain an unbroken length of silk fibre. The fine filaments are unwound from several cocoons at once to be reeled together into a single strand, and many strands are twisted together to obtain silk yarn that is suitably thick. After this, the yarn or fabric may be boiled in a soap solution to remove the sericin — this step, known as degumming or silk scouring, smoothens the fibres and imparts lustre to the fabric. Silk that is not processed to remove sericin constitutes raw silk, and is coarser and less lustrous. The silkworm pupae are consumed as food in Northeast India and various East Asian countries.

An alternative method, in which the silkworms are not killed, is used to produce what is known as ahimsa silk, named after the ancient Indian principle of nonviolence. Here the silk is harvested after the metamorphosis is complete and the silk moth is allowed to leave the cocoon naturally. In this process, however, the silk filament is broken by the emerging moth, resulting in discontinuous fibres of varying lengths. These must be spun together rather than reeled, yielding a more irregularly textured fabric. Eri silk, white or terracotta in colour, is harvested in this way from the domesticated castor silkworm, Philosamia ricini.

Tussar, a variety of wild silk obtained from certain silkworms of the Antheraea genus native to China, India and Japan, constitutes the highest volume of non-mulberry silk in the world. Muga silk, known for its strength and golden yellow colour, is produced by Antheraea assamensis, belonging to the same genus and endemic to Assam. 

Silk production is known to have started in ancient China by the third millennium BCE, though recent research in neolithic Chinese burial sites has uncovered evidence of silk and basic weaving tools believed to be around 8500 years old. Culturally, the origins of silk have mythic associations. Chinese legend states that empress Leizu, wife of the Yellow Emperor, Huangdi, stumbled on the discovery of silk when she began to unravel a cocoon that had fallen into her teacup. She is said to have taught the art to the people, and is revered as the goddess of sericulture. For centuries, the art of sericulture was kept a closely guarded secret in China as silk remained a highly exclusive commodity, reserved for use in the royal court. It became an important industry during the Han dynasty, and the fabric started to be used as high-value currency within the kingdom, as well as imperial gifts that travelled as far as Egypt and Rome. By the first century BCE, it was a prized luxury good in the Roman empire, and eventually became one of China’s biggest exports, in an East–West transcontinental trade that gave the Silk Road its name. 

The knowledge of sericulture is thought to have reached India and Japan around the turn of the millennium and thereafter spread to Persia and Rome by the sixth century CE. India is believed to have imported mulberry silk from the east through present-day Assam, and from the west through present-day Uzbekistan and Pakistan. However, the origins of silk production in the Indian subcontinent are ambiguous, with evidence suggesting that production of wild silks such as tussar and eri was already underway in the second or third millennium BCE. Various references to silk (kausheya — and later, pat or patta — in Sanskrit) are found in early Indian literature. Ancient texts such as the Arthashastra and the Mahabharata, mention the term patrorna — variously understood to refer to indigenous Indian mulberry silk, non-mulberry silk of the subcontinent, or bleached white silk of undefined origin. Other texts such as the Amarakosha, Anuyogadvara Sutra and the Bhagavati Sutra reference different types of silk including tussar, eri and a golden silk that is likely to be muga. The mulberry silk of China appears in Indian texts as chinamshuka and chinampatta.

According to some scholars, Tibeto-Burman groups, most notably the Bodo people of Assam, are likely to have brought the knowledge of sericulture with them from China to northeastern India by the second century BCE. The Assam region is historically known for its silk production, and is referred to in the Ramayana as kosha-karanam-bhumi or ‘land of the cocoon-rearers’; the Bodos are referred to as kirata in Indian literature, a word that denotes silk trader. These tribes are traditionally associated with sericulture and silk weaving, specifically with indigenous eri and muga silks, produced in much smaller quantities than mulberry silk. In the medieval period, pat or patta, a variety of white Bombyx silk likely to have been introduced from Bengal, was patronised by the Ahom rulers of Assam (circa 1228–1894 CE). Textual evidence suggests the presence of mulberry sericulture in the Bengal and Kashmir regions by the late medieval period.

Silk in the Indian subcontinent is, and historically has been, a luxury good. With a demand for expensive fabric for imperial garments and ritual ceremonies, the first silk weaving centres were established in the larger cities and religious centres. Important brocade weaving centres developed in Varanasi, Gujarat, Delhi, Agra and Murshidabad, while Kashmir became an early centre of jamawar weaving, originally using silk, under the patronage of Mughal emperor Akbar. In the seventeenth century, Bengal emerged as an important centre for mulberry sericulture in the subcontinent. It exported silk to Europe through Dutch and British traders, and supplied to domestic markets such as Gujarat, which had previously relied on Chinese raw material for its woven silk goods. 

India is the second largest producer of silk in the world, after China. West Bengal remains one of the main producers of silk in India, alongside Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Jammu and Kashmir — together accounting for about 97 percent of the silk produced in the country. The Central Silk Board, instituted in 1948 under India’s Ministry of Textiles, is responsible for the promotion of mulberry and non-mulberry sericulture in the country. With new synthetic alternatives to silk available in the markets, such as rayon and art-silk, the Silk Board has introduced Silk Mark as a label of authenticity for pure silk products. 

The uses of silk, historically as well as now, go beyond clothing: apart from use of the fabric for upholstery and accessories like bags, silk fibres have been used as filling for comforters and cushions, and for the manufacture of bicycle tire tubes and parachutes. As a strong, biocompatible material, silk has been widely researched for its potential in surgery and medicine. Used for sutures since ancient times, silk is now being studied for its ability to be turned into gels, films, surgical scaffolds and other forms as a biomaterial. Silk is also produced by most spiders, as well as certain beetles, bees and ants. While spider silk is known for its extreme strength and flexibility, there are substantial challenges in harvesting it, severely limiting its commercial viability. Historically, the fibres have been used to make crosshairs in optical devices like telescopes, and for bandaging wounds because of its biocompatible and antiseptic properties. Recent research shows the potential of spider silk, used in combination with silkworm silk, in repairing nerve damage. Currently many attempts are underway to artificially synthesise fibres that mimic spider silk.

A type of sari made in Ilkal in Karnataka, India, woven in dyed silk and decorated with embroidery. Traditionally considered to be an essential part of a bride’s wardrobe, the Chandrakali sari is woven by the bride herself. The main body of the sari is dyed a deep black-blue, achieved by dipping the silk fibers in a vat of indigo multiple times; the borders and the pallu (end piece) are dyed crimson and decorated with mirrorwork and zari embroidery.

Deriving its name from the village of Bomokai in Odisha, the Bomkai sari is distinguished by the use of coarse cotton, bright colours, and high-contrast borders and pallus, which typically feature heavy motif-work inspired by natural elements. Although traditionally a non-ikat textile, modern iterations of the sari include designs of Odisha bandha, the traditional ikat weave of the state of Odisha.

The village of Bomokai is located in the Ganjam district of eastern Odisha and its proximity to the coast and distinct climate are likely to have influenced the use of heavy cotton in its textiles. Although the exact origins of the Bomkai weave remain undated, it was historically woven by the Patra and Nayak communities and its clientele comprised several of the region’s influential classes, including the Sadhaba mercantile community, local rulers and members of the aristocracy. Certain types of Bomkai saris also had religious significance and were used to dress deities or draped as hangings behind idols.

The Bomkai sari was traditionally woven using cotton, and occasionally silk, on a throw-shuttle pit loom and utilised the three-shuttle technique as well as a jaala attachment. The main field was commonly of black, red or white ground and included motifs such as buta, birds atop a tree, and, historically, even checks. The borders included supplementary warp patterns and panels of motifs such as dalimba (pomegranate) and saara (grain or seed). The pallu was characterised by the use of the muhajorha technique, in which the warp yarn of the main field is broken and tied to warp yarns of different colours in the end-piece. The end-piece further contained supplementary weft designs in contrasting colours, with motifs such as rui macchi (carp fish), koinchha (tortoise), kanthi phoola (small flower), mayura (peacock), karela (bitter gourd) and damru (an hourglass-shaped drum), among others.

Bomkai saris were traditionally dyed using colours derived from natural sources, such as myrobalan, lac and ochre. In the 1930s, with the introduction of synthetic dyes, the colour palette of the textile expanded. However, by the 1970s and early 1980s, the making of these saris had declined severely until special commissions for the Vishwakarma series and the Festival of India exhibitions helped revive the textile, expanding its production beyond the Ganjam region. At the time of writing, Bomkai textiles are also woven in the Cuttack and Angul districts of central Odisha, as well as the Sonepur (now Subarnapur)-Bargarh region in western Odisha, which is renowned for its cotton ikat-weaving. In these clusters, ikat is often combined with the solid-colour technique of the traditional Bomkai design and the newer textiles are woven using finer cotton and silks. The jacquard and dobby attachments are also used alongside the jaala in the production process.

With the expansion of production clusters, newer products in the Bomkai style have also been introduced, such as dress materials and furnishings in cotton and silk. In 2010, the Bomkai sari and its fabrics received a Geographical Indications tag. However, the number of textiles being produced has dwindled as weavers face challenges in accessing financial support and a steady supply of yarn.

Sacred geometric images found in Buddhist, Hindu and Jain art, mandalas are symmetrical circular forms that typically comprise a central deity surrounded by motifs and symbols. Often used by devotees as a meditation tool, a mandala is intended to function as a diagram or map of the central figure’s spiritual realm. When hung in temples or monasteries, mandalas are also thought to have a talismanic power, protecting the structure from destruction or deterioration by reinforcing the space spiritually. The structure of mandalas varies from one religious context to another, with the most elaborate and codified ones found in East Asian sects of Buddhism, particularly Tibetan, Pure Land and Shingon Buddhism. A mandala may be painted on paper or cloth such as in Thangka paintings, as well as drawn on ground with white and coloured threads or rice powders. In some instances, it may be fashioned in bronze, or rendered in stone, like it is at the Borobudur temple in Indonesia.

Depending on their definition, different scholars may trace the origins of the mandala to different points in south Asian history, with some suggesting that the Pashupati seal found at Mohenjo-Daro could be seen as a mandala, as it consists of a central deity surrounded by symbols from his realm. Similarly, a relief image in the Kanheri caves, dated to the sixth century CE, is considered a mandala because it appears to depict the Buddha surrounded by four identical others, possibly an early instance of the Five Tathagatas. It has also been posited that the circumambulation of stupas and certain Buddhist pilgrimage routes can be read as geographical mandalas through which devotees have to physically travel. Other scholars argue that it is only after Buddhist iconography developed enough for each Buddha and bodhisattva to have their own set of distinguishing symbols, that mandalas have been made as a spiritual template. It is generally accepted however, that the mandala was fully realised in its current form in Tibetan Buddhism by the eighth or ninth century. Thangkas from as early as the eleventh and twelfth centuries feature complex mandala diagrams and intricate mandalas are also present in the murals at early Tibetan sanctuaries and monasteries, such as Tabo, Alchi, Sakya and Gyantse.

Towards the end of the first millennium CE, a more elaborately structured Vajrayana Buddhist imagery developed in the eastern and northern Indian subcontinent under the rule of the Pala dynasty, particularly at the centres of Nalanda and Kurkihar. These were heavily influenced by Tantric symbolism, which was layered onto existing Buddhist iconography and adjusted to reflect core Buddhist principles and ways of envisioning the world. It is during this period that new, visually impactful ways of representing Buddhist figures and the cosmic order emerged. These primarily took the form of mandalas as well as the many-limbed and many-headed forms of bodhisattvas. Such visually potent imagery was meant to enhance the devotee’s meditation practice and provide a faster path to enlightenment. Notable mandalas established in India before the decline of Buddhism include the Ashta Maha-Bodhisattva mandala, which shows eight major bodhisattvas encircled around a large central Buddha, usually Sakyamuni or Vairochana; and the Dharmadhatu Vagishvara mandala, which features Hindu deities along its outer boundary acting as guardians.

Mandalas following Tibetan Buddhism are typically made as thangkas, or painted cloth scrolls, and also as sand paintings that are meant to be ritually erased. There are several types of mandalas, but most share a set of basic features. The mandala has an outermost ring of fire, which is meant to burn away the ignorance and spiritual barriers of the devotee. Optionally, and immediately inside or outside the ring are the eight charnel grounds, usually depicted as a landscape inhabited by yidams, fierce guardian deities who offer parts of corpses to animals, symbolising the surrender of the illusions of the material world, much the same ways as a human body is surrendered to nature in a sky burial. The ring of fire also encloses the square mandala palace, within which the mandala’s central deity or Buddha resides, surrounded by a small circle of other relevant figures, all facing the centre. The palace — drawn as though seen from above — takes the form of concentric squares, with a gate on each wall. The charnel grounds are absent in most mandalas, with the landscape being replaced by patterns of waves, and the general scene of pleasure and sacrifice being replaced by a few large yidams. In some cases, the charnel grounds are shown as a series of dynamic figures arranged in a circle along the ring of fire, with a motif dividing this into eight sections. In rare examples, such as the twelfth-century Nepalese Chakrasamvara Mandala thangka currently housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the full elaborate depiction of the charnel grounds is visible. The mandala is also at times envisioned as an architectural diagram showing the ground plan of a pyramidal structure — which is often interpreted as Mount Meru — with the central figure at the summit.

More formulaic mandalas also exist, such as Garbhadhatu or “womb realm” mandala and the more frequently occurring Vajradhatu mandala, which means “diamond or lightning realm”, both of which contain a large number of Buddhas and bodhisattvas, enclosing a central circle of the Five Tathagathas. With the exception of the central Tathagata, the Vajradhatu mandala is divided into four parts, each a different colour for the four secondary Tathagatas, and includes in its fullest form all the attendant bodhisattvas and minor figures associated with each Tathagatha in their respective quadrant. More rare types include the Dharmadhatu mandala, which forms the layout of the main temple at the Tabo monastery, and consists of a Vajradhatu mandala further surrounded by bhumi deities, who guide devotees through the ten-step path of a bodhisattva.

While Buddhist, Hindu and Jain mandalas vary in structure, their shared Tantric roots mean that they have a few key characteristics in common: they are all used as a focusing mechanism in meditation, they feature a central deity with whom the devotee aims to merge, and they are often made as cosmic maps (arranged according to the sect’s particular beliefs), with Mount Meru as the axis mundi of the universe. Hindu mandalas, known as yantras, are largely geometric and circular in their structure and rarely feature human forms. When they do, the design is seen as the central deity’s spiritual abode, and may feature both square and circular forms. Yantras are made on a variety of surfaces, both in places of worship as well as domestic spaces. Jain mandalas, historically painted on large wall hangings or in illustrated manuscripts, form a major part of the religion’s cosmology, usually depicting the Lokpurusha, the Adhaidvipa Pata, or the twenty-four tirthankara of Jainism. The body of the Lokpurusha, or the cosmic man, is shown segmented into the three realms of early Jainism: Urdhva Loka or the celestial realm, Madhya Loka, or Earth, and Adho Loka, the netherworld. Adhaidvipa Pata, or the map of “two and a half continents,” is arranged as concentric bands of land with rings of ocean between them. The central island is Jambudvipa, the land of the jambu or rose apple tree.

Mandalas have also found their way into alternative belief systems in the West, particularly New Age practices, with some — such as the Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung — suggesting that they may be psychological tools through which the conscious self tries to assemble and harmonise with the unconscious.

A deep red natural dye produced from the roots of the aal tree (Morinda citrifolia or Indian mulberry), aal dye is predominantly used by the Panika community of Bastar, Chhattisgarh and Kotpad, Odisha to dye textiles worn by the Panika, Gond, Muria and Maria communities of the region.

There is some evidence that the use of aal dye was widespread historically and that it was once exported to the Mediterranean region; textile fragments containing the dye, dating to the first millennium BCE, having been discovered on the shores of the Red Sea. However, textiles using this dye have not been sold on the general market in recent history.

The traditional method of preparing the dye begins with gathering the roots of an aal tree that is between three and four years old, since the roots of older trees lose their pigment. The thin roots are selected, dried, ground into powder at a mill and added to a vat of boiling water to prepare the dyebath. Prior to this, the yarns are prepared for dyeing over nearly two weeks by rinsing and repeatedly dipping them in pots of water mixed with castor oil, after which they are covered in liquefied cow dung, wrung and dried. Wood ash sourced from household kitchens is mixed with water and left to settle overnight, after which the water is separated out. The yarns are then dipped in the ash water and wrung multiple times a day until they froth from the process, indicating that they are ready to be dyed. The alumina dissolved in the water from contact with the ash helps the yarn gain a deep, rich red during the dyeing process. Once the yarns are dry, they are added to the boiling dyebath and stirred continuously until the water evaporates, then dried and dyed again for two or three cycles. In cases where a deep brown colour is desired, iron sulphate is mixed into the dyebath on the third cycle. The resultant colour of the yarns is resistant to washing, light and heat.

The roots are harvested and sold to the Panika community by the Parja, Gadva and Muria communities. The women of the community begin dyeing cotton yarn from a young age, and the men weave the yarn into their traditional clothing. Yarns dyed in aal dye are used to make headcloths for men and sarees for women. The dye is known to have a cooling effect, providing some relief to wearers who work extensively in the sun.

While aal dye continues to be used today, the level of dye production has drastically reduced owing to the commercial availability of synthetic red and brown dyes as well as finished cotton fabric. The Kotpad Weavers Cooperative Society, founded in 1956, lobbies for government aid on behalf of the dyers and weavers and aids in creating a contemporary market for these goods.

The erosion of the Indian presence in the Calico market of the nineteenth century was largely due to the use of mechanised looms, which had been improved over the decades inside Britain’s protected textile economy. This effectively rendered both Indian and British weavers decreasingly useful to British interests and ultimately led to India being demoted to a mere supplier of raw cotton. However, by the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Indian manufacturers — especially those from key western coastal cities such Bombay, Surat and Ahmedabad — had built factories of their own, allowing for a measure of economic independence from the British, especially during the period of the Indian National Movement.

Today, Calico is produced in much the same areas as before — that is, on the Gujarat and Malabar coasts. A testament to the impact that the global trade, since the British colonial era, had on the commodity is the current homogeneity of its use across the world: chiefly as a household textile and often as a discarded material used for appliqué or dummy designs or as base fabrics for test prints.

Historical collections of India’s Calico traditions are housed in museums across the world, the most notable and comprehensive of which is in The Calico Museum of Textiles in Ahmedabad, which gets its name from the Calico Mills of Ahmedabad, where it was originally housed.

The process of stamping designs and patterns on base fabrics such as cotton or silk using dye-soaked, hand-carved wooden blocks. The technique is central to a variety of printing traditions across India in which blocks are used to create a range of designs composed of floral and religious motifs, geometric forms, and calligraphy. Some of these block printing traditions include ajrakh, Bagh, Bagru, Sanganeri, saudagiri, mata ni pachedi, namavali, and balotra, as well as the less popular traditions of the Chhimba community in Punjab and the more recent printing practices in Serampore of West Bengal. While several Indian communities practise the craft, the Khatris and Chippas in the country’s northwestern regions are the oldest known communities to have been continuously involved in block printing, since at least the sixteenth century.

Although, block printing is believed to have been practised in a rudimentary form as early as the Indus Valley civilization between 3000 BCE and 1200 BCE, direct textual evidence dates the craft of block printing on textiles to the eleventh century in Kerala. The earliest material evidence of these textiles and their international trade came from fragments of cloth from Gujarat found in Egypt and Indonesia dating back to a period between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. It has been inferred that these textiles were printed and dyed in blue and red during that time — and some were hand-painted using the technique of kalamkari.

Block-printed fabrics had experienced sustained international trade in the western and eastern regions of the Indian Ocean, before the establishment of first Europe-mediated and then European trade between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries. The initially indirect trade was routed through the existing Indian Ocean and Southeast Asian markets by commercial officers from Portugal and the Dutch East India Company and French East India Company. The cultivation of a robust European market for Indian printed cloth such as Kalamkari and chintz, proved lucrative by British East India Company, which began to establish trade monopolies from the seventeenth century on.

The visual appearance of any block printed textile depends on the quality of the carving on the block, the richness of the dye and the effectiveness of the mordant used with it. While engraved blocks of metal and terracotta are sometimes used, those made from types of wood such as sheesham, sagwan and rohida are often preferred for their texture and ease of carving. Woodblock carving has been traditionally carried out in Gujarat and Rajasthan, each with producing blocks in distinctive styles. While in Gujarat, Pethapur has been the centre of block making, in Rajasthan, it is Jaipur that serves as the primary centre, both serving printing and dyeing clusters in their respective states as well as in Madhya Pradesh. is the primary blocks from Jaipur are best known for their precise cuts, which allow for cleaner printing with a lower risk of smudging. Contemporary block makers still prefer to use hand tools such as chisels to carve the blocks, alongside some mechanised tools such as small drills. Teak is the preferred variety of wood for making blocks, as it remains undamaged even after frequent contact with water and other substances used in the printing process. Air passages known as pavansar are also often drilled into the blocks to prevent them from clinging to the fabric when lifted.

A single printed motif may require the use of multiple blocks. For instance, one block can be used to create a rekh of the motif, another can be used to fill it, such as a datta, and a third block, such as gadh, can be used to create the background of the design. This requires both the block maker and printer to be aware of how every block will be used, and how the motifs will fit into the design. karigars also mark the date on each block, in case it needs to be repaired or altered, so that patterns will repeat perfectly when the fabric is printed.

Prior to printing, a mordant is typically added to the dye to allow it to stick to the base fabric because many natural dyes do not easily adhere to the cloth. Only a few — such as indigo, which is used in several block printing traditions and was a key product in colonial extraction — do not require the use of mordants. Although natural dyeing and printing was a thriving practice in India until the nineteenth century, karigars eventually began relying almost entirely on inexpensive chemical dyes. The use of such dyes has allowed two types of manual printing techniques to emerge: direct printing and discharge printing.

In addition to block printing, karigars also sometimes employ resist-dyeing, which includes techniques such as dabu printing and batik. Block printing, indigo dyeing and resist dyeing are often combined to produce complex, layered and multi-coloured patterns in traditions such as the aforementioned ajrakh, Bagru and Bagh.

The block printing technique in each region of the country is distinct, localised in terms of the materials and tools used as well as the cultural influences and social characteristics of particular communities. Traditionally, the raw fabric, motifs, colours and intricacy of block printed garments have served as designators of the wearer’s identity, caste, community, status and occupation. However, with the onset of urbanisation and market-driven mass production, these textiles have been redefined and adapted for contemporary consumption and usage, losing much of their social and symbolic values.

Block printing has had a long tradition in Asia, and particularly India, which though having undergone much change to meet varying market demands and technological and lifestyle changes, has mostly remained authentic and uncompromising in aesthetic and technique. Block printed fabrics have in recent years experienced an upsurge in Indian and international markets, leading to more concerted efforts towards the conservation and revitalisation of indigenous block printing traditions. One f the largest repositories of Examples of printed textiles and garments have constituted the collections of museums in India — such as Sanskriti Museum of Indian Textiles, Calico Museum, and the Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing.

A common motif in Indian textiles, it comprises a bel or creeper with phool (flowers) and patta (leaves) motifs and is used as a running pattern across the borders of a fabric. This motif is commonly used on the handloom sarees of Maheshwar in Madhya Pradesh, where it is woven into the borders using gold and silver zari.

Produced in the Bhagalpur district of Bihar, the eponymous wild tussar silk fabric, typically dyed in bright red, blue, pink or orange, is characterised by patterned stripes and checks of varying densities. Bhagalpur is a significant tussar weaving centre and is known to be home to over thirty thousand dyers, spinners and weavers.

Some sources have suggested that Bhagalpuri fabric is woven from a blend of silk and cotton, on account of the flourishing cotton-weaving industry in Bihar and the same loom types for both varieties. However, most literature indicates that this thick and slightly coarse silk fabric is woven solely from the flat yarn spun from the cocoons of the tussar silkworm — Antheraea mylitta, an indigenous species that feeds on the leaves of the local forest trees — sometimes making no distinction between tussar and Bhagalpuri silks.

Several communities are involved in the farming of tussar silkworms, spinning of yarn and subsequent weaving. Once reeled, the silk is woven on a four-shaft pit loom, locally known as khatkal, which over the last couple of centuries has been modified to improve performance.

A notable product to have emerged from this production chain is the Bhagalpuri saree, which is heavier than the silk fabric itself because of the extra weft threads used to decorate its pallu. They also differ from the checked or striped silk fabric in the colours and motifs used. Historically, the Bhagalpuri tussar, used primarily to make stoles and home furnishings for the domestic market, were much sought after internationally. During the British Raj in the nineteenth century, these silks and silk products were exported, especially to Europe, at a high price that it readily commanded.

However, in the years following, as was the case with tussar silk production in other parts of Bihar that saw the advent of mill-produced counterparts and cheaper synthetics, Bhagalpuri silk production began to decline. However, in 1993 financial stimulus from Dastkar, helped establish the nonprofit institution Berozgar Mahila Kalyan Sanstha (BMKS), which through employment programmes as well as technical and design inputs has helped revive tussar weaving in the Godda district. Several other organisations, weaver cooperatives, and private investors have since also extended support for the production and distribution of tussar silk products in the Bhagalpur clusters as well as beyond. These interventions have also led to experimental initiatives such as Ahimsa silk yarns, spun from fibre extracted without killing silkworms. In 2013 Bhagalpuri silk acquired Geographical Indication (GI) status from the Government of India for its territory-specific production and characteristics.

Primarily woven from silk and cotton in the Bargarh district of Odisha (formerly Orissa), Bichitrapuri saris derive their name from the Odia term bichitra, meaning “wondrous”. Also known as pasapali saris, they are characterised by rows of chequered patterns resembling a pasa and woven in contrasting colours on the main body, which are created using the double ikat technique. These saris have ornate pallus featuring rows of traditional motifs such as rudraksha beads, fish, conch shells, tortoises, swans, ducks, flowers, elephants, deers and yalis, separated by thin stripes. Although their exact origins are unknown, they appear to have gained prominence during the nineteenth century. They form a vital part of Odia attire and are typically worn on special occasions. Like most handwoven textiles produced in Odisha, Bichitrapuri fabrics have been traditionally used to drape idols of deities at the Jagannath Temple. More recently, they have been woven into dupattas, bedspreads and saris.

Producing Bichitrapuri saris is a labour-intensive and time-consuming process, involving various karigars, including designers, tiers, dyers and weavers. The Odisha ikat, or bandhakala, process of dyeing warp and weft threads is used to create the design for the border and the pallu on a fly shuttle pit loom prior to weaving. Yarns are tied according to the design, then dyed, dried and woven on the loom.

These saris typically feature extra warp patterning on the main body with extra weft patterning on the pallu. The check designs on the main body also feature white, red and black squares, which appear more vibrant due to the use of the double ikat technique. The colours of the sari weaves are predetermined. The dyed threads are then woven together so that the design appears in the completed textile.

The production of these saris underwent a decline during the British Raj, but there was a conscious effort to revive the technique post-Independence. Today, ikat textiles, including Bichitrapuri saris, are made by the Meher community of weavers from western Odisha.

Brocades are produced on a drawloom or a jacquard loom by a supplementary weft technique, where pattern wefts are inserted between the ground wefts and bound by ground warp. In a drawloom, the brocade design is woven with the attachment of a structure harness is used to produce the ground weave, and pattern harness or jala suspended from an overhead beam on the loom and creates the pattern. Weavers also work with jacquard attachments on treadle looms with localised adaptations to achieve similar results to those of a traditional drawloom and jacquard loom.

Brocades remain objects of luxury, and today, it is most extensively used on sarees. Major brocade manufacturing centres in India include Ahmedabad, Surat, Paithan, Aurangabad, Raichur, Murshidabad, Varanasi, New Delhi, Lucknow, Thanjavur, Tiruchirapalli and Chennai. Though a popular textile, the handloom brocade industry faces stiff competition from power loom-produced fabric. The increasing costs of raw materials like silk has also made it difficult for weavers to continue working on this craft.

Bobbin lace-making was encouraged and taught in charitable schools and convents. Brought to India by Christian missionaries, Kanyakumari became one the oldest clusters of bobbin lace-makers in 1897 and was started by two Catholic sisters; here craftswomen would make fine quality laces and export to the European market, especially Belgium. Another major cluster was started by Father Augusto Colombo in the mid twentieth century, who introduced bobbin lace-making as an occupational craft at Station Ghanpur, Jangaon district, Telangana. There the craftspersons use mercerised cotton threads and, on average, a bobbin lace of 22 cm diameter takes about 35–40 working hours, which may vary depending on the skill of the person and complexity of the design. From 2017 onwards, the Telangana State Handicrafts Development Corporation has been supporting and popularising the craft. Additionally, in 2005, Joep Verhoeven, a design student at the Design Academy Eindhoven, Netherlands created a decorative lace fence using the bobbin lace technique. The ornate galvanised steel fence exemplified the intricate bobbin lace-making process and gave it a different functionality.

Today, bobbin lace is made using both natural and synthetic fibres and unconventional materials such as wire, filaments, cable and thick wool yarn are used to create bags, scarves, cushions, etc. which are also decorated with beads and tassels. Factors such as a change in fashion and economical machine-made laces have reduced the demand for these hand made laces.

One of the most popular brocade textiles is the Benarasi silk saree, which is typically dyed red, fuchsia, green or indigo. The body of the saree features scattered zari and silk butis, while the pallu often features extensive and intricate zari brocade work, with motifs interspersed among jaali patterns and the angled parallel lines. The two corners on the outer edge of the pallu often feature a konia that is usually a kairi, paisley or floral buti. Narrow fringe-like patterns called jhalar are also characteristically found on the inner and outer edges of the saree.

In addition to sarees, ornamental kinkhab brocades, with zari work so heavy that the silk base is obscured, are woven almost exclusively in Varanasi. Buddhist monasteries across India continue to patronise Varanasi’s craftsmen, who weave ceremonial fabrics such as or gyaser (or thiugyamo) which feature Buddhist motifs in the kinkhab style.

Converting silk and zari yarn into brocades is a laborious process that involves several people, both men and women, and has historically been largely the preserve of the Ansari Muslim community. Every weaving establishment is headed by a grihastha, and the weavers working under him are known simply as karigars. Traditionally, the warp of the loom is wrapped around the warp beam or tanari by women.

In preparation for the weaving, silk yarn is first boiled to remove traces of gum left by the silkworm, and sorted into hanks which are then dyed to achieve the desired colour, either by in-house dyers or specialised dyeing establishments near the weaving workshops. Once dry, the dyed yarn is wrapped onto a wheel before being transferred to spindles. Tanaris are also involved in wrapping threads around individual shuttles used to create designs.

The zari, which may be used either in the warp or weft of Benarasi brocades is sourced from Surat in Gujarat or made locally in Varanasi. The number of zari or silk weft threads introduced into the fabric during the weaving process dictates the intricacy and the thickness of the brocade. A particular speciality of Benarasi brocades is the minakari brocade, where motifs are formed out of plain silk on a zari base, causing them to appear inlaid or embedded.

The motifs to be woven into the fabric are drawn on paper within a numbered grid known as a naqsha by designers known as naqshabands. The designs are then coloured in, punched into cards by artisans known as patthakati and typically loaded onto a jacquard loom. Many thousands of cards are strung together to weave the richly brocaded fabrics of Varanasi.

Once the fabric has been woven, it is taken off the loom and threads projecting from the edges are tidied using a needle. After this, an artisan known as the katorna carefully cuts the extra threads connecting the motifs on the reverse side of the brocade without damaging the cloth. This cloth is then held against light and carefully checked for flaws and cuts. It is subsequently stretched over a frame, sprayed with cleaning agents and polished, improving the shine and glaze of the metal threads. In the case of sarees, the fabrics are then usually sent to be ironed and folded for display in shops.

Due to the high cost of the materials as well as the intense labour and skill needed to produce them, Benarasi brocades are considered a luxury fabric. While handwoven versions continue to be produced today, weaving communities have come under increasing pressure from mechanised reproductions of the fabric, which are often printed as opposed to woven. Gold-hued muga silk is also increasingly being used to imitate the lustre of the zari threads found in these brocades.

Traditional handwoven Benarasi brocades have received a fillip from increasing institutional recognition and, in 2009, the Geographical Indication (GI) status from the Government of India for their territory-specific production and characteristics. In 2014, Ramlal Maurya, a master brocade weaver from Varanasi, was also conferred with the Sant Kabir award by the government. The Benarasi brocade, although still largely considered a luxury textile, has received much stimulus from organisations, individuals and the burgeoning fashion industry, to keep the long tradition of its production alive.

A type of thick silk sari that characteristically features a phoda kumbha motif and is named after Berhampur (now Brahmapur), a city associated with the deity Brahma in the Ganjam district of Odisha (formerly Orissa). Also known as the Berhampuri resham patta, these saris are typically woven in red, white, black and blue and are often accompanied by a matching joda. The unique feature of this sari is that the phoda kumbha pattern is reversible, allowing the sari to be worn with either side facing outwards. As the phoda kumbha pattern and the expensive silk used to make it, in the context of the mythological history of the textile, are considered markers of auspiciousness, the sari, as well as the joda, are worn at important ceremonies, such as weddings.

Textiles using the style of weaving found in Berhampuri saris are said to have originated in the fourteenth century, under the patronage of the Mohuri kings of Odisha. Some scholars suggest that they were traded through the state’s Gopalpur port to other countries connected by the Bay of Bengal. They have also historically been used to drape Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra — the principal deities worshipped at the Jagannath temple in Puri.

In 2013, the Berhampuri sari acquired Geographical Indication (GI) status from the Government of India for their territory-specific production and characteristics.

An umbrella term that broadly refers to motifs of flowers, leaves, trees, shrubs and buds. It derives its name from the Persian boteh, meaning “shrub” or “flowering plant” and is commonly used to decorate textiles. Butas appear in various sizes, colours and orientations and often in combination with butis. The term originally referred to the teardrop-shaped motif, also known as Boteh Jegheh, kairi motif, mankolam and paisley.

The motif is believed to have originated in Babylon, c. 1700 BCE, and has been widely used to signify nobility and royalty. Although the exact origins of the buta in India are unknown, it has been in use since the sixteenth century, primarily in Kashmiri shawls, which were popular among the Mughals. While Indian craftsmen adapted the motif to represent indigenous flora and fauna such as genda, kamal, mor and gulab, fabrics meant for royalty portrayed non-indigenous flowers such as tall tulips, irises and poppies, interspersed with smaller butis of rose buds. The late eighteenth century also saw the emergence of the European cabbage rose as a popular motif in Indian textiles. Another widely used buta is the teardrop- or mango-shaped kairi/keri buta, also known as the mankolam, which is used along with symbols such as swastika and om as well as indigenous birds and flowers such as peacocks, parrots and lotuses. This buta is popularly used in Kanchipuram sarees in Tamil Nadu.

Today, butas are used in a variety of Indian textiles such as shawls, sarees, bedspreads, cushion covers, ghagras and cholis, among other garments. Specific floral butas also appear in Bagru and Sanganeri prints, Benarasi brocades, Ashavali sarees and Pashmina shawls.

Lightweight, translucent and woven using cotton yarn, Begampur saris derive their name from the town in the Hooghly district of West Bengal where they are made. The tradition of weaving cotton saris in the region can be traced as far back as the fourteenth century. They are traditionally characterised by broad borders, known as mathaapaars, that contrast with the sari’s main body and its few motifs.

The sari follows the cotton-weaving tradition of West Bengal, in combinations of white, black, red, orange, blue and purple, with the most common variant being laal paar, featuring a red border with the main body woven out of undyed, unbleached cotton. Common motifs on the sari include birds, animals and plants. Other variations may also have geometrical designs and borders with serrated patterns woven using extra weft threads, with various butas on the pallu.

In 2010, the Weavers’ Service Centre, Kolkata, led an initiative to revive Begampur saris, focusing on design development and improving weaving and printing techniques, such as through the introduction of power looms. Today, the saris feature stripes along with motifs of animals and plants on the borders and pallu — a change that has led to increased demand in the Indian market.

Made using baun, a handloom fabric from Uttar Pradesh, these saris are woven in the state’s southwestern districts of Lalitpur, Jhansi and Jalaun. It is closely related to motia, a weaving tradition practised in the rest of the state. Baun saris are woven using coarse cotton — typically dyed blood red (khooni), parrot green (totiya), dark green (gehra hara), indigo (neela) or brown (katthi) — mixed with either zari or coloured threads for extra-warp patterning in the border and body.

Saris of finer quality contain gold and silver thread for extra warp patterning, while those of kasbi or chadhiyaon variety used for daily wear, use coloured cotton yarn of orange, magenta and white (replacing the zari) as the extra warp for border patterning and stripes in the body. A third variety, worn only for weddings, is the churia in which the extra-weft patterns are woven with pattu, or silk floss. The baun sari although of the same dimensions as a traditional sari, is worn differently — draped as a skirt with a foldover along one side of their width, through which a drawstring is then passed. They have traditionally been worn with a jhabla made of gara and a printed head-drape known as kalmi.

After the 1970s, weavers who were producing baun either abandoned the profession or took up the production of the more commercially successful Chanderi saris, which have received a geographical indication (GI) tag. Today, a small number of contemporary designers, such as Varun Narkar, are adopting the style of weaving found in baun saris in an effort to preserve and revitalise the dying craft.

A technique of creating patterns on cloth through wax-resist printing and dyeing, the word batik derives from titik, the Malay word for dot or point and the Javanese word amba, which means “to write.” Though Indonesian in its origin, the term has come to be associated with wax-based resist dyeing techniques practiced around the world.

Batik has historically been practised in several parts of the world, including India, China, Southeast Asia and Africa. The origins of the technique and its influences remain unclear. In the Indian context, historians believe some of the Fustat textiles – found in Al Fustat near Cairo, Egypt in the 1920s – indicate the antiquity of wax-resist dyeing in India. Some of the fragments show the use of wax-resist dyeing techniques and are likely to have been made in Gujarat in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The wax-resist technique was also a step in the production of chintz cloth made on the Coromandel coast for European and Southeast Asian markets in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. A more direct historical connection with Indonesian batik can be found in Bengal, where techniques from Indonesia were taught at Kala Bhavana, the fine arts institute at Shantiniketan. This exchange came about after Rabindranath Tagore’s visit to Java and Bali in 1927, where he purchased batik fabrics and tools, and Kala Bhavana later offered local artisans training in batik work on leather and cloth.

In the batik technique, wax is applied onto the textile with a brush, a pen or a block. In Indonesia, the canting – a pen-like instrument made of copper – is used to apply freehand and intricately detailed designs in wax on the cloth. In India, the batik pen is similar to the kalam used in the kalamkari technique. Brushes are also used to create freehand patterns or apply resists to larger areas on the cloth. In mass-produced batik fabrics, the resist is applied using stamps or blocks and, in contemporary practice, screen printing is also used to apply the resist.

Beeswax was traditionally used as a resist, but there were local variations as well – in the Kutch region of Gujarat, for example, the resist was a paste made of hot oil extracted from the seeds of the local pilu tree. Over time, however, paraffin wax has become the most popular resist, giving finished batik textiles their distinctively veined appearance as the dyes often seep into the cracks in the wax. Once the resist is applied, the cloth is dyed in cold water – going from lighter to darker shades – with the process being repeated and more areas being reserved and dyed as needed. After the required design and colours are achieved, the cloth is boiled in hot water to allow the wax to melt away.

In India, the states of Bengal, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh are known for batik-printed textiles, although the technique is also practised on a smaller scale in other parts of the country, where it is also used to create textile art.

Banjara embroidery is traditionally used in clothing and accessories that aid the community’s way of life, such as bags, pouches and headdresses with circular pieces that allow women to carry pots of water on their heads. While settled and working partly in agriculture since the nineteenth century, the Banjara continue to practise their craft, both for personal as well as commercial use. The latter has resulted in the production of a vast range of items featuring embroidery, including bedsheets, cushion covers, wall hangings and other goods. This has been facilitated through various government initiatives and independent organisations, including the Sandur Kushala Kala Kendra (SKKK), which works with indigenous weaving communities including Lambani women to help them build self-help groups based out of Sandur, Karnataka.

A tie-dyeing technique used to make patterned fabrics, Bandhani in its many variations is identified by light circular or square-shaped repeating motifs on a dark ground. It derives its name from the Sanskrit word baandh, meaning “to tie,” and is typically used to make unstitched attire such as odhnis and sarees. The design varies depending on the base fabric — usually plain-weave cotton, but also silk, muslin, crepe, georgette, chiffon or voile — and regional preferences and influences. Major centres for bandhani textile production include Mandvi, Bhuj, Jamnagar, Porbandar and Rajkot in Gujarat and Udaipur, Jaipur, Ajmer and Bikaner in Rajasthan.

Tie-dyeing techniques have been practised independently all over the world, with the earliest known examples dating back to Peru between 500 and 810 CE. Scholars believe that the first evidence of bandhani in South Asia can be seen in a sixth-century cave painting depicting the life of the Buddha in the Ajanta murals. An illustration from the fifteenth-century Jain manuscript Uttaradhyayanasutra shows a monk wearing a translucent white robe decorated with similar circular tie-dye patterns. Evidence from the fifteenth to sixteenth-century printed cloth fragments, found in Egypt and traced to Gujarat, suggest well-established and interconnected block printing and resist-dyeing traditions in India.

As a technique, bandhani is largely consistent across South Asia. The textile’s border and body are composed first, after which the patterns that will appear on the body are drawn up. The cloth is then folded, allowing the pattern to be mirrored and repeated across all sections of the cloth. The design is then printed onto one face of the cloth using specially carved wooden blocks coated with geru. While the blocks are the traditional printing tools, most dyers today apply the geru with stencils made of plastic Farma paper. As per the printed pattern, tiny sections of cloth are pinched by hand, or raised with a metal ring, and bound with a strong thread — traditionally by women known as bandhanaras. The entire cloth is then dipped in boiling dye for several minutes, washed and left to sun-dry. The small quantities of dye in the tied portions leak away while the concentrated dye in the surrounding cloth remains. Once the threads are untied, small dots of colour surrounded by lighter undyed rings are revealed. This process may be repeated multiple times for each colour included in the pattern, starting with the lightest shade. Eventually, patterns are formed out of the small circles where the fabric was tied.

Traditional bandhani designs are valued based on the execution of this technique — patterns with numerous small and closely spaced dots are preferred to those with fewer, widely spaced or irregular dots. This is both a result of the skill with which the fabric is dyed and the quality of the cloth. Materials such as silk or muslin, which are lighter and have a more desirable weave, conduce better to precise tying and dyeing.

The bandhani technique was originally practised by the Khatri community in Sindh and subsequently gained popularity among artisans of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

In all these regions, bandhani clothes are made for everyday use as well as special ceremonies and rituals. Sungadi, a very similar variation of bandhani found in Tamil Nadu, is practised by Saurashtrian artisans who migrated to Madurai in the seventeenth century at the behest of the local ruler.

The material of the base cloth, overall composition, motifs and patterns all carry symbolic value depending on the region and occasion on which bandhani fabrics are worn. For instance, members of the Rabari community wear woollen, embroidered bandhani odhnis, while Gujarati brides wear silk gharcholu odhinis and Khatri brides wear silk khombi veils with zari work on the border. Other traditional bandhani designs from Gujarat include the bavanbagh and the rasamandali, in which motifs such as mango trees, peacocks and elephants are also prevalent.

While Gujarati designs usually feature repeating motifs, bandhani fabrics from Rajasthan typically have concentric, multi-coloured circles and large dots called dabbi. Initially produced for royalty, using expensive ingredients such as saffron and a colour palette that varied with seasons and occasions, they came to be produced for use by the local communities, with the colours standing as social designators of community, social position, occupation and marital status of the person wearing it. Widely used for the cloth headgear or Saafa of Rajasthani men, the tie-dyed multi-coloured bandhani, as well as leheriya, turbans are reserved for elderly or respected members of the community, while the block-printed imitations are more likely to be used by the younger generations. Bishnoi women typically wear a red patterned odhni with black circular forms, while mothers with newborn children wear a yellow veil called piliyo, with red dots if the child is male.

In the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh, artisans who originally migrated from Rajasthan continue to make peeriya, which are similar to Rajasthani piliyo, the bridal suhaag chunari and renia lugda, typically worn by elderly women of the Jat, Banjara and Chamar communities.

The present-day popularity of bandhani textiles, particularly the saree, has led to them being manufactured widely. However, the high level of skill coupled with the time-consuming nature of the work has given rise to a disparity in demand and supply. This has led to the growth of printed imitation bandhani designs, which has adversely affected variations such as sungadi textiles to the point of effectively substituting tie-resist dyeing techniques altogether.

A plant-based fabric used by indigenous groups across Asia, Africa and Australia. In India, bark cloth was traditionally woven by Adivasi women of the Gadaba tribe in Odisha (formerly Orissa) and was locally known as kerang. The Bondo tribes of Odisha have also been known to have used similar clothes made out of bast fibres.

The thick and coarse cloth was made by cutting strips of bark from the young jati dor tree, soaking them in water and knotting the fibres together till they were ready to be spun. A backstrap loom was used to weave the fabric. The resulting garment, known as kisalo, bore a resemblance to the texture of tiger skin and was worn primarily by the women of the community. Kisalo consists of two pieces: the upper body garment that is worn by wrapping the cloth under the arm and tying it at the shoulder, and the lower body garment that is worn around the waist and held together by a rope. The cloth is typically dyed red, blue and white, usually in wide striped patterns.

Access to cheap commercial textiles has rendered bark cloth weaving unnecessary for the younger generation of the Gadaba community. Furthermore, the forest area from which Gadaba men traditionally extracted the plant fibre has shrunk, making it harder to obtain the good quality raw material. A few elderly weavers remain, but due to their age and a general lack of demand for kisalo, they no longer practise the weaving process.

Handwoven using locally grown mulberry silk, tussar or wool in West Bengal, the Baluchari (or Baluchar) sari features elaborate brocade work on the pallu, which depicts scenes from the social life and traditions of the region. They are one of the only saris from South Asia’s late medieval period that prominently feature human figures as motifs. The intricate pictorial depictions are woven almost entirely from silk without the use of zari, distinguishing them from other silk saris and brocade traditions of India. They typically have dark colours such as maroon, deep blue, deep green and purple. The Baluchari sari further stands out among the silk weaving traditions of India for its monochromatic impressions created despite the use of four or five differently coloured pattern wefts in the weaving process.

The production of the Baluchari sari can be traced to Murshidabad, when the Nawab of Bengal, Murshid Quli Khan (1717–27) relocated his kingdom’s capital from Dhaka to Murshidabad and brought a community of weavers who settled in surrounding villages, including Baluchar. In addition to Murshidabad, the saris were also produced in Dhaka and parts of undivided Bengal.

Woven from mulberry silk, a distinctive feature of Baluchari saris is the use of large kairis or paisleys as central motifs on the pallu, which have intricate and broad borders. Historically, these saris were renowned for their depictions of aristocratic men and women smoking hookahs, Nawabs reclining on bolsters, European officers in conversation and modes of transport such as trains and steamboats. While earlier Baluchari saris depicted social scenes from the Nawabi court, representations of Company officials and other Europeans became increasingly common after the Battle of Plassey in 1757.

The motifs are first drawn on graph paper, then punched into cards used in a jacquard loom, making it simpler to transfer the designs onto the saris. The sari is woven with its reverse side facing up, and the karigar uses a mirror to be able to see the weaving. Although similar to Gujarati and Benaras brocades, Baluchari saris are distinguished by the numerous human and animal motifs interspersed between jaalis and floral vine borders, creating a homogenous design throughout the garment. The motifs face inwards from the borders of the sari and culminate in a central pictorial depiction on the pallu, which is sometimes almost two metres long, indicating that it may have been created to be draped over the shoulder to cover the upper body, similar to the Gujarati drape.

The production of Baluchari saris peaked between the second half of the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth century — a period during which undivided Bengal was annexed by the British East India Company. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, due to frequent flooding in Murshidabad, production moved to other parts of the town and further south to Bishnupur. The weavers soon began using tussar silk and motifs inspired by the architecture of Bishnupur temples and Islamic ornamentation, thus capturing and narrating the changing scenario of colonial Bengal, specifically Murshidabad.

Low demand due to competition from inexpensive alternatives and the increasingly popular Benaras brocade hampered the production of Baluchari saris in the twentieth century. There have since been numerous attempts to revive the tradition by introducing weavers to the jacquard loom as well as the Benarasi jala to help preserve motifs and encourage intricate weaving. In 2009, Baluchari saris received a Geographical Indication (GI) status from the Government of India for their territory-specific production and characteristics, authenticating only those saris manufactured in Bankura district as genuine.

There are several types of baghs, which are often named after key aspects of everyday life and culture in Punjab. Those used in wedding rituals include vari da bagh, gunghat bagh and sar pallu. Baghs are frequently named after their motifs: leheriya and darya baghs feature water motifs; the chandrama bagh, which uses moon motifs, is worn during Karva Chauth rituals; the tota bagh features parrot motifs; and the belan bagh depicts rolling pins — a key instrument of domestic life in north India. Since Punjab has historically been an agrarian region, some baghs use motifs of important vegetable crops, such as the karela (bitter gourd) , mirchi (chilli), gobi (cauliflower), dhaniya (coriander) and kakri (cucumber) baghs. The genda, chameli and surajmukhi baghs are named for the flowers that are used as motifs. Certain baghs, such as the Shalimar and Chamasia baghs, are named after the historic gardens they depict or the general composition of a Mughal garden, such as the char bagh. Possibly the most elaborate type is the bawan bagh, which features between forty-two and fifty-two rectangular cells decorated with geometric motifs. Pachranga and satranga baghs are named on the basis of the number of colours in the design.

Bagh embroidery is time-consuming, taking several months to a year to complete. Today, they are not typically made by families, which was traditionally the mode of production; instead, they are procured from retail outlets or have been replaced by heirloom baghs for ceremonial use. Examples of historic baghs are held in the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

A traditional form of block printing locally known as thappa chhapai using natural dyes, Bagh has historically been practised by Khatris in a town of the same name in the Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh. These prints are characterised by a combination of their colour palette of black, red and white, and their intricate naturalistic and geometric motifs. Other features that distinguish the Bagh printing process from ajrakh, also practised exclusively by the Khatri community, is that the colours desired in the final product are applied directly on the undyed base fabric — instead of through a resist-dyeing process — and that the cloth is printing only on one side.

Members of the Khatri community migrated from Sind (now Pakistan) nearly five centuries ago and settled in parts of Gujarat, Rajasthan and eventually Madhya Pradesh. They chose Bagh due to its location on the banks of the copper-rich Baghini river and its proximity to markets. Over time, the Khatris evolved a printing and dyeing technique that utilised local resources and catered to the Adivasi (Bheel and Bheela) and Rajput communities. The distinctive Bagh tradition emerged with the development of improved black and red colours (using iron rust and alum) as well as vegetable dyes and the incorporation of regional influences and visual motifs.

The motifs and designs of Bagh prints, also known as alizarin prints, are produced by wooden blocks carved in Pethapur, Gujarat. The repertoire of traditional designs and motifs include chameli , maithir, kairi and jurvaria, which are then set in nariyal, leheriya, tikona and gehwar patterns. Some patterns, such as the jaali, or “trellis,” are said to have been inspired by monuments such as the Taj Mahal.

The process of making Bagh prints is laborious and demands great attention to detail. In preparation for printing, the fabric is soaked in water overnight, dried and then dipped in a mixture of goat droppings, sanchiri, castor oil and water. It is then dried, washed, dried again and laid atop low tables in front of a karigar seated on the floor.

The karigar’s work begins with printing the outline, followed by filling it in with colours and details. The red and black designs are printed in separate stages, allowing the natural dye to dry before the next layer of the design or colouring is applied. Red dyes are made from Aal (Morinda citrifolia), with alum functioning as a mordant, while black dyes are made by combining iron filings and jaggery. A paste made of tamarind seeds is typically used as a binding agent.

Once dried for ten days, the fabric is taken to the river, where it is washed and beaten against rocks to soften it and remove excess dye — a process known as vichaliya — after which it is laid out to dry on the banks. The dye is then fixed and the reds are deepened by boiling the cloth for a couple of hours in a solution of alizarin and local dhawda flowers. In a final step, the fabric is washed once again in large tanks known as haudis and then laid out to dry.

Threatened to the point of extinction by the advent of synthetics and rapidly changing lifestyles, Bagh printing was kept alive and subsequently contemporised by the efforts of a few prominent Khatri families. An award-winning duo, the late Ismail Suleiman Khatri, and his wife Hajjani Jetun Bi, are master karigars who have been credited with keeping the printing tradition alive in Bagh. Their five sons are all acclaimed karigars who continue to practise and popularise the craft, adapting their designs to suit contemporary aesthetic sensibilities. Among them, Mohammed Yusuf Khatri is prominent for his role in preserving the craft and improving the local economy by training the local non-Khatri artisans in Bagh block-carving and printing, and by expanding the design repertoire and introducing them to a larger market in the form of sarees, stoles and home linen. The next generation of Khatris have carried on this work, extending training and experimenting with materials such as reed mats to ensure the relevance and sustainability of this block-printing tradition.

In 2008, Bagh prints from Madhya Pradesh received Geographical Indication (GI) status from the Government of India for their territory-specific production and characteristics.

As with other block printing traditions such as Bagh and ajrakh, karigars print the outline before progressing to the filler colours and other finer details of the designs. Usually, a set of three hand-carved blocks are used to create each floral motif — a rekh block, a background colour block called gadh and a colour-detailing block called datta. The blocks are carved out of sheesham wood, with the process of carving and seasoning each block set taking about a week.

In the past, chippas were printed on coarse, hardy reja cotton for local peasant and pastoral communities for garments such as ghagras, odhnis, sarees and pagdis. Bagru prints were also used for household products such as angocha, bedspreads, cushion covers and razai. Differing stylisations and combinations of the motifs and colours were developed for each community that wore the prints, allowing traders, farmers and artisans to be identified on the basis of the patterns on their clothes.

The original patrons of Bagru prints included Rajputs as well as local communities. Over the last few centuries, the prints have been produced for local consumption, while other floral printed fabrics, such as chintz, have been heavily traded and appropriated in the West. Today, there are about fifty to sixty blockprinting workshops in Bagru, with a community of over five thousand workers. Both women and men participate in the printing process. To cater to contemporary markets, printers use fine fabrics that aren’t limited to cotton. While most of these workshops produce woodblock-printed cloth, some have now employed the screen-printing method, which is less laborious. Many karigars also use chemical dyes.

There are two variations of the applique technique. In one, the overlying cloth may be cut into the desired shape and then stitched onto the base fabric to create patterns; while in the other, sometimes known as reverse appliqué, incisions are made in the layer of overlying fabric, revealing the base fabric to make patterns. Piping and embroidery may also be employed to lend detail or create outlines.

The functions of appliqué textiles have evolved over time, often due to shifts in patronage. Most varieties do not attract specialised demand from outside their local economy and are often marketed nationally and internationally as generic “appliqué” products, rather than as regionally-specific products. Furthermore, these handmade goods are typically expensive because of the elaborate nature of the craft, and therefore face strong competition from cheaper, mass-produced textiles. Although artisans still receive commissions for traditional appliqué work today, the technique is now largely used for adorning clothing and household textiles such as curtains, cushion covers and tablecloths.

Recognisable by its stylised almond-like shape, the badaam motif bears visual similarities to the Persian boteh, or buta, and the kairi, or kalka motif. Its name is derived from the Persian term badaam, meaning “almond”. The badaam motif has several variants and analogues in various textile traditions, the best-known among which is the Paisley motif.

In India, the badaam motif is especially associated with the Kashmir Valley, where it developed in the sixteenth century with the arrival of the Mughals. It appears most commonly on the pashmina shawl as a part of the floral border design or as stand-alone outline motifs filled in with grouped flowers. The use of this motif has since extended beyond the traditional format of the Pashmina shawl and into other forms of printed, woven and embroidered fabric such as shawls and bed linen

The motif entered the popular visual idiom with its adoption and subsequent adaptation by the hippie culture of the 1960s and 70s and, later, the cowboy culture in the American Southwest. This paved the way for its entry into contemporary formal wear produced by large European luxury fashion houses and the couture of high-fashion brands. In India, besides continuing to be seen in traditional Kashmiri shawls, the badaam motif is now also a prominent feature of the chikankari embroidery tradition of Uttar Pradesh.

A style of metal thread embroidery characterised by the use of thin, flattened gold or silver wires called badla, which are threaded through a delicate base fabric such as malmal without the use of a thread or glue. Badla wires are used to create two distinct types of embroidery: kamdani, in which entire patterns are filled using badla, and mukaish or fardi ka kaam, in which the metal wires are inserted and twisted into the fabric to create small dots of floral and geometric patterns. Badla embroidery is also referred to as sachcha kaam due to its traditional use of pure gold and silver.

This style is believed to have been introduced to India by the Mughals. It flourished in Lucknow and surrounding areas in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, under the patronage of the Nawabs and the upper classes of Awadh. By the nineteenth century, the practice also became widespread among embroiderers in West Asia and southeastern European regions, including Greece, Egypt, Syria and Turkey.

Unlike other intricate forms of embroidery, badla work does not use a frame to hold the fabric taut; instead, artisans use their fingers to control both the fabric and the badla wires. To prepare the fabric, a design is first traced on it by hand. A porcupine quill or a sharpened ivory stick is then used to create perforations, called fardi, along the traced patterns, through which the sharpened badla is then inserted, with the aim of preserving symmetry on both sides of the fabric. As the last step, the embroidered fabric is laid flat and a cowrie shell is rubbed over the embroidered parts to flatten the wire against the fabric and burnish it to a shine.

Common designs in badla embroidery include jaali patterns, paisleys, bel and floral motifs, and depictions of animals such as fish and peacocks. This style of embroidery is often rendered on fine, semi-transparent fabrics; for instance, sarees with badla work feature gold and silver thread-work over delicate fabrics such as pure chiffon and georgette. Badla work can also be combined with other embroidery techniques such as chikankari and tilla. It has also been used for decorating curtains, bags, and saddles used on horses and elephants.

Since the mid-twentieth century, gold and silver badlas have increasingly been mixed or replaced with other, less expensive materials such as copper or metallised polyester film. Today, the number of artisans who practise the original technique — many from Muslim communities in Uttar Pradesh — has dwindled, and newer generations of artisans are apprehensive to take up the practice owing to long work hours, lack of government support and poor working conditions. Currently, badla-based embroidery is also practised in Jaipur, Jodhpur, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.

Named after the fifty-two motifs, or baavan buti, running through their main body, these saris are woven using silk and cotton as base material, with the motifs added to the body using extra weft. The saris originate in the Nalanda district of Bihar, which has been an important Buddhist centre since the fifth century. This history is evident in many of the motifs in baavan buti saris, which include Buddhist iconographies such as the peepal, the bull, the lotus, the stupa, the deer and the elephant. The most common colours used in the saris are reds, yellows and parrot greens. Women wear the saris on special occasions and often exchange them as gifts, especially during weddings. Baavan buti saris are considered the only fabric of Bihar that prioritises pattern over texture.

Baavan buti saris have been traditionally woven on pit looms or frame looms, with extra weft threads being used to create the fifty-two motifs along the sari’s length. The process for weaving these motifs onto the body of the sari is similar to that used in satin-stitch embroidery (such as phulkari). For the baavan buti saris, the needle is replaced by the shuttle and the embroidery thread is replaced by extra weft so that patterns can be woven directly into the fabric.

At present, the two main centres for the production of these saris are Nepura, known for its tussar silk weaves, and Baswan Bigha, famous for its cotton weaves. There have been two phases of revival for this handloom tradition: first in the 1940s, undertaken by the late craftsperson Dr Upendra Maharathi, and the second in 2009, by the Asian Heritage Foundation, aided by the World Bank and headed by textile expert Rta Kapur Chisti and designer Rajeev Sethi.

A motif embroidered in the shape of gold coin, associated with Banarasi and Chanderi textiles, ashrafi means “coins” in Persian and derives its shape and name from old gold sovereigns used in medieval India.

Like most motifs used on the handwoven Chanderi fabric, the ashrafi is embroidered with needles on the fabric using the handloom. The circular motif is woven with metallic threads and spread all over the fabric in a floral pattern as ashrafi booti. This gilded brocade design is a marked feature of the Chanderi silk-cotton textiles. In Chanderi fabric the lightweight and sheer texture of silk-cotton was complemented with the golden ashrafis traditionally done with a zari thread. While popularised with Chanderi, the ashrafi is also significantly embroidered on Banarasi textiles; most distinctly red silk embellished with ashrafis of pure gold zari.

Now, since increasingly mass-produced, the ashrafi booti is embroidered with regular threads and coated with gold, silver and copper dust for its characteristic metallic sheen. Besides textiles, the motif also appears in handicraft works such as Bidriware.

A small square or rectangular flat-woven sitting mat, dhurrie or floor covering, asans are used for dhyana (meditation), japa (chanting) and pooja (prayer) and are decorated with religious symbols. Asans made of cotton, silk and wool are commonly used in prayer, rituals and religious congregations and feasts in Buddhist and Hindu temples, as well as in home altars. It derives from the Sanskrit word meaning “to sit.”

Traditionally, asans were made of tiger skin, deer skin, wool or grass. Today, they are made of multicoloured cotton and/or silk threads, with warp and weft threads that interlace to create a pattern. Blue and white weft-facing striped asans are commonly used for ritualistic purposes; the use of the colour blue, specifically indigo, echoes the Hindu mythological association of the colour with Krishna as well as being symbolic of a rain-filled cloud that indicates the arrival of monsoon in the deserts of Rajasthan. Buddhist asans feature motifs such as the lotus and mandalas that echo Buddhist mythology and belief. Other types of asans include the jamkalam, which is a striped rayon dhurrie woven in Bhavani, Tamil Nadu, and used as floor coverings for devotees in temples.

Today, there are several important asan weaving centres across India, including Hoshiarpur, Punjab; Jodhpur, Rajasthan; Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh; Warangal, Telangana; Salem, Tamil Nadu; Panipat, Haryana; Belgaum, Karnataka; and Pune, Maharashtra.

Woven in silk and originating in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, Ashavali saris feature intricate brocade work known as kinkhwab, made using metallic gold and silver threads known as zari. The brocade weaving technique in the conventional sari length and width was adapted from that originally used in narrow strips worn as patkas in royal courts, in turbans, in canopies of royal pavilions or attached to garments.

Named after the city of Ahmedabad, once known as Ashaval, which has been a brocade and silk weaving centre since at least the fifteenth century, the Ashavali is therefore also known as the Amdavadi or Amdavadi zari sari. The weavers of this textile were patronised by the Mughals, local royalty, and rich mercantile class in Gujarat, which according to some theories is where brocade weaving originated in India. It is believed that Benaras emerged as the new brocade weaving centre after a great fire in 1300 CE caused many weavers to migrate there.

Traditionally, Ashavali saris and brocades have been woven on pit looms, using the twill weave, causing the motifs to appear raised or embossed. Due to its history of patronage, Ashavali brocades often feature Mughal-inspired motifs of animals, bel, birds, flowers, paisleys and stylised human figures. The motifs are outlined in contrasting colours to create an enamel-like minakari effect and are arranged in patterns such as the jaal (latticed-screen motif) and the jangla (complete jaal pattern with vines, creepers and other floral motifs). While the brocade work can cover the entire body of the sari, it is more commonly seen restricted to the border and pallu of the garment.

The demand for the expensive and richly brocaded Ashavali sari has decreased with the decline in royal patronage as well as the introduction of cheaper mill-made variants, prompting efforts to revitalise the craft and make it relevant. Today, the weaving of Ashavali has been revived in the Ridrol cluster of Gandhinagar with the introduction of jacquard looms, which makes the weaving of intricate designs simpler and quicker.

In preparation for the embroidery process, the base fabric is stretched tightly over a wooden support frame and the pattern is traced by hand. The artisan holds the thread below the material and the ari is fed from above the surface to catch and pull the thread up through the fabric, creating a loop. Each new loop is pulled through the last, securing it in place and creating a chain. This process is repeated until the chain stitch fills the outlined pattern. As a final step, the embroidered surface is sometimes flattened using a hammer.

Scholars believe that this style of embroidery originated in the twelfth century among the mochi community of Kutch, who used it to decorate leather. The craft grew in the sixteenth century under the patronage of Mughal emperors, who commissioned artisans to create textiles and decorative objects for the royal courts. By the eighteenth century, ari work was introduced to Europe through trade under the British East India Company and was adopted in France and Britain, where it is practised to this day as tambour embroidery. It is especially popular among luxury fashion houses that create intricately embroidered couture.

Woven using mulberry silk in the town of Arani (or Arni) in the Tiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu, Arani silk saris are traditionally single-coloured with simple body designs and a thin single-sided zari border. These originally dobby-woven saris have since evolved to take on more complex patterns in their bodies and larger, contrasting borders on both sides.

Today they may be identified by characteristics such as kottadi checks in the body or the half-and-half design in the body and pallu; border motifs such as thazhampoo, peacocks, mangoes and paisleys; and a rich colour palette, which includes reds, greens, blues, purples and yellows. Known for being light-weight, low-maintenance and durable, Arani saris are worn on ceremonial and festive occasions.

Arani silk saris can be woven on both frame and pit looms, involving a labour intensive process of meticulously picking designs by hand. Before the weaving process, however, is the preparatory phase during which the yarn is first washed, then dyed in a boiling solution of the desired colour using vegetable dyes or the more prevalent chemical dyes. The weaver continuously turns the yarn during this process, allowing for a durable and even colouration. The yarn is then washed again, dried and starched before being mounted on the loom to be woven.

Although silk weaving in Arani has traditionally been done by handloom, power looms have increasingly begun to take over, due to their relative ease of use. With the introduction of technology such as jacquard cards, designs can be transferred onto the cards which are then loaded onto the loom. This has allowed for automatic design generation, making the weaving process considerably quicker.

Arani silks now come in a variety of designs and colours, sometimes inspired by the richer saris of the neighbouring town of Kanchipuram but in a more affordable and versatile range. In 2008, Arani saris received Geographical Indication (GI) status from the Government of India for their territory-specific production and characteristics.

In the next step, kut, a dye made of iron, jaggery, assorted millets and tamarind, is used to print another set of lines within and over the initial rekh. These lines oxidise when exposed to air and the harda and develop a black colour. Next, a dye that uses alum as a mordant is used to fill in the red details. A paste called pa, made using clay, millet flour and dhawda gum, is applied over these filled-in details to make them resistant to indigo dyeing. Dry cow dung powder is then sprinkled over the wet pa to prevent the resist from spreading.

Once the printed lines have dried, the cloth is ready for dyeing. It is dipped in large vats containing a mixture of indigo, lime, jaggery and mustard seeds. The dyed cloth emerges a bright green that slowly turns blue once the dye oxidises. Various natural dyes may be added to the fabric before this stage. The cloth is then repeatedly washed and dried. Following this, the fabric is dyed red by soaking it in a solution of alizarin, natural gum, dhawda flowers and madder, and stirred continuously. It is then dried and washed, and the resultant cloth is considered a simple ajrakh. It is possible to carry out multiple rounds of resist printing and indigo dyeing to give the fabric added detail and dimension. This more intricate form of ajrakh is known as minakari, named after the detailed enamel jewellery tradition.

The blocks used in ajrakh are often carved out of sheesham, rohida or sagwan wood, with cosmic and naturalistic motifs. Some blocks are carved in pairs, allowing traditional master karigars (meaning “artisans” in Hindi) to print fabrics identically on both sides with extreme precision. Traditionally, the Khatris have carved the blocks themselves, although this is now in decline, with blocks being carved in Ahmedabad or Farrukhabad in Gujarat.

Ajrakh fabrics were primarily worn only by pastoralist men of Gujarat, Rajasthan and the Sindh regions, typically as a lungi, fainta or gamcha. However, its use is not restricted to special occasions, but functions as a versatile fabric for everyday needs: it is often wrapped as a turban or shawl, and is used to create women’s garments including odhnis and skirts or used as a bedsheet or tablecloth. After extensive use, the fabric softens and can be used to swathe babies, make hammocks and used as patchwork to create quilts called rillis.

Today, commercially produced, cheaper versions of ajrakh are screen-printed in parts of Rajasthan. One of the current most prominent master karigars of the technique is Dr. Ismail Mohammad Khatri, who — along with his sons, grandsons and the larger Khatri community — continues to print the fabric in the traditional manner, using only natural dyes.

An evolution of the angrakha and the chapkan, the achkan is a knee-length upper garment with long sleeves, side slits and a standing collar that originated in the middle of the 19th century. It is significant for being the first Indian garment for men to prominently feature buttons and buttonholes.

According to some scholars, the invention of the achkan can be credited to the court of Oudh in Lucknow. It is likely to have evolved as a result of the European stitching popularised in the royal courts by British officers, resulting in a garment which was a hybrid of the angrakha and the European coat. The achkan is similar to an angrakha, with a waist seam, cloth panels and an extension called the balabar, which fits under the right hand side of the skirt of the garment and holds it in place. However, unlike the angrakha, its bodice is front-open and fastened over the torso using buttons.

Another garment closely linked and often confused with the achkan is the sherwani. However, the achkan is different from the sherwani in several aspects. As compared to the sherwani, it varies in length, has no lining and features a waist seam as well as gussets at the sleeves. Furthermore, the achkan was popular in the northern states as compared to the sherwani, which was more prevalent in South India, where the Mughal influence still lingered. Both the achkan and the sherwani have been credited with inspiring the Nehru jacket.

The achkan can be worn with either a chudidaar or pyjama as the lower garment. Over time, it has become a garment that is primarily worn at formal events, especially weddings, in northern and western India.

An unstitched, rectangular piece of fabric, the angavastram is a garment worn over the torso and shoulder by men in parts of South India and Maharashtra. The word angavastram literally translates to “cloth for the body.” Typically paired with a dhoti or kurta, it is considered to be a garment of religious significance within Hindu culture. Known variously as dupatta, pacheli, pichodi, uparanu, shalya and upavastra, the angavastram is usually made of handspun cotton, though when worn for religious rituals, it is made of silk.

The angavastram is considered to have evolved from the uttariya, which was also worn around the shoulders in the manner of a shawl or around the waist like a kamarband, as seen in the sculptures at Sanchi and Amaravati.

The modern angavastram is mostly undyed and white or cream-coloured, with either a single or double stripe of colour on the edge or a gold zari border. In parts of India, the angavastram is worn by the groom during weddings, with the drape varying regionally. In southern India, the angavastram is often the only garment worn on the upper body, with a dhoti as the lower garment, but it may also be worn over a shirt. In Bengal, the angavastram is worn over a kurta and is loosely draped on the shoulders like a blanket or a shawl.

The shisha work that features so prominently in ahir embroidery is also a part of banjara and banni embroidery. Contemporary Ahir artists have added to the traditional embroidery by introducing elements such as the teardrop shape, which has become a signature style; machine-produced variants of this style often appear in clothing and domestic fabrics found across the Indian subcontinent.

A natural dye extracted from the Indigofera tinctoria plant native to South Asia, indigo dye is known for its deep blue colour and high potency compared to other blue dyes. Due to the rarity of usable blue pigments in nature, indigo has historically been a prized good, used in the Indian subcontinent for dying textiles for local use as well as for international trade. It played a major role in global economy through the medieval and colonial periods, until it was largely replaced in the late nineteenth century by a synthetic version of the dye. Indigo dye is typically produced in powder or cake form and sold either in this form or as a liquid suspension. Apart from India, indigo has historically been grown and used in Southeast Asia, West Africa and the Caribbean.

The earliest material evidence of indigo dye are traces found in textiles preserved in Egyptian tombs dating to the late Bronze Age. The earliest literary mention occurs in the Atharvaveda at the start of the first millennium BCE. It appears later in Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a navigational text from the first century CE. A detailed description of the dye-making process was recorded around the same time by the Roman writer Pliny the Elder, suggesting that indigo-dyed textiles were being traded across the Indian subcontinent, West Asia and around the Mediterranean sea.

The indigo trade flourished further after the consolidation of the Abbasid Caliphate in West Asia in the eighth century CE and the resulting growth in Indian Ocean commerce. The genizah documents — a set of over four hundred thousand papers found in Fustat, Egypt, containing commercial and administrative records from the ninth to nineteenth centuries — suggest a thriving indigo trade in the early medieval period. The documents even used the Sanskrit word for indigo, nili, as a suffix for the names of some Arab merchants who traded the dye.

Sanjan, a port in Gujarat that exported indigo, was a key junction in early medieval trade networks. By the late medieval period, Kabul, Afghanistan, Aleppo, Syria and Jeddah had also emerged as major nodes, distributing indigo to Central Asia and Persia, Ottoman Turkey and the eastern African coast, respectively.

French and British involvement in the trade took place in the Levant, where indigo prices were set for Mediterranean markets and, by extension, the rest of Europe. Despite being a very expensive dye, indigo frequently out-competed local European dyes such as woad due to its potency and fastness, leading to it being banned at various times between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries in France, Norway and Britain.

For most of the medieval period, parts of present-day Gujarat, Rajasthan and coastal Pakistan produced the bulk of indigo from the subcontinent. From the sixteenth century onwards, mercantile ventures by the Portuguese Estado da India and the British and Dutch East India Companies traded indigo from these regions. Production later shifted to Bengal as the British East India Company emerged as a ruling power in the region.

British policies in Bengal, such as the Tinkathia system, made it mandatory for landowners to grow indigo in at least three kathas (a unit of land measurement) in each bigha (1 bigha = 20 kathas) of their land. These landowners (or indigo planters, as they were then known) enlisted the services of agricultural workers who were often made to cultivate Indigofera instead of food crops. While indigo planters and British traders made considerable profits by exporting indigo to Europe and Britain, workers were compensated poorly and forced into debt, sometimes even starvation. Indigo plantations were also set up in other colonies using similar policies, particularly the West Indies. During the Indigo Revolt of 1859, farmers from Chaugacha and other parts of Bengal staged a violent uprising against planters and zamindars. The human toll of indigo cultivation, especially in Bengal, has since been remembered as a symbol of colonial exploitation.

In the late nineteenth century, Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik (BASF), a chemical factory in Germany, developed and began the mass production of synthetic indigo. By 1914, natural indigo comprised only four percent of the global indigo usage, and despite minor revivals, it continues to have a niche presence today. The vast majority of indigo is now synthetic and is used for dyeing denim, although some natural indigo continues to be produced in south India, particularly Karnataka.

More recently, freeze-dried indigo in its crystalline reduced state has become commercially available, shortening the dyeing process considerably due to its solubility in water. In addition to being used as a dye, indigo can be made to react with sulphuric acid to form a salt that is used as a colourant for food and pharmaceutical products.

A traditional dress worn by adolescent girls, the half sari is a garment consisting of three parts — a skirt, a blouse and a cloth to be draped over the upper body. Mostly popular in South India, the garment is known by different names in each state, including langa voni in Andhra Pradesh, pavada davani in Tamil Nadu and langa davani in Karnataka. The garment is closely associated with coming of age rituals and, traditionally, a girl was gifted a half sari by her maternal grandparents to mark her entry into womanhood.

The lower skirt-like garment, called the langa or pavada, is an ankle length skirt gathered around the waist and held in place by a string. The upper garment is a blouse, similar to the one worn with a full-length sari. The voni, or the davani, is a 2 to 2.5 m long piece of fabric that is tucked into the waist at one end, wrapped around back of the body and draped diagonally across the front, with the remaining fabric hung over the right shoulder in a manner similar to the pallu of a sari. The draping of the voni over the shoulder distinguishes the half sari from its North Indian counterpart, the lehenga choli (also known as ghagra choli or chaniya choli), where the voni – or in this case the dupatta or odhni – is worn draped over the head, with the other end tucked into the waist.

Typically, unmarried women wear half saris, while married women wear full-length saris. The half-sari closely resembles the pattu pavada, or the silk pavada, worn by younger girls. The latter, however, does not include a voni and consists of a blouse that reaches the waist, covering the midriff unlike the blouse of a half sari. Similar to the full length sari, the half sari is available in numerous fabrics, colours and designs.

The fabric enjoyed widespread popularity until the mid-twentieth century, when it underwent a decline in demand. In the 1930s, the former government of Hyderabad offered to support the craft but its efforts were compromised by the Second World War and its adverse impacts on trade. Demand for the fabric fell in the 1940s, with a little over 150 artisan families practising the craft, which fell further to thirty families in the years immediately after India’s independence. By the late-1950s, the fabric produced in Aurangabad, although being traded extensively, was facing severe competition from more economical, imitation fabric woven using power looms. Consequently, the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh government established weavers’ cooperatives to support the weaving of himroo, which resulted in weavers migrating from Aurangabad to Hyderabad. Further, the Himroo and Nawabpura Cooperative Society Limited, Aurangabad (1953) and The Himroo Weavers’ Cooperative Society (1955) were established under the Hyderabad Cooperatives Societies Act of 1952.

Today, himroo is used to make shawls, bedsheets, curtains, decorative tapestry, pillow covers, skirts and accessories such as purses and neckties. The fabric is primarily woven in Aurangabad, where a number of weaving and training centres have been established under the government of India. While demand for the fabric increased over the years, especially among tourists, the number of active weavers in the area is experiencing a steady decline, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on international tourism.

However, by 1686, lobbying by the French wool industry led the royal council of Louis XVI to declare the first European ban on calicoes. Armenians were expelled from workers from Marseilles and other cities in 1687. While Britain would also restrict the import of cotton textiles through the Calico Acts of 1720 and 1721, the French prohibition was particularly harsh, stifling calico imports and the local production of Indiennes. It was, however, routinely flouted. Smugglers diverted international trade towards underground markets in France, and printers produced the fabric in Avignon (then under Papal jurisdiction), and Colmar and Mulhouse (then outside the borders of the kingdom of France). Another impediment to the sale of Indiennes was the African market’s mistrust of French imitations of Indian fabrics, though this would change with the colonisation of the continent and improvements in manufacturing. After the ban in France was lifted in 1759, dyeing techniques were perfected and local designs standardised. French artisans began to import plain cloth from India and West Asia to be printed in France, and the industry grew rapidly. Apart from those already mentioned, significant centres of Indienne production in France were Rouen, Dieppe, Paris, Bordeaux, Nantes and Limoges.

While indiennes and English chintz fabrics are very similar, and the terms are often used interchangeably, there remain some key differences. English chintz is glazed and thus has a sheen, while French indiennes retain the plain cloth’s original texture. Indiennes also use garance or red dye as a ground more often than indigo, whose production and trade was controlled by the British Crown. The Paisley motif is also less commonly used in French indiennes. Instead, print motifs typically include natural imagery from the French countryside, such as olive and lemon branches, vines, lavender sprigs and cicadas, usually paired with images of flowering shrubs. Sunflowers and mimosas, introduced to Europe from Asia and Africa around the same time as indiennes themselves, can also be found. While traditional indienne patterns consist of two-dimensional, undulating and uniformly spaced motifs, advancements in dyeing have allowed for more realistic imagery with shading and subtler colours to be printed on indiennes, although these have historically been less popular.

Today, Indiennes continue to have a significant market in the West, particularly as a fabric and design aesthetic reminiscent of the colonial period in South Asia.

A craft believed to have been introduced to Goa by the Portuguese nuns of the Santa Monica Church, Goan crochet is a tradition practiced today primarily by women in North Goa, especially the city of Panjim (now Panaji). The origins of crochet are debated, but it became popular in Europe during the Renaissance in the sixteenth century. In Goa, crochet production, alongside lace making and European forms of embroidery was fostered by missionaries and other colonial agents. Crochet was initially used to make religious garments for the clergy, and as decorative elements in worshippers’ clothes.

Goan crochet uses different techniques for different textiles. The motifs depicted are often reminiscent of Goan life and culture, such as the commonly-used mandala design, valued for its symmetry and used as a symbol in both Hinduism and Christianity, found in both simple and elaborate crochet garments. Another motif is the shell or fantail stitch, consisting of rows of differently coloured shell patterns to embellish the garment and give it a slight three-dimensional effect. The pineapple stitch is used in making skirts and shawls and consists of a densely knit teardrop-shaped form surrounded by knots with large gaps, resembling a pineapple. Filet crochet, a technique used to depict intricate images and symbols with a lightweight yarn, is used to decorate tablecloths, curtains and scarves.

Goan crochet has historically functioned as a cottage industry. Designs and stitching preferences vary from village to village, or even between households. Knowledge of the craft is traditionally handed down from mother to daughter, thus retaining each family’s style. Historically, prospective brides wore clothing which they made fully or partially with crochet as a way of displaying their skill with the craft. Crochet items were also presented as dowry during the colonial period.

Today, the traditional form of the practice has faded to a large extent, and more market-oriented production has become the norm. Crochet garments are popular among Goans as well as tourists and other visitors to the state. A key organisation supporting local crochetiers is the Goa Handicrafts Rural and Small Scale Industries Development Corporation (GHRSSIDC), established in 1980. While also involved with the production of other Goan textiles, the GHRSSIDC sells locally made crochet goods in and outside Goa, providing Goan crochetiers with steady demand for their work.

A technique of embellishing textiles and other objects with gold or silver trims, gota work is popular in north and northwestern India, particularly the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. The trim or braid — gota in Hindi — is woven using flat gold or silver wire and cotton or silk. Considered auspicious and a marker of prosperity, gota is traditionally hand-stitched onto fabrics as decorative borders and motifs using appliqué and embroidery techniques. Generally attributed to Rajput nobility, gota was originally made and used for royal garments and odhnis or scarves for temple idols, and is known since at least the eighteenth century. Today, gota work using lurex, a synthetic fibre, is a popular form of fabric ornamentation, widely used across clothing and a number of other items as diverse as footwear, ceremonial fabrics, and sweet-box wrappers in India.

Gota work evolved as one of many textile traditions across South Asia that have used gold and silver to assert the high social standing, prestige and good fortune of its wearers. Gota uses a flattened gold or silver fibre called badla, which is used in the production of zari, a gold or gold-covered silver yarn used in weaving and embroidery. It is thought to have developed in the same Persianate karkhanas, or workshops, of the Sultanate and Mughal courts in northern India where zari was used for intricate zardozi and ari embroidery since the fourteenth century. With the decline of Mughal power and patronage in the seventeenth century, artisans from these courts moved to provincial courts around India. By the nineteenth century, Jaipur, a significant centre of Rajput power in northern India, had emerged as the main centre for zari and badla production, alongside Lucknow and Surat, and become particularly known for weaving gota. The Rajput courts in Jaipur and Himachal Pradesh, and the Sikh courts in Punjab adopted gota work for garments, headdresses and footwear, and as an integral part of the bridal trousseau. The popularity of gota work here was possibly due to these rulers’ desire for a distinct yet opulent form of fabric embellishment, in the absence of the local silk weaving traditions and lavishly patronised workshops that were essential to support zardozi and ari embroidery. 

Further, the Udaipur region of Rajasthan had previously been known for a type of decorative tradition called danka work or korpatti ka kam, in which flat pieces of solid gold or silver cut in various shapes were stitched onto stretched fabric, alongside zardozi work. When used along the hems of odhnis or ghagras, as they typically were, the weight of these metal trims aided the fall of these garments. Gota, besides being cheaper, was a flexible material that was easier to apply onto fabrics in versatile ways, and its low weight meant that the fabric could be much more lavishly embellished without getting too heavy. This made gota work the predominant decorative element on garments in these areas, and a distinctive feature of the poshak, the Rajput women’s ceremonial dress. In the eighteenth century gota work was being produced in the courts and wealthy households of present-day Rajasthan, as well as Lucknow, Mirzapur and Varanasi in present-day Uttar Pradesh and Aurangabad in present-day Maharashtra. It was also associated with a recycling tradition whereby old gota- and zari-decorated garments would be burnt and the metal retrieved to be used on new garments, so that the same gold and silver were passed down generations through textiles.

Gota ribbons were traditionally made on a handloom using the badla as the warp, woven with a cotton or silk weft. Some scholars consider it more likely that the badla formed the weft within a cotton or silk warp instead. The flatness of the badla makes the textile relatively light for its width, and lends it a prominent shine. The textile is woven in different widths, in a plain, satin or twill weave, giving rise to various types of gota. Due to its metallic component, the woven textile can be embossed with various patterns. 

Borrowing elements from Mughal art and Indo-Saracenic architecture, gota work employs motifs such as bel (‘vine’), jaali (‘lattice’), buta (‘plant’) and buti (‘herb’). Narrow gota ribbons produced in plain weave are called masya and range from about 0.5 centimetres to 2 centimetres wide. These are folded along diagonals to yield rows of repeating triangles or diamonds, such as beejiya (from the Hindi ‘beej’ meaning ‘seed’), beej bel (‘vine of seeds’) and shakkar pare ki bel (‘vine of a diamond-shaped sweetmeat’) — motifs that represent abundance and fertility. Wider gota woven in a twill pattern are called lappa, and range from about a centimetre to thirteen centimetres in width. These were traditionally used as trims for Rajput women’s ghaghras or skirts as part of the poshak, in what is often called lappe ka kam (‘lappa work’). Seekhiya gota is a thin ribbon, known for its delicate appearance, while gokhru gota embellishments are made by crimping together motifs cut from ribbons with thick wire, or pieces of the metal itself. Gokhru is no longer practised due to the expense and the weight it adds to the fabric. In modern times, gota is woven on electrically powered swivel looms. 

Besides borders and trims, individual pieces of gota — in geometric and floral shapes such as patti (‘leaf’), phool (flower) or tukdi (‘piece’) — are appliquéd onto fabric, sometimes alongside embroidery. Phool gota is made by pleating the gota to resemble a flower and appliquéd onto the fabric as part of a larger pattern. In the popular gota patti work, the ribbon is folded into variations of an oval or diamond shape and back-stitched onto the fabric as part of motifs like florets, paisleys and peacocks, before being hammered flat with a wooden implement. Gota tukdi, another appliqué technique, involves cutting the ribbon into floral motifs and sewing them onto the base fabric. Gota appliqué is frequently paired with embroidery, usually along the borders of motifs. In addition to garments, gota work is also used on traditional household furnishings like toranas (auspicious bunting) and juttis, a type of Indian moccasin. 

In the twentieth century, the gota work tradition underwent several economic and cultural changes. As India gained independence, princely states and their royal karkhanas began to decline, and gota artisans, hitherto exclusively male, moved their practice to their homes, leading to the inclusion of women in the craft. National schemes such as Training Rural Youth for Self-employment (TRYSEM) implemented in 1979 trained a number of women in gota work, and provided them with the opportunity to work from their homes. 

By the late twentieth century industrialisation and mass-produced raw materials such as lurex, a synthetic yarn with a metallic sheen, made gota cheaper and more accessible. While lurex has almost completely replaced metal gota, it has led to the wide popularity of gota work in India’s rural areas. However, due to the lack of actual metal in lurex most contemporary gota work lacks the three-dimensionality that could be achieved by pinching or crimping traditional gota. Gilt, lurex or copper gota remain markers of auspiciousness and festivity, and are widely used across clothing and objects, while the rarity and value of gold and silver gota-embellished garments make these important heirloom objects. Parts of Jaipur city and the villages of Nyla and Khandela in Jaipur district are the major clusters of gota production today.

A silk brocade fabric decorated with gold and silver threads, gyaser (also known as gos-chen in Ladakh) is used in religious rituals in Buddhist communities and is characterised by a discontinuous supplementary weft pattern.

Weaving has sacred and mythical associations in Ladakh, with sacred textiles believed to grant protection and blessings to the person wearing it. It is also associated with fertility and procreation, with the textiles and the loom representing sexual union and the creation and protection of life. Thus, the weaving of sacred textiles such as gyaser was not undertaken by monks but would be imported from China, Tibet and eventually from the looms in Benares. While there are no written records indicating the introduction of the fabric to India, visual records suggest that the trade and use of gyaser in the country began c. tenth century CE during the Namgyal dynasty of Ladakh (1460–1842), with the textile being one of the items imported to the region from China. Missionaries travelling between Lhasa and Ladakh also brought back brocade samples to their monasteries, usually as unstitched fabric, robes or on the borders of stitched boots.

Gyaser was introduced to Benares (present-day Varanasi) in the mid-nineteenth century by traders from Tibet as well as traders from the Marwari community who had settled in Kalimpong, which had emerged as an important commercial centre between Tibet and India. The gyaser made in Benaras gained popularity in Ladakh and Tibet due to its relatively cheaper costs compared to fabric from China, as well as the cheap cost of labour in Benaras and the higher quality of gold zari and fabric.

By the early-nineteenth century, Benaras had become an important brocade-weaving centre, primarily producing kinkhwab, which was popular in the Mughal court as well as among the royalty in Ladakh. While this fabric was traded to Ladakh via Punjab, Kashmir and Kalimpong, it differed from the gyaser in its lack of Buddhist motifs. Tibetan traders also frequently visited Benares and introduced the gyaser to Benares weavers, which they would imitate. Subsequently, from the mid-nineteenth century onwards, weavers in Benares began producing gyaser featuring Chinese designs and Buddhist motifs.

Trade fluctuated briefly during the 1950s and 1960s due to the closure of international trade routes to Ladakh after India’s independence and following China’s occupation of Tibet, which led to the displacement of several Tibetan communities. Trade from Kashmir and Punjab also slowed, with traders suspending travel to Ladakh. However, demand rose again after the displaced populations from Tibet had resettled across India, where they established monasteries and resumed religious activities. However, the suspension of trade routes was instrumental in driving the nobility and monastic clergy of Ladakh to source gyaser for personal and religious use directly from the weavers of Varanasi.

In Varanasi, gyaser is made primarily in the area of Pili Kothi, which is known for its expensive brocades that incorporate real gold zari thread. The men draw the design on a graph, make the punch cards and dye the threads, and the women are engaged in the preparation of the multi-ply yarn. The weaving is primarily carried out on the jacquard loom, with the punch cards used for the patterning. The cloth is woven to lengths of about twenty-eight inches, with hand-patterning of motifs using metal silver or gold zari.

Due to the sacred associations of the fabric, the design and colour of gyaser have not undergone major changes over the years. The fabric features Buddhist symbols such as the eight lucky signs, the thunderbolt and bell, the lotus, clouds and dragons. In the 1980s, following the Vishwakarma revival effort by the Indian government and collaborations with Martand Singh, gyaser weavers began incorporating newer, more universal designs in the fabric, such as geometric patterns, to appeal to a wider market. Gyaser pieces also began featuring patterns such as the Rusnata (Russian medallion pattern) and the flame pattern, and metallic gyaser that incorporated twill-bound lozenges. More recently, the exhibition Between Land and Sky: Woven Gold from Gyaser Tradition (2019) incorporated gyaser into saree designs by Swati Agarwal and Sunaina Jalan.

Today, gyaser is woven primarily in Varanasi, with weavers replacing pure gold and silver threads with synthetic fibres to speed up the weaving process and lower costs. Gyaser woven in Varanasi is supplied to Buddhist communities in India and exported to Himalayan Buddhist countries and prominent Buddhist centres in Southeast Asia, the USA and the UK. It continues to be used in religious rituals, especially in Buddhist monasteries as altar and seat covers, monk robes, mounts for thangkas, decorative borders in hats and stitched boots. It is also used to make loom-woven products for everyday use, such as shawls, cushion covers and floor mats.

A type of bagh characterised by a large, decorated triangle along its longer sides, ghunghat baghs are worn by brides as a ghunghat or veil during wedding ceremonies. The bagh is worn in such a way that a triangle falls over the bride’s face. A variation of the ghunghat bagh is the sar pallu, which has large, elaborately decorated borders on the short sides of the garment.

The pattern on the triangles varies from piece to piece, although it is usually geometric. The rest of the ghunghat bagh is typically a single colour, with the border design matching the design on the triangle.

It is unclear whether these baghs are produced today or whether ancestral pieces continue to be used in wedding ceremonies.

Worn by women across North India, the ghagra is a gathered, skirt-like garment stitched with a single, vertical seam. It is tightly secured at the waist with the use of a drawstring or nada, also known as the izarband, which makes the fabric fall in vertical pleats and flare out at the bottom. The name ghagra is believed to have derived from the word gher, meaning “flare” or “girth.” It is also known as chaniyo or chania in Gujarat and Rajasthan, possibly deriving from the word charan, meaning “feet,” since the skirt falls till the feet of the wearer.

The ghagra is believed to have evolved from the bhairnivasani. A similar garment that emerged in the medieval period is the lehenga, which is stitched with a smaller girth, making it less flared than a ghagra. Traditionally, the ghagra is ankle-length or longer and worn with a blouse or choli, alongside which a dupatta or odhni may also be added. The ghagra and odhni are also sometimes paired with a kurti or abho and a fitted bodice called the kanchali. Another variation of the ghagra is the kalidar ghagra, which is fuller than a standard ghagra and consists of triangular pieces of fabric stitched together at the top. The ends of the drawstring used to hold the ghagra at the waist — which are visible and dangle down the sides of the skirt — are often adorned with tassels, pom-poms or cowrie shells.

Prior to the nineteenth century, ghagras were predominantly worn by Hindu women and later gained popularity with Muslim women. The ghagras worn by royalty were often elaborately embroidered or brocaded whereas those worn by ordinary women were made of coarser fabrics.

Today, the ghagra is popular for everyday use as well as special occasions.

An embroidered Kashmiri rug made by repurposing old woollen blankets and waste cloth, a gabba is used as a carpet, prayer rug, blanket and mattress and is usually reserved for weddings or as home furnishings.

Gabbas are traditionally made by Kashmiri women during the winter. To make the gabba, the used cloth is first washed thoroughly, then milled and dyed in various colours. Milling, similar to felting, involves carding and washing the wool sheets with warm soapy water, after which the matted fabric is dried and evened out such that the shrunk wool becomes dense, soft and warm.

The base of the gabba is typically several layers thick and made of recycled wool and cotton fabric, covered by an upper layer of cloth that is appliqued and embroidered. The embroidery is typically done using wool or silk threads, depending on available resources, and executed with an aari using a chain stitch, which helps hold the base layers and the outermost applique layer together. Each gabba usually takes two weeks to embroider, but this can vary depending on the design. The most common design is a central medallion framed by borders with floral, natural and geometric imagery, characterised by a vibrant and colourful palette.

Today, new fabric is used to make the rugs in the interest of making the textile more durable and commercially viable for markets outside Kashmir. Commercial mass-produced textiles also carry gabba-inspired designs, which are applied to machine-made embroidered cushion covers, curtains and upholstery.

Though the use of the dupatta as a headdress and a symbol of modesty continues in several regions, it is often worn as a fashion accessory as well. In some communities, the dupatta – since it is an uncut, unstitched garment – is an important part of the puberty rituals for young girls. In parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan, it is worn over the head and tucked into the ghagra in such a way that it covers the bare back. It is also often used by women to cover their heads before entering a place of religious worship. More modern functions of the garment include using it as a protective garment against heat and pollution by covering the face, head and mouth.

A hand-knotted carpet woven from wool and cotton yarn, galeecha has its origins in Amritsar, Punjab.

In the early-nineteenth century, following the transfer of rulership of Kashmir to Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab, several Kashmiri carpet and shawl weavers migrated to Amritsar under the Maharaja’s patronage. He set up a number of workshops across Amritsar that were run by Kashmiri weavers and this, along with the availability of fine wool in neighbouring regions, allowed for the development of the galeecha.

Woven using the Persian knot technique, the woollen yarn is knotted around the individual threads of the cotton warp. Prominent designs comprise off-white geometrical and floral patterns on a deep red, green or ivory base, derived from Persian and Bokhara designs. The weavers work with a coloured naksha, which acts as a reference for designs and patterns.

In 1851, following a display of Indian handicrafts at the Great Exhibition, London, there was an economic surge in carpet sales and numerous British companies opened up in Amritsar. However, post-independence, the craft form gradually declined and became economically unsustainable, primarily owing to the introduction of power looms.

Today, there are no Galeecha weavers in Amritsar, and the few remaining weavers are scattered in villages surrounding the city. At present, the industry is controlled almost exclusively by exporters and therefore, is dependent on specific designs commissioned by them. Consequently, there has been a marked difference in the motifs used on the fabric; for instance, carpets being exported to the Middle East often feature the mihrab motif.

Derived from the cocoons of the Philosamia ricini silkworm, eri silk is named after the Assamese word erranda meaning castor plant, the worm’s primary food source. Because it is extracted without boiling the worm, it is also known as ahimsa (non-violent) silk and remains the only domesticated silkworm native to India. It is mainly reared and processed by the women of the Bodo, Mishing, Monpa, Khasi and other communities in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya, where the worm is predominantly found.

Finished eri silk is soft, warm and white to faintly gold in colour, except for the rust-red variety from Kokrajhar, Assam. Such variations in colour and texture, aside from dyes and differences in process, are the result of selectively breeding the eri worm. The silkworm is reared indoors and fed on castor leaves for thirty days in preparation for metamorphosis. For another fifteen days, it spins its cocoon, leaving a small hole through which the newly formed moth emerges and departs. By its nature, the raw silk fibre of the cocoon is not produced as a single, continuous filament like mulberry silk, but a series of entangled pieces of slightly varying thickness. This is the primary reason why the worm is not boiled during degumming, and why the fibre is spun like wool rather than reeled like other silks. The aggregate filament length of an eri cocoon is 400–500 metres, a third of the average mulberry silk filament and the fibres are finer towards the outer layers of the cocoon, ranging in fineness between four and seven deniers. For the traditional degumming process, the cocoons are bundled in a cotton cloth and boiled in a solution of water and a small amount of soda or ash from plant material, after which they are opened, flattened into sheets and joined together. These are dried, then spun into yarn on the takli or in some cases a motorised spindle, after which the eri silk is ready for weaving.

As the awareness and demand for authentic eri silk goods have increased in recent years, traditional spinners have been encouraged to augment their process to become more efficient. The Central Silk Technological Research Institute (CSTRI) has introduced spinning machines among eri spinners in Assam to replace the takli and reduce wastage of the softer cocoons and Sericulture Information Linkages And Knowledge System (SILKS) is making efforts to standardise the boiling solution recipe and degumming process among spinners to ensure uniform production in the industry and adapt their methods for the new spindles. Brands and organisations like we are KAL in Assam and Muezart in Meghalaya, are working with eri artisans to sustain traditional practices while catering to local and international demand for the silk. While mechanisation programs seek to reduce the time taken to spin the eri thread, traditional hand spinning methods, when applied consciously, have been more economical with the cocoons and have yielded better quality yarn.

Known for its distinct range of patterns, especially, butis and Tree of Life, Farrukhabad block printing emerged in the city of the same name in Uttar Pradesh. It is conjectured that the tradition dates to the late Mughal period, when the city was established by the first Bangash Nawab, Muhammad Khan, who fostered a guild of calico printers in the city. While little proof of activity comes from these dates, it is widely believed that the tradition is a thousand years old. Gazettes from the 1980s however mention that one of the most flourishing industries of the region is cotton printing, suggesting a long history.

Block printing in Farrukhabad is carried out not only through blocks made out of wood but also brass. The woodblocks are traditionally made from the wood of sal trees, locally known as sheesham. The wood of the tree is both hard to find and hard to carve, but they were preferred because of their durability. Additionally, wood from mango and ebony trees was also used. The blocks were carved out from scrap pieces of wood, which would be emulsified and sealed by carvers. Sketches were drawn on these blocks with a free hand using pencil and the area between the pattern would be carved out using small, flat and pointed iron bars known as kalam. Each block would be finished with a wooden handle and a couple of cylindrical holes drilled across it to allow air passage to release excess dye and paste. To ensure the longevity of the patterned edge, the block would be dipped in oil.

The artisans of the school practice two types of printing: block printing and screen printing where the former is the more traditional of the two. Before the development of woodblocks, the artists used to engrave potatoes and stamped the cloth using vegetable and natural dyes. With the woodblock, the designs became more stable and intricate, making the textile produced more decorative. Cotton and silk fabric were used, along with dyes derived naturally from plants, animals and minerals. The colour scheme was dominated with primary colours such as red, yellow and blue; using turmeric and tesu flower for yellow, iron filings mixed with jaggery for black, indigo for blue, red from madder, marigold petals for mustard, henna leaves for golden and pomegranate bark mixed with curd for green. These colour solutions were thickened with gum.

A grey fabric undergoes intensive treatment before it is printed upon. Its protruding fibres are removed by singeing and it is treated with starch. It is boiled and bleached to release the colouring within and mercerised to give its surface uniformity. Thus, the fabric becomes even and ready to absorb the colour through blocks. When printing, the portions of fabric to be printed are raised in relief on blocks of wood, which are arranged together. Finer designs, which are not cut on wood, are transferred by inserting small pieces of copper strips and pins. For instance, coloured dots are produced by blocks bearing several pins (ten to forty in number). The entire fabric is stretched out and pinned over the printing table. The colour is laid out in a tray. The blocks are dipped in outline colours – usually dark, if not black. It is applied to the raised edges of the block and stamped by hand with a wooden mallet. Depending on the density of the pattern and the design, each successive stamp is adjusted accurately to the block and placed carefully. To ensure that correct spots are printed over, pitch pins are fixed on the edges of blocks which maintain precision and uniformity of the pattern. The fabric is ironed to pack in the colour, and then washed and dried. Among the designs and patterns common to the Farrukhabad school were simple butis in the shape of polka dots, paisley, kairi (mango) and the Tree of Life. Nearly fifteen different Tree of Life patterns are believed to have been developed by the printers of the school. Farrukhabad block printed shawls, sarees, suits, scarves, as well as domestic decorative fabrics such as bedspreads, blanket covers, curtains and cushions were popular in commercial markets.

The wood printing technique has been on a steady decline since the arrival of mechanised methods. Many of the artists of the region migrated to Sanganer where block printing still enjoys a particular clientele. In Farrukhabad, newer methods and materials have become common, including screen-printing, digitally rendered carving, acid washes, synthetic fabrics like polyester and nylon, chemical dyes and finishing techniques such as calendaring. In March 2013, Farrukhabad block prints received the Geographical Indication (GI) tag from the Government of India.

A clothing brand that sells Indian handlooms and home furnishing, Fabindia was established as an export house in 1960 by American businessman John Bissell. The brand is known for its handwoven sarees, apparel and home decor items, as well as organic food and skincare products.

Bissell established Fabindia with the dual purpose of showcasing Indian handlooms and providing employment opportunities for artisans and weavers. The brand was originally involved only in export and not manufacturing, working directly with artisans to source material for export. In 1964, Bissell partnered with Madhukar Khera, who ran a carpet manufacturing business, as well as British businessmen Terrence Conran to source Indian textiles for interior design.

The company forayed into the retail market in 1976, with the first store opening in the N Block Market in Greater Kailash, New Delhi, which sold leftover items from export orders. In 1999, John Bissell’s son, William Bissell, took over the business and prompted a shift from handloom and handwoven products to power loom products to attract a wider market across price. Fabindia expanded further into retail throughout the early 2000s, establishing outlets across major cities in India. Bissell also developed community operating companies (COCs) through supplier regional communities (SRCs), which were self-managed by artisans, weavers and craftspeople. The model offered artisans joint ownership of resources with the company and provided facilities and training. The model has since been diluted.

In 2007, Bissell set up the Artisans Micro Finance Private Limited (AMFPL), a microfund which brought local artisans together with regional supply companies and allowed them to borrow money against orders from Fabindia, thus developing a supply system that was not dependent on single loom weaver units, while establishing a standard system for production and delivery. Rural artisans were trained and, along with designers, developed products in designs that followed current trends. In 2006–07, Fabindia launched Rangasutra with Sumita Ghose and Vineet Rai as its first community-owned company, with shares divided between the company, the artisans, Rai, Ghose and the employees at Rangasutra. Fabindia launched sixteen other subsidiary supply companies similar to Rangasutra, incorporating over twenty-two thousand artisans as shareholders through these schemes. This system has been diluted in recent years, with focus shifting to the development of regional clusters to speed up production.

Fabindia works directly with artisans, craft and rural clusters and organisations to aid and develop supply. It has established eleven production hubs across the country to manage orders and bring vendors in contact with artisans. The brand sources its materials from textile and artisan clusters across the country, including ikat from Odisha, ajrakh from Gujarat, bagru block prints from Rajasthan, chanderi, Maheshwari cloth and Banarasi weaves, cashmere products, hand block printed textiles in indigo and red dye, among others. It has also expanded to include accessories such as jewellery, bags, home decor items and food products by acquiring a forty per cent stake in Organic India. In 2020, Fabindia launched The Revival, an initiative that sold handcrafted designs and products to directly benefit and provide sustainable livelihood to the rural sector.

Over the years, Fabindia has been criticised for some of the strategies it has adopted to expand the brand, such as setting up stores in shopping malls and centres as opposed to standalone heritage properties, as well as the use of power loom fabrics and the use of synthetic and polyester as opposed to handloom cotton. In 2018, Fabindia became involved in a copyright issue with the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) over their use of the term khadi and the symbol of the charkha to market their products. This is considered illegal under the Khadi Mark Regulations Act (2003) and the Khadi and Village Industries Commission Act (1953), which states that products cannot be marketed as khadi products unless they carry the khadi tag issued by KVIC. Consequently, the brand declared that it would cease from using the khadi tag on their products.

Today, the brand is considered one of the most profitable retailers in the country. As of writing, Fabindia is headquartered in New Delhi.

An intricate and meticulous technique of tie-resist-dyeing, double ikat is currently practised in only three countries in the world: India, Indonesia and Japan. In it, the warp and weft are resist-tied according to a specific design and, when woven, intermesh seamlessly to reveal this pattern. For this reason, the process of preparing the warp and weft yarns for dyeing demands the same degree of mathematical precision as the process of weaving the textile on the loom.

The process of double ikat begins with the plotting of the design on a graph, which is then carried over on to the warp and weft yarns. The preparation of the warp and weft yarns is a crucial step in the double ikat process. A single double ikat textile has a pattern with repeating motifs and it is common for weavers to create multiple textiles with the same pattern. For example, in patola weaving, the warp prepared suffices for three patola saris of the same pattern and for telia rumals, as well, multiple pieces with the same motif arrangements are woven. The yarn is folded in such a manner that the plotting of the design on the yarn and the tying can be done at one time for all the pieces. This is an economical choice as the tying of the yarn for patterns is done by hand, making it a time-consuming and intensive process. However, because tying for multiple fabrics is done at a single time, the process of leasing becomes important when preparing the warp and weft.

Leasing is the method of separating individual silk threads in a precise manner in order to ensure that the threads remain untangled, the pattern can be marked correctly and, by extension, the tying and dyeing are also done exactly, all of which ensures a refined design on the final textile. It is a practice followed in single (warp/weft only), combined and double ikat. Leasing is also used to demarcate units, or the number of threads woven per inch of the design. The number of threads in a unit changes depending on the thickness of the yarn. The process of marking the warp for leasing begins with the warp being stretched fully on a frame, and leasing rods and cords are used to demarcate different units, groups, and subgroups. The pattern is then tied on a frame of the length of a single piece and special care is taken at every stage to maintain consistent tension, as any distortion in the warp can affect the marking of the pattern and, therefore, the final product. In the case of telia rumals, too, the warp for multiple pieces is prepared, and the units, groups and subgroups are manually marked and separated.

A similar process is followed for the weft. In the case of the weft yarn, the leasing is done on a small frame whose width corresponds to the width of the final fabric. In the case of telia rumal, an instrument locally known as asu is used: it is a semi-circular frame fitted with nails, around which the weft is wound, and a wooden peg at one corner. In the case of patola, the weft instrument is a simple beam with a wooden peg at one end and a manoeuvrable iron rod at the other. Leasing is done as the weft is wound on the instruments and, typically, the weft is prepared for sets of two, four or six pieces at a time. The grouping, subgrouping and tying of the pattern may be done on the asu, as with the telia rumal, or on a separate frame after winding, as with the patola. In the case of telia rumal, the preparation of the weft is also done after the warp has been set on the loom, while in patola, it is a common practice for the warp and weft to be tied and dyed in parallel.

Between each dyeing cycle, the warp and weft may be put back on the frame to remove one set of ties and add another. This depends on the colour scheme required for the final textile.

Once the dyeing process is completed, another round of preparing the warp and weft takes place. The ties are opened and the number of threads and their order is checked again with the help of leasing sticks. Any broken threads are mended at this stage. In the case of patola, the warp border strips, both patterned and plain, are attached to the main group of yarns at this stage. The ready warp is then set on the loom. The warp is also starched at this stage. The weft is also similarly checked, wound onto bobbins for the shuttle and, finally, ordered in a sequence that corresponds to the design.

Pit looms are used in Telangana for the weaving of the telia rumal, while patola weaving entails the use of a simple horizontal handloom, which is placed at a slant. The weaving process again demands precision, as the warp and weft have to mesh precisely for the pattern to emerge. In the case of patola, this process is made more exacting by the need for precise outlines of motifs and for this, the weaver and a helper work together, assessing the piece every few inches and adjusting the outlines of the motifs with needles.

A handwoven, ankle-length lower garment, the dakmanda is part of the traditional attire of women of the Garo community in Meghalaya. Worn as a wraparound skirt, it consists of a thick, unstitched cloth with a six to ten inch border at the bottom.

The dakmanda was traditionally woven from a long-staple cotton, called khildig, which is native to the Garo hills. Over time, however, cotton fibre has given way to other fibres such as acrylic yarn or silk, particularly Mulberry, Eri and Muga silks. Paired with a blouse and a stole of either matching or contrasting colours, the dakmanda – unlike the daksare or the gana – is worn mostly on formal occasions. Its border typically features a woven pattern with concentric diamond shapes called the muikron, meaning “eye” in Garo.

Prior to the dakmanda, most Garo women wore a loincloth called the E.King, which they weaved at home. Though still worn in some parts of Meghalaya, in most places the E.King has been replaced by the skirt-like dakmanda. The earlier version of the dakmanda was shorter and the introduction of longer hemlines has been attributed to the influence of Christian missionaries, who encouraged more conservative forms of dressing among the Garo.

A coarse, thick, handspun and flat-woven cloth, cumbals are made of wool, cotton or a combination of fibres and dyed in natural colours. Also known as kambalarna and kambalaka, cumbal is the widely used Hindustani term for blanket and derives from the Sanskrit word kambala, meaning “blanket.”

The earliest textual references to the fabric have been found in the Atharva Veda and Mahabharata. In India, different communities have different regional blanket and blanket-making traditions and practices, such as the Ghongadi made by the Dhangar community; the handspun goat fleece blankets made by the Gadarias (goat herders) of Madhya Pradesh; the Chutka blankets produced from Tibetan sheep’s wool by the Bhotias of Uttarakhand; the Gabba from Kashmir; and the Jamakkalam blankets from Tamil Nadu.

The production and usage of cumbals are localised, since the wool is obtained from livestock native to the region, and therefore, are an economical alternative to shawls. After production, cumbals are embellished with floral and figurative motifs made by embroidery, applique and mirror work, and the designs differ between communities. The blankets are commonly sold in local markets and village fairs.

Today, the communities engaged in weaving and producing cumbals have taken up other professions due to the rapid industrialisation of the textile industry, and makers rely on inexpensive synthetic fibres and dyes to produce the blankets.

The print was widely known for its popular usage on ghagras (skirts) for women. It was also used on the local outfits for women such as fetiya (a local term for skirts) and bandhej lugda (long fabric draped on the head). It was used in more expensive textiles such as the Maheshwari cotton and is now used on fabrics like silk, crepe and georgette. Modern designs such as geometric waves, graphic elements and shapes have been integrated into the motifs and more colour combinations using red, green and black are used. Apart from garments, it is frequently used in accessories, furnishings and home decoration, signifying that over years, it has garnered popularity that has broadened its consumer base and therefore its range of production. Additionally, organisation Aavaran in Udaipur has also contributed towards the revival and promotion of dabu.

A type of phulkari typically donated to temples and gurudwaras, darshan dwar phulkari has a red base fabric embroidered with threads of various colours, most often yellow. The name of the textile translates to “the gateway (dwar) for beholding the divine (darshan).”

The embroidery is characterised by a set of columns running along the sides of the fabric, topped with arches pointing away from the centre. The space in the middle of the phulkari resembles a pathway and is populated with human and animal figures, giving it the appearance of a busy street. The borders are filled with geometric shapes, usually diamonds, stars and triangles.

The use of dwar phulkaris in religious shrines is considered to be a recent phenomenon, primarily owing to the lack of historic phulkaris in the possession of temples and gurudwaras, as well as an absence of any rituals involving them. It is also believed that the colonnade motifs in this textile may have originally referenced colonial-era buildings in Lahore, which were popular recreational venues; this may also explain the animated people and animals depicted in the centre of the fabric.

Examples of historic darshan dwar phulkaris can be found in the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

A long, unstitched piece of cloth draped around the lower body, the dhoti is a term for the traditional garment worn by men in different parts of India. It is usually paired with a kurta or a shirt. The word dhoti derives from the Sanskrit word dhauti, meaning “to clean or wash,” referring to the tradition of washing one’s clothing every day. Historically, the dhoti may have descended from an ancient garment called the antariya, which was worn around the waist and draped similar to the modern day dhoti.

Like the lungi, the dhoti is mostly made of cotton, however dhotis in other fabrics such as silk and tussar are often worn for special occasions. The most common method of wearing a dhoti involves knotting the two sides of the fabric at the centre of the waist, looping one side between the legs and pleating and tucking it at the back, while the remainder of the fabric is pleated and tucked in securely at the front. The result is a loose, trouser-like drape that typically ends at the ankles. The length of an average dhoti can measure anywhere between 3.6 m (which is wrapped around the waist like a sarong) to 4.55 m (meant to be looped and tucked at the back of the waist).

The dhoti is known by different names in different parts of India, such as dhotiyu in Gujarat, chadra in Punjab and dhotar in Maharashtra. The variations in the garment itself occur in the style of draping and the length at which it is worn. For example, the one worn in Bengal, called the kochano dhuti, includes pleats made at one end of the fabric, which are either held in the hand or tucked in at the front.

A broad sash worn around the abdomen, or at the waist, the cummerbund covers the parts of the wearer’s shirt and trousers. Its name comes from the Urdu term kamar band, meaning “waistband,” and it is woven in cotton, wool, silk or synthetic fibres, most commonly in black, red or white. The cloth may also be embroidered with floral and vine motifs or left plain. Traditionally, the cummerbund had several pleats in the cloth, used for storing items including coin and tobacco pouches and ceremonial daggers. It was worn to support the lumbar region of the body, for warmth and to protect the skin against the harsh climate of the tropics.

While it is difficult to ascertain definitive dates for the origin of the cummerbund, it is present in various cultures such as the Ottoman Empire, pre-Modern Albania, Crete, Nepal and Britain as a part of their ceremonial, military and everyday dress. In India, the cummerbund was part of an officer’s uniform in the British army as an alternative to the waistcoat; a trend that was incorporated into the military uniform of the sepoys. By the late eighteenth century, British soldiers serving in India wore a flannel woollen cummerbund, often referred to as a “cholera belt.”

In recent times, the use of cummerbunds has shifted to a decorative piece of garment worn during ceremonies displaying a marked shift from its historical use.

A needlework technique or decorative effect, cutwork involves cutting away sections of fabric in predetermined designs or simple holes and using various embroidery stitches to define or embellish them. The technique is thought to have originated in Italy during the Renaissance period of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, where it was termed punto tagliato. A key component of cutwork is the embroidering of the “holes,” by either filling them in or bridging them through needlework. Cutwork, usually done on cotton or linen fabric, has been used for making decorative and fashion textiles, accessories such as handkerchiefs and head coverings and home furnishings such as bed linen, pillow-cases and tablecloths.

Two main forms can be seen in the European tradition of cutwork: In one, the cut-aways or holes form a minor part of the design, as seen in Norwegian Hardanger lace; in the other, and more popular type, the holes form the central elements of the design, such as in the Italian reticella, the Czech-English broderie Anglaise, the French Richelieu and the Danish Hedebo. Believed to have originated in monasteries in Rome and created originally for use by the Church and its clergy, cutwork was popularised in sartorial traditions by Mary Tudor (1516–58) and Elizabeth I (1533–1603) in the sixteenth century. Different regions across Europe had different forms and iterations of the technique adapted to specific purposes and aesthetics. Outside Europe as well, there were forms and variations of cutwork — some that had emerged independently and some influenced by the European forms. In India, the technique is used in the popular embroidery tradition of chikankari and the eyelet embroidery of hakoba.

Chikankari uses a variation of the cutwork technique in its jaali work, which uses needles to push the warp and weft of the fabric apart without cutting into the cloth or drawing out threads, creating an effect of an open mesh. The threads of the cutwork are not drawn through, thereby ensuring that the back of the cloth is undisturbed and that the strength and integrity of the cloth are not compromised. Hakoba employs intricate embroidery, traditionally done with white thread, around small eyelets. In this form of cutwork, the embroidery on the fabric ground is more prominent than the cutwork itself.

Cutwork embroidery began to be mechanised in 1868 with the invention of a hand-embroidery machine that was able to make holes in the fabric and render finishing stitches around the edges. In the 1980s, the industrial schiffli machine was invented, which could embroider complex and intricate patterns in a variety of stitches. The fabric so produced is now widely used in the fashion industry.

An embroidery technique consisting primarily of a simple chain stitch using woolen thread,is called crewel embroidery. Some scholars believe that this technique originated in the twelfth century among the mochi (cobbler) community of Kutch, who used it to embroider leather and was later popularised by the Mughals. Others suggest it was first used by craftsmen from Damascus during Sultan Zain-ul-Abidini’s rule in Kashmir, in the sixteenth century, where it is known as kashida or zalakdozi.

It is done with quick successive movements of clockwise and anticlockwise rotations of the ari hook resulting in brightly coloured, slightly raised motifs. While similar to ari embroidery, crewel makes use of a thicker awl and is used to embellish coarser materials like leather, upholstery and drapery. Common motifs that are embroidered include floral patterns and naturalistic motifs such as birds, trees and leaves.

In Kashmir, crewel embroidery is most commonly used to embellish shawls and carpets with the Chinar tree leaf as the most significant motif. Other motifs include hunting scenes and the almond. Unlike the crewel leather embroidery, artisans use threads of varying colours and types — such as rayon, artificial silk, wool — to embroider. Crewel leather embroidery is used by the Chavda and Banni Meghwal communities in Gujarat and Gohil community in Rapar, among others, to embroider leather footwear and belts with a white cotton thread. Today, artisans embroider items of home decor, such as cushion covers and bed spreads, and other products such as bags, shoes and belts, which are then sold in commercial markets.

Woven with spun cotton yarn and textile scrap of cotton or leather, chindi dhurries are floor coverings or rugs that are identified by their bold stripes in solid colours. A distinctive feature of the dhurrie is its weave, comprising a weft of spun yarn and a warp of unspun, shredded fabric, known in Hindi as chindi. These rugs are mostly produced in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh but are also made in certain parts of Madhya Pradesh. Chindi rugs may also be made entirely with fabric scraps through the process of braiding, coiling and stitching; these are round in shape and usually only decorative.

Textile scraps picked up in bulk from various garment and stitching units are shredded into small strips to prepare for weaving. The warp threads are attached to a horizontal ground loom with two wooden beams into which the chindi is inserted with fingers, according to a set pattern on the graph. This form of weaving is similar to the process of making panja dhurries, another type of floor covering, as both techniques use the panja, a fork-like tool used to keep the yarn tight while weaving.

The chindi dhurrie is an important example of the practice of repurposing and recycling, integral to the traditional textile industry of India. It is also one of the few crafts to use this concept expressly for the purpose of producing a commercially viable product. Their production is, unlike in most traditional carpet-weaving practices, mostly handled by women.

Chutka is a traditional blanket made by the Bhotias of Uttarakhand, who are nomadic pastoralists of Tibetan origin. Made from the wool of local sheep, it is a heavy cut-pile shaggy blanket that offers protection against the cold winters of the region. Most Chutka blankets have a plain background without any motifs and weigh between 3–4 kilograms. They are woven for both personal use and for sale in local markets, cooperative or khadi centres, and annual village fairs.

The Bhotia community includes the Shaukas of Kumaon as well as the Tolchhas and Marchhas of Garhwal, and the Chutka is woven differently in the two regions. The weavers in Garhwal use vertical looms, while the Shaukas – who once led a semi-nomadic lifestyle and used backstrap looms – weave their blankets on horizontal treadle looms.

To make a Chutka blanket, the locally-sourced wool is first cleaned using a natural cleansing agent made of a wild fruit called pangar. It is then handspun on a charkha, dyed and woven using a looping technique. Earlier, natural colours extracted from tree bark and fruits were used to dye the Chutka, but these have largely been replaced by ready-made industrial dyes.

The Bhotias also produce other wool-based handicrafts such as pankhi (woollen shawls), thulma , dann (carpets) and asan (prayer mats).

Paired with the ghagra or saree, the choli is a tight-fitting blouse that is fastened either in the front or the back. Derived from the Sanskrit chola or cholaka, meaning “long coat” or “jacket,” the garment usually falls to the hips.

The origin of the choli can be traced to the first century CE, with the uttariya, an unstitched cloth used to cover the upper body and worn by both men and women during the Vedic period. This evolved to the stanapatta, also known as kanchuki, which was a bodice used by women to cover the breasts and is considered to be the direct predecessor of the choli. The kanchuki is believed to have evolved into the kanchali in Rajasthan and the kanjari in Gujarat and parts of Sindh — the latter of which is distinct from the choli in its shape and stitch; whereas the kanjari is square, does not have cups for the breasts and is fastened by cords, the choli is rounded to fit the shoulder, has cups that cover the breasts and may be fastened with hooks as well as cords.

Stitched garments such as cholis are believed to have been introduced to the Indian subcontinent from Central Asia in the beginning of the first century CE by the Kushanas or the Sakas. Evidence from sculptures and paintings suggest that the choli became widely worn by women, especially palace dancers, during the Gupta period. While the choli, ghagra and odhani combination was a popular attire among Hindu women in several parts of the country, it also came to be worn by Muslim women in the nineteenth century. Women in Rajasthan and Gujarat, especially of the pastoral communities and tribes, wear similar attires regardless of their religion.

Cholis have varied across the country and with time, not only in design but also in relation to class, caste and community. The design and shape of a choli can indicate the region and community of the wearer; for instance, cotton stanapattas were common during the Gupta period, whereas cholis from Gujarat reflect the embroidery and textile practices of the state. Variations in necklines, sleeve-length, blouse-length, back fastening or front fastening and bare-back or back-covered designs have led to the emergence of different trends in cholis. This has also resulted in modifications to the cholis that are worn with sarees, although the traditional variety still continues to be worn by women in communities across India.

While some scholars believe that the choga was introduced to India in the sixteenth century CE, with the reign of Babur, others believe that this form of dress had existed in India long before that period, especially in parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat, where the harsh climate necessitated a protective outer garment. While the choga is no longer in active use, it has had a notable influence on the modern-day sherwani, particularly in the latter’s design.

Between the eleventh and nineteenth centuries, cloth from the Indian subcontinent occupied the largest share of the global cotton trade. Domestically, cotton was woven into a variety of garments specific to the subcontinent, such as sarees and dhotis. The appeal of Indian cotton was not only its softness and lightness, but also the variety of patterns and depth of colour. Kalamkari and chintz were dyed fabrics that became exceptionally popular across the world. Indian dyes such as madder and indigo were derived from plants native to the subcontinent and had a vibrancy that resulted from regionally specific and carefully guarded dyeing techniques. Most exports of cotton from India came from ports along the western and eastern coasts, as well as the larger hinterlands present-day Gujarat, Kerala, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh that these ports serviced. Indian merchants traded both finished and unprocessed (or calico) fabric in Eastern Africa, West Asia and Southeast Asia, with the earliest evidence being a fragment of patterned cloth from Gujarat that was found in Egypt and dated to the fourteenth century. There was also a considerable exchange of knowledge and a strong Indian influence on design in the native textile industries of these regions.

Between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, European powers — initially the Portuguese, then the Dutch East India Company — became a regular presence in the trade of Indian commodities, gaining shares due to demand flowing in from new colonies such as Mozambique, Java and Indonesia. By the eighteen century, however, the British East India Company came to control the actual production of cotton fabric in India. In that century and in part of the next, Indian chintz — which could be easily mass-produced — was tailored to European demand, and sold by the Company in Europe and the Americas. In Britain and France, during the early eighteenth century, a blanket ban was imposed on imported cotton to protect the native textile industry from the highly coveted and competitive Indian chintzes and muslins. While this ban did not prevent the British East India Company from selling Indian-made cotton goods elsewhere, it did grant European manufacturers time to devise ways of mechanising the production of cotton fabrics.

By the end of the eighteenth century, machine-made fabrics allowed these manufacturers to start producing large quantities of cotton textiles themselves. The cotton gin, invented in the USA, was used to separate cotton fibre from the seeds at great speed, allowing for an exponential rise in production of US-made cotton and therefore a corresponding reduction in the demand for raw Indian cotton, while the Jacquard loom, spinning mule and decades of careful study of Indian dyeing techniques entirely mechanised the weaving and finishing processes and shrunk the market for Indian chintz. By the mid nineteenth century, India supplied the world with a modest quantity of hand-painted kalamkari goods and raw cotton, while Indian consumers largely bought the relatively cheaper British-made chintz instead of native cotton textiles.

A cornerstone of the Indian independence movement was khadi, or handspun cotton yarn, which was seen as a pro-handicraft, nativist rebuttal to a market that was flooded with British cotton fabrics. In order to keep up with global demand, however, industrialisation was an essential component of cotton production in India for most of its independent history from the mid twentieth century onwards, although Indian-owned cotton mills have been active since the late nineteenth century. More recently, genetic modification has had a major impact on the nature of cotton farming in India. In 2002, Bt Cotton was introduced as a genetically-modified, pest-resistant variety that, due to transgenes from the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis, is resistant to bollworm and boll weevils, typically the biggest threat to cotton plants. This has allowed India to take the lead in cotton production globally, though problems such as pest resistance to Bt Cotton, generational falls in seed quality, and patent-related hurdles to the creation of a native genetically-modified cotton continue to persist.

Chintz was either printed or painted, with the former being done at workshops along the western coast of India, whereas the painting tradition was particular to towns such as Masulipatnam (now Machilipatnam) on the south-eastern coast. Printing was the faster method and allowed for mass production even before British control over the industry. The production of Indian chintz involved covering the cloth in resin, which helped confine the mordant to certain areas of the cloth while also brightening the colours. The resin would later be washed off before the cloth was printed or dyed, making this technique unique to Indian chintz and differentiating it from imitation chintz produced by early European manufacturers; since resin alum had to be imported to Europe at high prices, the cotton cloth printed or dyed in Europe had duller, less defined colours. After being washed, the cloth was printed using wooden blocks that had the pattern carved onto them. The block was coated evenly with dye and pressed on the fabric, with a different block used for each colour and outline.

Chintz is used extensively in upholstery and clothing. In Europe, until the nineteenth century, imported Indian chintz was the preferred cloth to make curtains, upholstery and, to a lesser extent, dresses. Some scholars believe that chintz began to be used for garments when maids were given old or damaged household textiles, which they would fashion into dresses. As chintz dresses became more fashionable, manufacturers began to sell the dull, heavier cloth for household use and a lighter, more glazed cloth to serve as clothing.

By the early nineteenth century, chintz printing and glazing were being produced in Europe with the aid of synthetic dyes, specialised machinery and systems of mass production. Owing to the ban on imported Indian cotton, cheaper British cotton began to outnumber block-printed textiles from India, and Indian exports of the fabric became limited to a small number of painted chintzes from the Coromandel coast. Today, most chintz fabrics are produced through mechanised printing, which became the norm from the late nineteenth century onwards.

A reversible phulkari that features prominently in wedding rituals, a chope is a large red chaddar (or wrap) embroidered with yellow and gold thread.

The chope’s design is composed of geometric forms, mainly triangles and lattice formations, with the occasional inclusion of a peacock or cow motif. Thin lines in the pattern are embroidered in any colour other than yellow or red as a nazarbuti motif, believed to protect the bride from misfortune or malevolent stares. The embroidery is applied using a double running stitch, making the design visible on either side of the chope. The decoration is denser towards the longer sides of the chope than the middle, and the short sides lack borders. This results in a red stripe that runs lengthwise through the middle of the chaddar, narrow through the body and widening at each end, meant to signify endless fortune for the bride wearing the chope.

The chope is of great ritual importance to the bride’s family. Her maternal grandmother traditionally begins embroidering the chope on the day she is born. The phulkari is then gifted to the bride by her maternal uncle during the chura charana or bangle-wearing ceremony, a wedding ritual in which the women from the bride’s family sit together and sing suhag or matrimonial songs. The chope is draped around the bride by members of her family after the vatna or ceremonial bath that she takes before the wedding.

Chopes continue to be made and used in traditional Punjabi weddings. Examples of historic chopes are held in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

A form of hand embroidery associated with Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, chikankari or chikan work, as it is popularly known, consists of intricate needlework in a variety of stitches, traditionally using white thread applied on white cloth. The origin of the word chikan is contested among scholars, who have traced it variously to Persian words chakeen (a coin with which artisans were paid) and chiq, the latticed screen for women in purdah. Chikankari employs at least thirty different stitches that can broadly be divided into three groups — flat stitches, raised or embossed stitches and jaali work. In its traditional form, it is similar to the European whitework embroidery, but has recently started incorporating coloured and silk threads.The embroidered cloth, and garments made from it, were once considered an epitome of luxury and refinement, enjoying the patronage of nobility and aristocracy of princely states.

As with the origin of the term, the historical origins of this practice are obscure due to the lack of evidence. Most scholars trace its origins to the rafoogars (cloth menders) of jamdani weaving, some also suggesting the link based on illustrations in Mughal miniatures. However, among its practitioners, the more popular origin stories are those that attribute it either to empress Nur Jehan or the Begum of Murshidabad. The earliest material evidence of chikan work is from the nineteenth century, when the main production centres were in Calcutta (now Kolkata), Dacca (now Dhaka), Peshawar (now in Pakistan) and Madras (now Chennai). It became popular in Lucknow around the same time under the patronage of nawab Nazir Ud Din Haidar and was soon appropriated by its artisans, who further developed the craft. The technique has since been used to create delicate motifs, such as bel and buti on garments, hats and household linen, most commonly covers for bolsters and cushions.

The production process for chikankari is divided into three phases — chapya (printing), tankha (embroidery) and dhulayi (washing). In the first, patterned wooden blocks are used to print designs on the fabric using temporary inks such as safeda and neel, which are washed off in the final step. In the tankha step, various stitches are selected, depending on the fabric and motifs to be embroidered. Specialist embroiderers handle different sections or types of stitch, which traditionally serve highly specific and non-overlapping functions. Among the flat stitches commonly used are zanjeera, a simple chain stitch used for the outlines; bakhiya, a satin stitch that is either made on the underside (ulta bakhiya) to produce a shadowy effect or on the facing side as a design fill; katao, a form of appliqué or patchwork; and jawaz, a kind of katao on the reverse side. Some of the raised and embossed stitches that characterise chikan work are murri, an elongated knotted stitch that has a grain-like appearance; phanda, a shortened, “millet-shaped” variation of the murri; and badla, a series of short satin stitches made over the outline of a motif. Flat and embossed stitches appear alongside jaali work,which involves making small perforations that are held taut by a series of stitches to resemble a screen or net. The jaali, which are thought to be inspired by the latticed screens or windows characteristic of Indo-Islamic architecture, are made in a variety of forms including haathkathi, bulbul chashm, makia, mandrazi, phool jaali and sidhaul jaali.

On average, an artisan must master four to five stitches out of thirty and train for at least fifteen years before they can achieve proficiency in the technique. A single chikan-work garment can take ten to fifteen days to make. The activity, which is undertaken in karkhanas or “workshops,” used to be a male dominated, but now is performed mostly by women.

Chikan work experienced a decline due to loss of patronage and its associated system of royal workshops as well as the emergence of a market economy. This was compounded by industrialisation and the introduction of less expensive and low-maintenance textiles. The 1980s, however, saw its first revival among the women artisans in Lucknow, where chikan work was promoted as a means to economic empowerment and livelihood improvement. Chikankari embroidery received the Geographical Indication (GI) status in 2008 and is protected under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection) Act, 1999 by the Government of India.

Chay and other natural dyes were quickly replaced by their synthetic counterparts with the invention of aniline dyes in the late nineteenth century. Today, although natural dyes are undergoing a minor revival, synthetic dyes continue to hold the vast majority of the global market.

Imperial patronage and workshops continued under the reign of Akbar’s successor Jehangir, and by the seventeenth century, Agra became a commercial centre of carpets. Under Jehangir’s patronage, craftspeople such as Akhund Rahmuna, who briefly served as the governor of Kashmir under Jehangir, travelled to Central Asia, where they learned carpet making at Andijan, Uzbekistan, and disseminated these skills amongst Kashmiri weavers, resulting in Kashmir emerging as a hub of carpet making. The carpets produced during this period also demonstrated Central Asian influences through motifs such as trees, hills, lakes, fish and wild animals.

The demand and popularity as well as royal support during this period transformed the carpet industry from an informal to a small-scale industry, which led to innovations in style and design, such as the inclusion of natural-looking flowering plants depicted in profile or rows against a plain backdrop.

Scant evidence of carpet making from the seventeenth century onwards indicates that royal patronage of weaving centres may have been discontinued owing to socio-political conflicts. A few imperial workshops were still functioning, with Mughal emperor Aurangazeb appointing an official to supervise carpet weaving for the royal household. Bharatpur, Jaunpur and Zafrabad, as well as the Deccan, emerged as leading centres of carpet production during this period, whereas the designs and patterns of the carpets remained largely unchanged.

In the early-seventeenth century, carpets became important trade commodities, with coarse carpets from Jaunpur and silk carpets from Bengal being traded by the Portuguese; as many as forty-six carpets were exported to England in 1619, and by 1625, traders such as the British East India Company were involved in exporting carpets. This led to the establishment of regional carpet-weaving centres in regions in northern India, such as Bhadohi, Mirzapur, Amritsar and Panipat, which were largely managed by private enterprises, in addition to royal workshops at Multan and the Amber Palace under Maharaja Sawai Man Singh I. These carpets produced featured the millefleur design, characterised by clusters of small blossoms spread across the carpet. This period also saw the use of the talim in carpet weaving, especially in Kashmir and Amritsar, to dictate patterns to the weavers — a process adopted from shawl making.

With increasing trade with Europe in the nineteenth century, the demand for Indian carpets also increased. The Great Exhibition of 1851 displayed several Indian carpets, including Kashmiri knotted carpets. Subsequently, several dealers shifted their carpet-making and exporting ventures from Central Asia to India. The period also witnessed the mass emigration of Kashmiri weavers and artisans to other regions such as Amritsar, which developed into lucrative carpet-knotting centres, while places such as Jaunpur and Mirzapur continued manufacturing inexpensive rugs based on designs supplied by European industries. Jail workshops also emerged as centres of carpet production in the mid- to late-nineteenth century, owing to the availability of convict labour, the relative ease of teaching carpet weaving and the inexpensive raw material and technology involved in production. Jail workshops incorporated designs and motifs from older and traditional carpets, contributing significantly to the revival of traditional design in the nineteenth century. By the late-nineteenth century, nineteen jails in the Bombay Presidency were involved in carpet making, and a carpet factory was set up in Ahmedabad that operated around fifteen to twenty looms and produced carpets exclusively for the American market.

Over the years, carpets have been used in many ways; intricately decorated carpets were used primarily as decorative floor coverings in royal courts and religious buildings such as mosques and temples, as well as seating for guests at public events. They were also often used as royal gifts as well as decorative and floor coverings at royal courts. Relatively lower quality floor coverings, called dhurries, were used by the public at home or in public spaces.

The long legacy of carpet design, development and usage in India has led to the development of a wide variety of carpet designs and techniques across India, including kaleen knotted carpets, gabba, khabdan pile carpets and galeecha knotted carpets, knotted carpets from Agra, Bhadohi, Bomdila, Machilipatnam, Mirzapur, Varanasi and Warangal, and Tibetan carpets from Kullu, Ganjam, Darjeeling and Dehradun. Today, the Indian carpet industry is primarily export-oriented, aimed at markets in the US, UK, UAE, Italy, Australia, Turkey, Japan, Netherlands and Sweden. Notable collections that feature Indian carpets and rugs include the Calico Museum of Textiles, Ahmedabad; Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh II Museum, Jaipur; the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

It was under the patronage of the Scindia royal family that the Chanderi saree was revived in 1910; the main body was woven in muslin cotton warp and silk weft with zari work in the borders. With the introduction of Japanese silk in 1945, Chanderi was woven with silk warp and 100-count cotton weft, which became a popular blend. By the 1970s, the sarees were increasingly being woven with silk warp and cotton weft, owing to the durability of silk and the unavailability of the root needed for sizing muslin cotton. The combination of dyed silk warp with plain cotton weft led to the creation of unique pastel shades, which can be seen especially in extra weft, patterned-border Chanderi saree.

Traditionally the Chanderi fabric was woven using solely 200-count cotton yarn. The fabric was woven into pagdis (headdress), kurtas and saree, and prized for its delicate texture, making it as famous as the jamdani of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Variations on the Chanderi saree with silk warp and weft have also been woven in recent years and manufactured as luxury products.

In Chanderi, the jaala technique is still used to weave the saree, a technique that even disappeared from Benarasi looms in the early 1900s. Using the jaala technique, motifs and designs are hand-drawn and converted into a naksha for the textile: this is then seeded into a jaala that is used for creating complex patterns in the fabric. The weaving process is completed with the help of the entire family, a common practice in the villages surrounding Chanderi. Finally, zari thread from Surat or Benaras is used to embellish motifs and decorate the saree borders. A plain Chanderi saree can be woven in three days, while a saree with ornate zari work and complex patterns may take up to fifteen days to finish.

The silk and cotton yarn of a Chanderi saree are dyed separately, and the use of natural dyes produces the pastel shades characteristic of the silk warp and cotton weft blend. However, readymade dyes are preferred to create sarees in bright colours such as parrot green, turquoise, white, red and blue. The transparent nature of the Chanderi fabric is owed to the use of single flature cotton and silk yarn in the weaving process, where the natural gum of the yarn is not removed, producing a shine and transparency in the cloth.

A water-soluble colourant, lac dye is usually red to burgundy in colour and is extracted from a resin produced by the insects Kerria lacca and Laccifer lacca. Lac dye is used for dyeing wool, silk, and colouring food. The word “lac” derives from the Sanskrit laksha, meaning “100,000”, referring to the large number of insects typically needed for making the resin, dye and their byproducts. Lac was known in the subcontinent from at least the first millennium BCE. It is mentioned in three texts from the period: the Atharvaveda, the Astadhyayi of Panini, and the Mahabharata, where the Pandavas are almost killed in a flammable building made of lac resin and ghee. A dye recipe for lac is found in the Nayadhamma Kaha, a fifth century CE Jain text. Lac dye has been used in woolen Persian carpets since the eighth century, and was introduced to Europe in the late sixteenth century through Portuguese agents in India.

Lac insects have a parasitic relationship with trees such as the Indian jujube (Ziziphus Mauritiana), kusum (Schleichera oleosa) and palash (Butea monosperma). The insects infest the trees by piercing the bark and drawing nutrients from the interior. The resin secreted by the insects can be processed into shellac. This can be shaped into jewellery or used to finish wooden surfaces, which is why lacquer was originally made with lac. Lac insects are cultivated by tying an already infested branch or twig to a tree, and periodically harvesting these as the colony expands across the tree. Today, lac is cultivated primarily in the states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal, often by adivasi populations in forested areas.

Lac dye gets its red colour from the laccaic acid present in the hemolymph or body fluid of the lac insect. It is obtained by separating the insects from the branch and the resin, crushing them and dissolving the result in an alkaline solution. This solution is then acidified and treated with chalk, which reforms the dissolved dye as a sediment. The sediment is allowed to settle for a week. The resultant crystallised form of lac dye is then strained out and added to a hot dyebath while still damp. A mordant, ideally tin chloride, and the fabric to be dyed are added to the bath and allowed to sit for an hour as it simmers. After the colour has reached a sufficiently deep shade, the cloth is removed, rinsed and allowed to dry.

Until the invention of synthetic aniline-based dyes in the late nineteenth century, lac dye was the primary product of lac cultivation in India. It continues to be used in a minor capacity for handicraft textiles, and more commonly as a natural food colourant.

A patchwork quilting tradition practised by women in northern Karnataka for household use. Kowdhi, variously spelled kaudi, koudi and kowdi, is made by reusing old cloth, typically a mix of printed and plain pieces. The composition of the patchwork and other aesthetic decisions are left entirely to the artisan. These quilts are sometimes gifted to a bride on her wedding day by her mother.

The cloth used in kowdhi quilts is sourced from old clothing, and to a lesser extent from the waste cloth discarded by tailors. Such waste scraps are washed repeatedly to remove excess dye and to make them as soft as old worn cloth. The artisan then uses a pencil and wooden frames to trace outlines of regular geometric shapes onto each piece of fabric. These shapes are cut out of the fabric and sewn together with a single, unbroken thread in a running stitch to form the top layer of the quilt. The middle layer is usually a polyester batting (or filling) to ensure that the quilt is warm. The bottom layer is a cotton sheet whose pattern or colour is chosen to compliment the patchwork on top. All three layers are sewn together in a grid pattern, first with large loose stitches to temporarily hold the cloth in place, and then with short, firm stitches along the patchwork pattern of the top layer. The final stage involves stitching the edges together, either by hemming them in or closing the edges with additional strips of fabric and sewing them down.

Kowdhi quilting is a small-scale practice that is underrepresented in the handicraft market. Some NGOs, such as BuDa Folklore, have made attempted to keep the tradition alive by holding workshops, commissioning quilts from local artisans and selling these through the craft collective Lyaavi. Although quilts are the traditional form, today kowdhi artisans use the technique to create other household textiles like mats, bags and table runners.

Traditionally, the shawls made from local wool are woven on pit looms, whereas commercial or fine wool shawls are woven using a frame loom or jacquard loom. Kullu shawls can be woven using both the throw-shuttle and the fly-shuttle technique, with the latter producing more uniform fabric at a faster speed. The fly shuttle is first fixed with the required weft yarn before being passed through the warp using the twill-weaving process. The warp wool yarn is first set up by rolling the yarn onto a warping drum through which it is set tightly on the warping beam. Once the required amount of warp is set up, it is mounted on the frame loom, after which, the warp yarns are pulled over the loom and threaded, according to the design, through healds and the reed before being wound around the front beam of the loom. The weaving process of Kullu shawls is undertaken by both men and women. Once woven, the threads at the ends of the shawl are tied together to create tassels. As a final step, the shawl is washed and dyed in case chemical colours are required.

The pattis on the shawls can be woven separately on small, narrow looms. The detailing on the border are added using the extra-weft technique, after the main pattern has been woven. Common patterns include geometric designs, chabi (keys), birds, dabbidar kirk (spotted snake), diwar-e-Chine (Great Wall of China), guddi (doll), gulab (rose), gyatung, kangha (comb), leheriya (waves), tara (star) and mandir (temple). The border patterns are woven without the use of graph paper or sketches, using the dovetail or the slit tapestry technique. Then, the pattis are machine-stitched at the end of shawls, or as decorative elements in bags, hats or other products. The patterns are rendered in bright primary colours such as red, green, blue, yellow, pink, orange and white, although increasing commercial demand has led to a shift in the colour palette to muted pastel shades.

Kullu shawls are one of the foremost handloom products that contribute to the economy of Himachal Pradesh, with nearly every family in the region involved in making the shawls. Of the over twenty thousand weavers in the area, nearly sixty per cent are occupied in producing the shawls collectively or as part of weavers’ cooperations. The raw material is supplied to cooperatives by organisations such as the HP Apex Weavers Society, who supply the materials to individual weaving clusters and groups engaged in the craft.

The shawls received the Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2004. Today, they are sold in registered cooperative shops and local markets throughout Himachal Pradesh. Commercial shawls are woven using mill-spun and chemically dyed merino wool, with bright acrylic yarn used for the patterns. The Himachal Pradesh Handloom and Crafts Cooperation also signed an agreement with e-retailers such as Flipkart and Amazon in 2021 to facilitate the sale of handloom products online in an effort to counter the effects of COVID-19 on the markets and tourism of the state.

Woven in Kerman, Southeast Persia (now Iran), Kerman carpets were introduced to India through trade routes with Iran and were widely used during the Mughal era. The most popular varieties of the carpets include those woven by the Afshar community settled in Sirjand, Shahr Babak and Rafsanjan, as well as the Laver-Kerman carpets from Ravar.

Kerman carpets are divided into three categories based on their density — 70/35, 80/40 and 100/50 — where the first number refers to the number of warp strings across the width of the fabric and the second number indicates the number of weft sets in the length, measured per gireh (1 gireh = 7 cm or 24 inches). The rugs are knotted and made of sheep wool, with the occasional use of cotton and animal fibre. The weft is closely woven to the warp using several loops of wool to create a piled rug. Generally, the piles are woollen, with a cotton base, and handspun wool is preferred to obtain the desired texture. The patterns are symmetrical with a double weft, though some may have a single weft and a knot. Traditionally, natural dyes were used to create colour patterns, with light pastel tones for the base colour and cochineal-based, plum red for the designs.

The arrangement of the knots, warp and weft of the carpet can be used to determine the origins of the carpet. The weavers use a naksha to render the designs on the carpet. The design consists of geometric and floral motifs, including individual boteh, interlinked boteh and vases in the borders and background patterns. Whereas there are design variations depending on the village and region where the carpet is produced, all Kerman carpets feature floral motifs, such as the carpets produced by the Kijar Afshars, which are densely floral and feature medallions. While the vase carpets have been attributed to different places, the broadly held view is that they originated from Kerman. Another common motif is the palmette, lancet-leaf and the hooked diamond subsidiary motif, which reflect a Turkish lineage. The 1950s saw a French influence on Kerman designs, such as the incorporation of rococo on the scrolling leaves and flowers on the carpet.

Kerman carpets were widely exported till the First World War, even incorporating Biblical themes in their designs. However, the rapid industrialisation of the industry in the twentieth century due to increased demand in Europe led to a decline in the quality of the product. Today, many of the traditional carpets are regularly auctioned. Examples of Kerman carpets are also held in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the Albert Hall Museum, Jaipur; and the Textile Museum, Washington DC.

Today, kilims made with chemical and synthetic dyes are used not just as rugs and floor coverings but also as mule saddles, bags, upholstery, cushion covers and wall hangings. Antique kilims are held in the collections of numerous museums and galleries, including the Textile Museum, Washington DC; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, Istanbul; and Sotheby’s, London.

Pile carpets woven on a vertical loom, believed to have originated in Tibet (now Tibet Autonomous Region) and made by the Buddhist and Muslim communities in Ladakh, khabdans are widely used as floor coverings in houses and prayer rooms of monasteries and are considered ideal for winters.

Traditionally, the khabdan is 3×6 meters in size and has a stretched warp of unbleached cotton threads, while the weft is made of natural, handspun wool or synthetic wool (in recent times), dyed in various colours. The weaver, usually a woman, sits on the floor, or a raised stool, in front of the loom to weave. The process begins with the insertion of an iron rod perpendicular to the warp. The weft thread is then looped around both the rod and the warp and knotted; this is repeated to create a horizontal row of knots and most khabdans have 48 knots per square inch. After a row of knots is created, the rod is removed and the weft is beaten down with a comb-like device known as the punja and hammered with a wooden dhunki (hammer). In a final step, to complete a row, the loops are cut with a knife called tee and the remaining hanging threads are clipped with scissors resulting in an evenly cut and raised pile surface.

Khabdans often feature motifs placed either in the centre, at the corners or a combination of both with a geometric border along all four edges. The motifs are typically outlined in a contrasting colour, lending dimension to the surface. The designs are largely drawn from Mahayana Buddhist iconography, particularly the eight auspicious symbols; the lotus, the eight spoked wheel, the vase, the parasol, the white conch, two golden fish, the knot of eternity and the victory banner. Other common motifs are dragons (druk or duk), snow lions, clouds, flowers, birds and medallions, which have stylistic influences from China, Mongolia and other parts of Central Asia, as a result of historic trade in the region dating to the tenth century. Khabdans in orange and red – both auspicious colours – are created specifically for Buddhist monks residing in monasteries and incorporate religious motifs such as the swastika in the centre of the design.

Khabdan making is one of the few craft traditions, alongside wood carving, that has survived in Ladakh and continues to be practised in the region. The production of khabdans is centered at Choglamsar as well as other parts of Ladakh that house Tibetan settlements, while government run centres at Leh are known for promoting and encouraging craftspeople engaged in khabdan weaving. The technique used to make khabdans is also practised in other parts of India where Tibetan and Buddhist communities reside, such as Darjeeling, West Bengal as well as parts of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh.

Khadi is usually produced in a plain weave, but can also be produced for fine muslin apparel which may be striped, chequered, dyed or plain-woven. These stripes are introduced into the texture of khadi through the systematic insertion of multiple warps or wefts. Heavier woven varieties of khadi are often used to make khol (quilt covers) and chaddar (coverlets). Plain weave khadi is used as a foundation for sarees, often with additional textural features such as jamdani. These khadi-patterned weaves are mostly produced in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and West Bengal.

Khadi remains closely linked to the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, who endorsed the production of the fabric as a way of boosting rural employment as well as boycotting the profusion of British-made goods in the Indian market. From 1918 onwards, images of Gandhi using a charkha (or spinning wheel) to make khadi began to circulate and, under his leadership, the fabric became an emblem of the Swadeshi Movement and of Indian resistance to British rule. The popularity of the fabric grew and supporters of the freedom movement began to not just make, sell and buy khadi clothing, but also used the fabric to decorate and furnish their homes. In 1922, the Indian National Congress set up a Khadi Department, which was followed by the establishment of the All India Khadi Board two years later.

The overall attitude of championing khadi has endured over time. Governments and policies, in line with Gandhi’s vision, have continued to endorse and popularise the fabric. In 1953, the Indian government set up the All India Khadi & Village Industries Board and, in 1956, it established the Khadi and Village Industries Corporation (KVIC) to continue the national promotion and production of the home-spun textile. The KVIC is one of the largest textile retail networks in the world, with over 57,000 employees.

Although the KVIC has facilitated numerous technological changes in the pre-spinning and spinning processes, production of khadi remains a slow and arduous process when done completely by hand. Today, there are only a handful of regions where khadi is made by hand, from start to finish. These areas include the Madhubani district of northern Bihar and the Srikakulam district of eastern Andhra Pradesh. In most regions, the spinning process has become completely mechanised. The mechanised, and consequently faster, methods of making khadi have enhanced the volume and speed of fabric production, resulting in an increase in earnings. However, deviating from the hand-made forms of production has led to a decline in quality as compared to traditional khadi fabric and yarn.

Despite a decrease in demand, khadi remains an important symbol of the Indian independence movement and continues to support large populations of rural artisans across India even today.

A fine, handwoven textile made of cotton and silk, Kota Doria is largely produced in Rajasthan and is known for being comfortable and lightweight, even with the incorporation of decorative embroidery.

Believed to have been introduced to Rajasthan from Mysore in the seventeenth century by Maharaja Kishore Singh, Kota Doria is also known as Kota Mysuria and Masuria Malmal. The fabric derives its modern name from a combination of the word daria or doria, meaning “thread” in Hindi, and the town of Kota in south Rajasthan, which is renowned for its production of the textile. The region houses several communities that weave the fabric for the production of sarees, upholstery and other clothing items. At present, the Kota Doria industry in Kaithoon district, one of the only places where the fabric continues to be woven, is controlled by around fifty male master weavers and the Kota Women Weavers Organisation, which has 155 members who are involved in repairing the looms and producing and dyeing the yarn.

The fabric is considered to have been originally intended for men’s turbans, which required narrower and longer pieces of fabric. However, over time, it has begun to be used for odhanis and sarees, which have now become the primary item of production in the industry. The fabric is woven in a way that creates a transparent checkered pattern. Each check is known as khat and usually consists of fourteen yarns — eight cotton and six silk — with over three hundred khat squares occurring across a 46-inch-wide saree. The cotton yarns lend the fabric its transparency while the silk contributes to its strength and firmness. Kota Doria is also characterised by intricate butis woven and embroidered using silk, cotton and gold or silver zari. The fabric also sometimes features batik printing and applique work. Whereas the most familiar and traditional Kota Doria sarees have a cream-coloured, unbleached base, they are sometimes coloured using vegetable and azo-free dyes.

Kota Doria is manufactured on traditional pit looms using the throw-shuttle technique, which allows for considerable improvisation, and each stage of the process is carried out by hand, with a simple saree taking nearly twenty days to be woven. Lately, the traditional processes involved in the production of the fabric have been facing several challenges, including lack of product diversification, absence of contemporary designs and value addition compounded by international fabric production, which has resulted in the fabric being woven with materials such as bamboo viscose with the aim of modernising it. The widespread use of power looms has also threatened the Kota Doria handloom industry, especially with the introduction of power loom sarees woven in Varanasi and Kolkata. A number of steps have been taken to ensure the survival of the craft, such as the setting up of the Kota Heritage Society, which has been working with weavers to empower them with digital literacy and accessibility, sourcing of raw materials and financial stability.

Kota Doria received a Geographical Indication tag in 2005 for its regional specificities and significance for Rajasthani communities. Today, Kota Doria is being incorporated in the apparel of chains such as Fabindia as well as the works of fashion designers.

Traditionally, women undertook the craft between March and June, after they had sold their harvested crops and were able to spend some of this income on the raw materials for kasuti work. Cooperatives like the Janata Shikshana Samithi have held training programs where older women teach kasuti embroidery to the younger generation as a valuable source of personal income, and the students are also given a stipend to compensate for their time spent away from the farm. Scholars like Kamala Dongerkery have also been instrumental in securing support for kasuti craftspersons to prevent the craft from dying out. Since it is practiced mainly in southern Maharashtra and Karnataka, the largest market for kasuti goods today is Mumbai.

However, the making of Kapdaganda is becoming unpopular with the young Dongria Kondh women today due to the shift towards mainstream contemporary trends and the availability of affordable mass-produced clothing. The Odisha state government and organisations such as Dongria Kondh Development Agency (DKDA) have undertaken programs to preserve the Kapdaganda weaving and embroidery tradition since the 1980s, for instance, Ama Parampara Ama Jeevika, a three-month training program for women in Kurli and Munikhol villages. Members of the Dongria Kondh tribe have also expressed concern about the fashion industry’s appropriation of the traditional Kapdaganda design – textile brands and designer labels have been known to create imitations of the Kapdaganda shawls, diverting demand away from the Dongria Kondh artisans who produce these shawls commercially – and are taking measures to curtail this by seeking a Geographical Indication (GI) tag for the shawl.

A luxury brand that specialises in creating pashmina products, Kashmir Loom was established in 1998 by Jenny Housego and Asaf Ali, with studios in Srinagar and New Delhi. The products are handspun and handwoven using fine pashmina wool with modern design incorporated into traditional products.

A British textile historian and designer, Housego first established her textile company Shades of India in 1992, before she was introduced to Asaf Ali who was involved in the carpet making business. They eventually started the luxury brand and opened it for the public in 2000, with the aim of preserving tradition while modernizing design elements within classic shawl designs. One of these iterations involved using metallic yarn with pashmina wool to embellish embroidery, something that their master weaver Ghulam Hassan was initially against. Their success in revitalising old age designs pushed the company towards rethinking kani woven shawls and dorukha shawls in minimal and contemporary designs. The products themselves are hand-woven using traditional Kashmiri weaving and embroidery practices. The ground pashmina is hand-spun using a charkha as pure gossamer yarn, which is woven by the weavers, primarily men, into the soft and luxurious fabric. The brand specialises in creating pashmina shawls and stoles, kani weave shawls, dorukha shawls, embroideries such as suzuni and papier-mache and solid cream cashmere products.

Kashmir Loom products are sold in exclusive outlets across India, as well as in international stores such as Jim Thompson, Bergdorf Goodman and Takashimaya stores, and in museum stores of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. MoMA also featured three shawls from Kashmir Loom in their exhibition Items: Is Fashion Modern? (2017) as contemporary iterations of shawls to acknowledge thei​​r profound effect on fashion over the last century.

An umbrella term for embroidery traditions which originate in Kashmir and are executed with an aari, kashidakari is often also referred to as crewel embroidery. The various types of kashidakari include sozni, kani, amli, rezkar, tilla and dori, all of which have unique characteristics and applications while also sharing many elements of the embroidery process, materials and design. The embroidery is applied to a variety of garments, but particularly to pashmina shawls and namda blankets. Common motifs in kashidakari include butas, lotuses, cypress trees, Chinar leaves, butterflies native to Kashmir and birds like parrots and magpies. Human forms are generally absent, although in rare cases, hunting scenes were embroidered on commissioned pieces during the medieval and early modern period.

In Kashmir, kashidakari embroidery is traditionally practised by men and the knowledge and skills are handed down from father to son. The fabric to be embroidered is placed under a perforated sheet on which the intended design is drawn with coloured powder or charcoal by the designer or naqshband. The sheet is lifted and the outline of the design is drawn by hand around the powder marks. The embroiderer – in the case of kashidakari this is usually the same person as the naqshband – uses an ari needle to execute the motifs in the fibre or zari yarn, after which the markings are washed off.

A Kanjivaram saree consists of three distinct parts that are woven separately — the body of the saree, the border and the pallu. The raw silk yarn is first dyed using natural and synthetic dyes, then stretched and coated with rice starch to lend it strength and stiffness. Subsequently, the length of the yarn is tied and stretched between poles to remove any knots. The yarn is then transferred onto spools and spindles using a spinning wheel. The warp yarn is transferred onto iron rods, known as warp sheets, from which they are transferred to the weaving beam where the yarn is passed through heald shafts and reeds. The silk yarns are manually joined to old warp threads on the loom — a process that is usually undertaken by the women of the community. The patterns on the pallu and border of the saree are made using punch cards, which aid the lifting of threads and automate the patterning process.

The sarees are woven on the jacquard loom using the fly-shuttle technique. The warp and weft are interlaced, after which the chain of the jacquard is pulled to tighten and form the weave. A warp of about 18 metres can typically weave three sarees of 6 metres each, with a warp count of five to six thousand. Traditionally woven Kanjivaram sarees weigh between 750–1000 grams, with each saree originally woven to nine yards (8.22 metres) and gradually shortened to six yards (5.48 metres).

The pallu and solid-coloured borders of the saree are usually dyed in the same colour and woven as one unit, while the body of the saree is woven in a separate and contrasting colour, onto which the border and pallu are then attached using the korvai technique, wherein supplementary warp threads in a contrasting colour are joined to the main body of the saree on either side of the main warp. The pallu is woven using the petni technique, wherein the thread colour is changed by preparing the same amount of contrast-colour yarn as the body warp and loop-twisting both warps on the heald wires on the opposite end of the loom. Once the twisting is done, the heald shaft and reed are slowly moved back so that the looped thread can move automatically through the healds. The pallu colour is interwoven with the body colour for up to one inch, creating a shot colour border between the pallu and the body, after which, a single shuttle is used to weave the pallu. The embossed zari designs on the pallu are woven using the jala or adai extra-weft technique, using threads that typically constitute 57 percent silver and 0.6 percent gold.

The ground of the saree is usually rendered in tonal ranges of arakku (red) or manjal (yellow), with the borders comprising dark blue, black or gold decorated with brocade zari work. The body of the saree is either sadha (plain) with coloured borders, or woven with higher count weaves such as seeru (striped) and kattam (checkered) with pettu (patterned borders) or mundani (end pieces). The design and motifs in Kanjivaram sarees are inspired by temple architecture and sculpture, as well as designs that imitate the pattern of the rudraksha or sacred beads. Other common motifs include flowers, leaves, fruits, mayilkan (peacock’s eye), swans, parrots and mallinaggu (jasmine). Kanjivaram silk is also used to make pattu langas, or skirts worn by teenage girls.

The introduction of power looms led to the production of mechanised and imitation Kanjivaram sarees; however, traditionally woven sarees continue to use the jacquard loom. Since pure silk Kanjivaram sarees are relatively expensive, cooperatives have begun weaving cotton sarees featuring Kanjivaram motifs, which allows them to reach a wider market through reduced costs.

Kanjivaram silk received the Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2005. As of 2008, over five thousand families in the Kanchipuram region were engaged in weaving across the twenty-five weaving and sixty dyeing units in the area.

The running stitch is the basic building block of most designs; other stitches have been included through the influence of the changing textile market during the colonial rule such as cross-stitch, satin stitch, back stitch and herringbone stitch. Design elements derived from the choice of stitch include anaras (pineapple), wave-like lohori running stitch and the geometric par tola representing triangular kautar khupi and diamond-shaped borfi. Kantha embroidery made by Hindu women contains human and animal figures while Muslim women traditionally depict geometric patterns and repetitive floral imagery.

Broadly, there are eight kantha traditions that vary based on usage, stitch and imagery: Nakshi kantha, a quilt produced mainly in Bangladesh carrying natural imagery with large floral motifs in each corner and accompanied with a border; Sujani kantha is a large blanket embroidered in cross stitch with scenes from Indian epics or folk stories at the centre and a border with geometric patterns; Arshilata kantha is used to cover handheld mirrors, combs and cosmetics, usually bearing floral motifs around a mandala; Durjani kantha is a bag made by stitching together three corners of a square textile; Bayton kantha is a square cloth for wrapping books and is designed in a mandala format with a Satadala Padma design in the centre surrounded by motifs from Indian mythology and deities; Lep kantha is a thick quilt made with several layers of cloth and embroidered with floral and geometric motifs in a wave-like pattern; Oaar kantha is a pillowcase with a distinct border along the edge and embroidered with natural motifs in lines of running stitches; and Rumal kantha is a handkerchief with decorated borders and a lotus motif at the centre.

While kantha has historically been a household tradition in rural Bengal – the textiles primarily being given as gifts or used by the embroiderer’s family – it has attracted a significant market in recent years. The craft received encouragement from Revivalist artists at Shantiniketan (now Visva-Bharati University) in the 1940s, and again in the 1980s through Shamlu Dudeja’s organisation Self Help Enterprise (SHE) which incentivised women to practise kantha embroidery commercially. In Bangladesh, a renewed interest in Nakshi kantha has been attributed to artist and designer Surayia Rahman. Today, its distinct running stitch designs are often used to embroider sarees and blouses, although such garments are made with a new cloth material and in many cases are produced in states without an established kantha tradition, such as Gujarat and Rajasthan. Kantha embroidery continues to be popular, providing a significant income to many practitioners.

Warm, lightweight handloom garments originally made in Kashmir using pashmina or shahtoosh yarn, Kashmiri shawls were traditionally made by weaver families, with the women spinning the yarn and men weaving the fabric. The shawls are characterised by their intricate buta pattern, woven using the kani twill weave or embroidered in sozni and amli, which are applied on a plain base. These shawls were also called ring shawls since the material was so fine that the entire shawl could be pulled through a small ring.

The earliest mention of Kashmiri shawls dates to the eleventh century CE, and they have been traded across North Africa, West, Central Asia and Russia since the sixteenth century CE. Imperial patronage has played a key role in the movement and design of the shawls. In India, the garment and its weaving industry received patronage from Mughal kings, who presented allies and high-ranking guests with the shawls as khil’at. This custom was later adopted by the Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who incentivised Kashmiri weavers to relocate to parts of Punjab in the early nineteenth century.

The shawls also became part of European fashion from the eighteenth century onwards, facilitated by the British East India Company. While the shawls were worn primarily by men in South and Central Asia, in Europe, they were marketed as luxury apparel for women, with cashmere soon becoming symbolic of elite taste.

Following the development of European mechanical looms, mass-produced imitations of various Indian textiles, including Kashmiri shawls, became commonplace in Europe and across the world. The buta motif was replicated in Western versions of the garment and became more stylised with each iteration and more common in both high- and low-quality imitations of the Kashmiri shawl. The motifs on the pre-colonial designs of the shawls, which had simpler butas and floral elements that were limited to the borders, were soon replaced by the new paisley patterns all over the fabric favoured by Western buyers.

Today, Kashmiri shawls are a luxury product; it usually takes artisans up to a year to produce a single shawl, and the garment has limited functional value compared to more affordable polyester-based clothing. At present, traditional Kashmiri shawls are produced in limited numbers and face strong competition from machine-made shawls spun from materials other than pashmina.

The practice of creating intricate designs on a handloom using a complex twill-tapestry method, kani weaving is used to make delicately patterned shawls in fine pashmina yarn. The name of the craft practice is derived from the local term for the needle-like, eyeless wooden bobbin, kani, used for winding the weft threads, around which the coloured weft threads are wound. It is also a reference to the village of Kanihama, where its earliest form is believed to have originated from.

Kani shawls are distinguished by their weft-facing design. The designs, typically featuring geometric, floral, bel and badaam motifs, are made on a pale twill-woven base, usually made from undyed, almond-coloured yarn to heighten the contrast. Kani weaves, long considered a luxury commodity, have enjoyed a tradition of patronage in royal courts, especially of the Mughals, Rajputs, Sikhs and Marathas.

Some of the earliest evidence of the kani shawl, from samples and fragments dated to the late-seventeenth century, shows a deep visual affinity to the Iranian termeh tapestry. The complex tapestry technique used today, however, emerged in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Kani weaving is a laborious and time-intensive process that involves several stages and several artisans specifically engaged in each of them. The design of the shawl is first prepared by the pattern-drawer (nakkash), who passes it onto the tarah-guru who decides the colour combination and calculates the yarns required for each shade. These details are provided to the warp-maker (nakatu) and warp-dresser (pennakamgur), who are responsible for preparing the warp on the four-shaft treadle loom. The talim-guru prepares the notation for the pattern in a shorthand format known as talim — prepared on graph paper — based on which the master-weaver (ustad) instructs his weavers. Following this, the weft threads are handwoven using kanis, with sometimes as many as fifty kanis (and corresponding coloured yarn) being used for a single design. More recently, and especially when making elaborate designs, the weaving is divided over two or more looms in order to hasten the process. In these instances, once the separate designs are woven, the cloth is handed to the needle-worker, who joins the designs seamlessly into a single shawl. Kani shawls were traditionally one-sided, with the double-sided (dorukha) variety emerging as the last of its innovations in the late nineteenth century. Depending on the complexity of the designs, one shawl can take two weavers between six months and two years to complete.

The kani weaving industry faced a number of challenges and setbacks from the beginning of the eighteenth century: state and imperial taxes on goods that led to crippling debts; two famines in 1832 and 1877; and earthquakes in 1827 and 1885. The famine prompted large-scale emigration from Kashmir to Punjab and the subsequent establishment of looms in Amritsar, Ludhiana, Sialkot and Jalalpur and Nurpur, with Amritsar emerging as an important centre. However, with the decline of courtly culture and royal patronage in Lucknow, Poona (now Pune), Gwalior, Indore and Tanjore (now Thanjavur), the domestic demand for kani shawls saw a considerable dip. This decline was compounded, towards the end of the 1880s, by a drastic decrease in the European export of shawls, due to the introduction of mechanised equipment, such as the jacquard loom, and the transfer of design knowledge to local textile hubs such as Paisley, Scotland. In these dire circumstances, and in the absence of proper management and economic relief, kani weaving died out almost completely in the state.

The practice saw its first significant revival at a training centre in Kanihama, set up by weaver and parliamentarian Ghulam Mohammed Kanihama. At the centre, weaver families from Srinagar and surrounding areas were taught the technique from masters such as Ghulam Nabi Mir, who were among the last generation of weavers in the 1800s, and trained to read and decipher the talim as well. The revival efforts also led to an increase in the demand for kani shawls, with the market showing interest from the early 2000s. In 2008, the Government of India conferred kani weaving the Geographical Indication (GI) status, which also gave it a significant boost.

Kani shawls are part of the textile collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and the Musée des Artes Décoratifs, Paris.

A coarse, light and strong fibre extracted from plants of the Corchorus family, jute is used to weave rough fabrics to make bags and sacks for the storage and transportation of agricultural and agriculture-based products (known variously as gunny, hessian and burlap) as well as to make ropes. Various parts of the plant are used in various applications, ranging from food production to raw material for industrial adhesives.

One of the earliest mentions of jute in India can be traced to the Mahabharata, where it is described as a fine fabric given as a gift to the Pandava princes at their coronation. From the colonial period onwards, when it was widely grown in undivided Bengal (present-day West Bengal and Bangladesh), jute began to be cultivated primarily for its use in the packing industry.

Of the forty species of Corchorus and the eight species under cultivation in India, the olitorius and capsularis species, believed to have originated in Africa and South China respectively, have the most acreage and commercial value at present. The jute species grown in India are monsoon crops that reach between 1.5–5 metres tall and thrive in rich, well-drained soil in regions with high relative humidity. After they are harvested, the crops are made to undergo a process known as retting, which consists of soaking the jute stalks until moisture and bacterial action breaks down the connective tissue and pectins to free the fibres from their stalks. Retting also cleans the fibres of debris and gummy residue. In a traditional alternative to the retting process employed in West Bengal and Bangladesh, the jute stalks are bundled together and beaten with mallets to loosen the fibres, then washed in water to facilitate the separation. The quality of the harvested jute fibre is judged by parameters such as fineness, uniformity, strength, colour, lustre, length and proportion to the roots. The overall quality generally depends on the planting season, the species and the retting process.

Jute fibre is strong, versatile and inexpensive to produce. It can be spun into almost any thread count, has high moisture absorption and is highly breathable. However, it is difficult to bleach, often returning to its original colour even after being dyed or altered. It may also weaken and disintegrate when wet. The versatility of the fibre has resulted in it being used in the weaving of fabrics, often in combination with other fibres such as cotton, viscose, wool and flax to enhance their qualities and increase weaving efficiency. Cotton–jute blends have several uses, from making carpets and linoleum backing to furniture upholstery, mattress covers and awnings. Spun fibres are also used in building materials and fastenings such as ropes, cordages and twine.

Jute is highly sought after as a raw material for the manufacture of regenerated cellulose, also known as viscose rayon. It is also used to make paper, although it has to be combined with cotton rags and bamboo for structural integrity. Additionally, jute is an important material in the cottage industry and the craft sector, where it is used in the production of decorative and utilitarian items such as ornamental floor rugs, wall hangings and handbags and purses. Jute leaves are also used as herbal medicine for stomach ailments in parts of the country, while the seed oil and oil cakes are used in the soap industry and as cattle fodder, respectively.

The development, promotion and marketing of jute and jute products in India has been spearheaded by organisations such as the National Jute Board, the Jute Corporation of India, Kolkata, and the Office of The Jute Commissioner, New Delhi. Several schemes have also been implemented to encourage jute cultivation and strengthen the industry; these include the Jute Packaging Materials Act (JPM Act), 1987; Jute-ICARE (Improved Cultivation and Advanced Retting Exercise); the Incentive Scheme for Acquisition of Plants and Machinery (ISAPM) for Jute Industry and Jute Diversified Products Manufacturing Units; and a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for raw jute.

As of 2018, Bangladesh and India together accounted for nearly 97 percent of global jute production. West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Odisha are currently the chief centres of jute production in India.

A prominent historian in the field of Indian textiles, Jasleen Dhamija contributed multiple books and extensive research on traditional Indian crafts, and played a key role in policy development and revival efforts. She was involved in formulating policies for the handicraft, handloom and rural livelihood sectors of India and several other countries.

Dhamija was born in Abbottabad (present-day Pakistan) where she lived until 1940, when her family moved to New Delhi. Here, she studied at the Presentation Convent School and later attended the University of Delhi. It was during these years that she developed an interest in handicrafts, fashioning bags and lampshades to sell at the Cottage Industries Emporium.

Dhamija began her career at the All India Handicrafts Board in 1954. During this time, she travelled extensively with Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay and met artisans across the country as the Board worked to formulate a policy for the revival of the handicrafts and handloom sectors in India. She later went on to write a biography of Chattopadhyay, which was published by the National Book Trust in 2007.

As an advisor and consultant, with organisations such as the United Nations Development Project and the World Bank, Dhamija worked in diverse geographic and social environments. In Iran, she worked on a project on rural non-farm employment, was an advisor to the Farabi University, Tehran, and authored the book Living Traditions of Iran’s Crafts (1979). Through the 1970s and 1980s, she worked on the revival of crafts practices and women’s livelihoods in twenty-one countries in Africa. She also worked with the United Nations in Central Asia. In 2011, she was appointed co-chairperson of the Handloom Development Working Group for the twelfth Five-Year Plan (2012–17) by the Planning Commission of India.

Dhamija authored and edited several works on textiles, costumes and folk arts around the world, including Indian Folk Arts and Crafts (1992), Woven Magic: The Affinity Between Indian and Indonesian Textiles (2002), Asian Embroidery (2004) and Baluchars: The Woven Narrative Silks of Bengal (2019). She also published two cookbooks, The Joy of Vegetarian Cooking (2000) and Cooking For All Seasons (2003). Among the exhibitions she co-curated were Threading the Commonwealth: Textile Tradition, Culture, Trade and Politics (2006) in Melbourne, Australia, and Powercloths of the Commonwealth (2010) in New Delhi.

Dhamija taught at several institutions, including the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad; the National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi; the University of Minnesota, USA; and the University of Canberra, Australia.

Dhamija passed away in March 2023 at her home in New Delhi.

Woven and hand-knotted carpets used as floor coverings and prayer mats, made from wool or silk, kaleens, meaning “carpet”, originated from Kashmir. The roots of the craft can be traced back to fourteenth century emperor Zain-ul-Abedin who took great interest in promoting local art, craft and literary traditions in the valley and invited expert craftsmen from Central Asia to introduce new methods of weaving amongst his subjects. Additionally, the designs on the kaleen are also identified by the names of carpet-weaving centres in Iran – where it is also a much-practised craft – such as Qum, Hamadan, Tabriz, Kashan, etc.

Kaleen making is labour-intensive and involves several months of work. Woven on a vertical loom, the craft requires wrapping a supplementary weft around each sequential warp to create a dense and sturdy fabric with a soft pile surface of short lengths of fine wool or silk yarn. The craftsperson uses tools such as kaleen van (vertical loom), khur (sickle-shaped blade), panja and dukari (scissors). Knowledge and skill to make the kaleen was passed on through the ancient master-apprentice method, where the apprenticeship would begin as early as six years of age. However, this learning tradition was discontinued as it was against the child labour law. Today, it is a generational craft tradition where the master craftsman imparts taleem by directing his weavers to follow the design plan or naksha.

This craft especially flourished under the patronage of Emperor Akbar I (1580 CE) who set up the royal workshops in his palace in Agra and carpet weaving centres in Agra, Delhi and Lahore. the designs were inspired by the traditional Persian motifs and patterns such as the chahar bagh (garden of paradise), medallion and the mythical, fantastical animals and hunting scenes which were common motifs found during Akbar’s reign. During Emperor Jehangir’s rule, the carpet designs consisted of patterns of vines, flora and fauna, including, gaja-simha (front-profiles of lions and tigers), elephants in combat, grapes and floral blossoms. Gradually the practice developed a unique character by employing dyed yarns and depictions of flora and fauna native to Kashmir such as chinar trees, pomegranates, cherries, magpie, kingfisher, etc. With developments in style and innovations, the craftspeople also started working with complex designs using the lattice systems and millefleurs pattern.

Today, the chahar bagh, the central medallion and the stylised trees and flowers designs are considered emblematic of the Kashmiri kaleen. Sehyar, Umar Colony, Nowab Bawaar, Nava Kadal, Fateh Kadal, Anchar and Dal are some of the production clusters in Srinagar where the craft is practised but the commercial trade of this craft tradition has been affected due to rampant urbanisation, neglect of the handloom sector and cheaper power loom made imitations available in the market.

A textile tradition where cotton textiles are traditionally hand-painted with pictorial narratives through a bamboo pen known as kalam, kalamkari emerged across the Coromandel coast in southern India and the state of Andhra Pradesh has long been considered its focal centre. Concentrated largely around the town of Srikalahasti, kalamkari’s other major centres of production include Machilipatnam (formerly Masulipatnam) and Madurai. It was originally referred to as vraata pani, which stands for writing (vraata) work (pani) in Telugu and during the reign of the Qutub Shahi dynasty in the sixteenth century, it was renamed kalamkari. While the exact point of origin for kalamkari remains unknown, the oldest surviving samples of the craft are dated from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. These samples were made as trade fabrics, to be exported to Southeast Asia, implying that kalamkari must have enjoyed sustained popularity in the region, pre-dating these samples.

Kalamkari consists of twenty-three steps including treating the fabric by bleaching it and then softening it; sun-drying; preparing natural dyes; hand-painting; air drying; washing; and finishing. Commonly, cotton is used which is then treated with a solution of cow dung and bleach casting the fabric in an off-white colour. This is followed by the immersion of fabric in a mixture of buffalo milk and myrobalans so that it absorbs and retains the colour of dyes and paints without smudging. The fabric is then rinsed twenty times and dried under the sun before it gets ready to be painted over. When ready for painting, the artists sketch out their drawings and later fill them in with colours. Kalamkari features drawings rendered with a strong black outline and the use of naturally extracted colours; black was made by mixing jaggery and iron filings with water, red from the bark of madder or alizarin, blue from indigo, mustard by boiling pomegranate peels and green by combining yellow and blue colours.

The painted kalamkari textiles were initially associated with temple worship as they were used as visual companions in both religious and secular contexts; they were used as hangings and canopies commissioned by Hindu temples, monasteries (maths) and by individuals. For the markets and court, kalamakari was used to produce textiles with secular narratives. The layout of the textiles was largely influenced by local traditions of mural painting as well as architectural forms such as lobed arches and pillars, trees and shrubs, which were used as framing devices. Themes depicted in the textile included scenes from Puranas and epics such as Mahabharata and Ramayana, with the latter enjoying a notable popularity. Other scenic depictions common to kalamkari were sacred sites of the region, such as the Kallalagar temple, Alagar Koyil and the Sriranganatha temple, Srirangam island. Additionally, Telugu epics, such as Katamaraju Katha, as well as biblical themes, were illustrated.

The major centres of kalamkari production have their own thematic and stylistic peculiarities. In Machilipatnam, kalamkari was used to produce canopies with mythological scenes for Hindu clients, prayer carpets for Muslims, tentage with floral designs for the royal courts, as well as yardage of chintz to be imported to the European markets. From the middle of the nineteenth century, the city saw a flourishing printing and dyeing industry which dwindled in the twentieth century. Madurai was particularly famous for its fine red dye, which had a distinctly deep colour. The kalamkari here was produced on coarse cloth that was stained and dyed in only two colours – red and black. At Srikalahasti, which is a temple town located close to Tirupati, the craft practice remains active to date and it is probable that the history of kalamkari work in the city dates further back than the fifteenth–sixteenth century, but due to the corrosive nature of the textile and lack of written records, there are no ways to qualify the claim. The local zamindars (landlords) patronised the craft, most of which was carried out to make temple cloth. By the 1930s and 40s, with the independence of India and ousting of the zamindari system, the patronage tapered off. However, it was revived by the All India Handicrafts Board, which inaugurated a production-cum-training centre at Panagal, on the outskirts of Srikalahasti. The Weavers’ Service Centre also promoted and offered commissions and training to the artisans.

Presently, kalamkari is predominantly secular in nature and caters to Indian and foreign markets with fabric for apparel and home linens such as curtains and bedspreads. In catering to these markets, the textile has witnessed a transformation, one that began with the trading textiles from Machilipatnam to European and Southeast Asian markets itself, wherein floral motifs were integrated instead of pictorial narratives and block-printing was employed for faster production becoming integral to kalamkari products especially when mass-produced. In 2006, Srikalahasti kalamkari registered a Geographical Indication (GI) tag, and Machilipatnam kalamkari did so in 2009.

A loose-fitting open-front tunic with a flared skirt and tied on the side with tassels underneath either of the armpits, is called a jama. Turko-Persianate in its origins, it is associated with the Mughal court where it became a prominent outfit. It was usually worn as an upper garment over a shirt with a pyjama below. 

Even as it features in a large number in Mughal and Rajput paintings and finds mention in chronicles of the Mughal court, travellers’ accounts and ethnographic records by the British, the point of its genesis in India is unknown. The word jama had wide usage and meant several things besides the outfit it came to represent. It became a popular garment from the sixteenth century onwards, but much debate surrounds the form that prefigured it, or the style that it emerges from. It is believed that the takauchiya coat, which was native to India, had its slits in its skirts removed on the orders of Akbar, thereby producing the full-skirted chakdar jama. Akbar also named the jama, in the local language, as sarabgati, literally meaning “that which covers the whole body”, as part of his programme to synthesise Hindu and Islamic customs and social life. Some scholars have also gone as far back as the rule of Kushanas to trace the presence of the jama in the Indian subcontinent. The yaktahijama (unlined jama) is understood to have been brought to the region from Central Asia by the Kushana dynasty in the second century. Evidence is found on Gandharan sculptures, Gupta coins, and the murals painted in the caves of the Ajanta and Bagh. 

The jama was adapted to the Indian climate. Used unlike a coat, it had a lighter fabric, while its length and flare underwent several transformations on the whims of rulers and changing fashions. The jama and its variants such as the angarakha and baga became formal articles of the court. By the nineteenth century, the angarakha became more prominent as Mughal imperial control diminished, and the cultural centre shifted to the court of Nawab of Awadh, and in the Deccan, it was replaced by the sherwani. At the same time, the silhouettes became more streamlined and garments such as achkans, sherwanis, and chapkans took precedence.

The fabric is woven using fine cotton yarn, with the patterns inserted by hand through extra-weft weaving using either a shuttle or a needle. The cotton yarn is processed and dyed before being sized and strengthened by applying rice starch from Kalma rice to the yarn. The sized yarn is transferred onto spools and bobbins to be used as the warp and weft. While the ground yarn of jamdani is made using fine cotton threads, the supplementary weft designs are made using thicker threads. While, traditionally, jamdani was woven only using cotton yarn, contemporary variations on the cloth incorporate other materials such as nylon, a mix of silk and cotton and pure silk. 

Both men and women are equally involved in the pre-weaving and readying of the yarn. Today, weaving is done on a jacquard loom, which allows for intricate designs to be transferred to the cloth using punch cards. Two weavers work side by side on the loom, counting and flicking the design thread from its individual spool across the width of the fabric using the kandi. The weaving of mul mul jamdani often requires a third weaver. 

After the design threads are fixed by the weavers, the shuttle is thrown across the width of the cloth, drawing the warp threads to a close. This process is repeated for every row to render the final woven product. The floral designs are rendered by hand through a discontinuous supplementary weft using a tool called kandul, where the weft is interlaced with the warp in zigzag patterns from an individual spool of thread using fine bamboo or metal sticks. 

Jamdani weaving uses a wide range of colour palettes. Contemporary jamdani features a base of naturally coloured or unbleached cotton with bleached white cotton designs; a pastel-coloured base with supplementary work in white; a dark base in colours such as dark blue, dark red or black, with the design in coloured threads; and a coloured base with the designs rendered using zari and cotton threads. The designs on jamdani could be rendered in a variety of patterns, primarily scattered floral designs throughout the fabric, known as butidar; a network of patterns across the cloth, known as jhalar or jala; or with the designs placed in linear diagonals, called terchi. Common motifs on jamdani include pati (petal), bagher paa (tiger’s paw), sandesh (sweets), ashrafi (gold coin), kainchi (scissors), panna hajar (thousand emeralds), kalaka (paisley or almond shaped), tesra (diagonal patterns), duria (polka dots), charkona (rectangular motifs) and other fruits, flowers and animals.  

By the early eighteenth century, the muslin industry in the country had essentially come to a halt and was further adversely impacted by Partition in 1947, with the focus shifting to the khadi industry. The colonial cultivation of cotton also shifted from Dhaka to Egypt and America, which impacted cotton cultivation in the region. The imported cotton was coarser and difficult to work with compared to fine muslin, resulting in less intricate motifs. Jamdani eventually became the only surviving form of cotton weaving in the region. Further, with the industrial revolution in England, the Indian subcontinent became an important market for cheap, British-made imitation fabric, which compromised the quality of the jamdani available in the region. 

After Partition, weavers from Bangladesh, particularly Tangail, migrated to West Bengal and settled in Kalna and Nadia, about hundred kilometres from Kolkata, where they developed the khadi-muslin industry, which recreated super fine thread for a 500-count yarn. By the twentieth century, Sonargaon had emerged as an important centre of jamdani weaving, and the textile became the preferred fabric for weaving sarees worn by women in the Bengal region. 

Today, the districts of Nadia and Bardhman in West Bengal, as well as Sonargaon and Rupshi in Bangladesh, are renowned for their jamdani industries. The Debnath family from Kalna, consisting of master weaver Jyotish Debnath and his son Rajib, specialise in making fine muslin jamdani using only hand-spun cotton, with the designs inserted using a fine needle in place of a shuttle. Additionally, master weaver Biren Basak from Nadia specialises in weaving narrative scenes using the jamdani technique. The Weavers Service Centre in Vijayawada was instrumental in reviving the Uppada jamdani technique when it was on the brink of extinction in the 1980s. Jamdani weavers today continue to follow traditional techniques and methods of muslin-making to retain the quality and authenticity of jamdani. However, a contemporary 46-inch-wide jamdani saree contains a maximum of 1,900 threads, as opposed to earlier varieties which would have thread counts of about 2,800 for a width of 40 inches.

In 2013, UNESCO added jamdani weaving to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The fabric also received the Geographical Indication (GI) tag in Bangladesh in 2016. Jamdani enjoys widespread popularity today, and samples of the fabric are housed in museums across the world, including at the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the National Museums Liverpool; the Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York; and the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), London. 

A large patterned floor spread, jajam is made communally in rural households across Rajasthan and is considered a people’s textile.

Printed on thick, handwoven cotton fabric, jajam’s production engages a community of artisans, including chhipas (printers), rangrezs (dyers), dhobis (washers) and kharadi (woodcarvers). The visual composition of jajams bears multiple, thick borders, along with a complex centrally-placed design. The designs that were printed on the fabric borrowed from local architectural motifs and the flora and fauna of the region – tigers, elephants, warriors surrounded by geometrical formations. Red and black were primarily used and their dyes were procured naturally.

Jajam, unlike many textile traditions, has neither been patronised by royalty nor has it enjoyed a commercial interest. It is meticulously crafted by members of a community and used during ceremonial or public occasions such as council meetings and festivals, as an item of exchange during marriages and as temple offerings. The chaupar motif figures largely in jajams. Block printed at the centre of the textile, it enabled two to four players to play a game of dice and race their pawns along its four-armed path. Thus crucial in entertainment and celebration, the normative size of a jajam was large enough to accommodate people.

With progressive urbanisation, however, the craft dwindled away and only a few printers continued to practice and pass on the skills. Natural ingredients have given way to synthetic fabrics and chemical dyes. Since 2016, there has been a concerted effort by the Wabisabi Project along with Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing to document the craft and culture of jajam. Additionally, it has been a subject of a documentary, Rediscovering Jajam.

One of the earliest types of horizontal looms, the manually operated pit loom gets its name from the pit over which the loom is set. The four posts of the horizontal loom are sunken into the ground, allowing the treadles to be located inside the pit, which the weaver operates using their feet.

The pit loom is considered to be an upgrade on the handloom and the backstrap loom for several reasons, due to which it also has comparatively higher production rates. Owing to its proximity to the ground, a pit loom is more stable than a handloom. Also, unlike the horizontal ground loom – where the warp is stretched between two beams, requiring the weaver to lean over the yarn as the weaving progresses – the warp is level with the weaver, making the weaving process less physically strenuous. Since the warp can be controlled by foot using the treadles, this leaves the weavers hands free, allowing them to pass the weft through the warp using a shuttle.

Some of the textiles produced using pit looms include ghongadi blankets, dhurries, kosa silk, thangaliya textiles and ilkal sarees among others. They are also commonly used to weave thin as well as bulky carpets and rugs, including reversible ones. A fabric that is commonly associated with the pit loom is khadi, whose name originally comes from khad, the Hindi and Punjabi word for pit.

There are two types of pit looms: throw shuttle pit looms and fly shuttle pit looms.

Resist-dyed and mordant-painted cotton textiles similar to chintz, pintados were known for their fastness of colour and fine quality. They were used to make quilts, spreads for carpets, tablecloths, chair covers, wall hangings, curtains and cushions. They were derived from the Portuguese pintadoe, referring to spotted, speckled or painted fabric.

Pintados were introduced to England in the seventeenth century. One of the earliest historical references to the textile can be traced to a 1609 letter from Surat to the Company headquarters. The textile was extensively traded by the British East India Company and was highly profitable.

Since the Coromandel Coast was the primary manufacturing hub of cotton textiles, towns such as Masulipatnam (now Machilipatnam) on the southern coastline were also famous for producing pintados.

The pintado differed from chintz in that the former was almost always painted, while chintz could be either painted or printed. Pintados were painted using the kalamkari technique and involved several stages, with the integration of weaving, dyeing and painting the fabric.

Stuffed quilts made with pintado were seen as fashionable in those times.

Pintados were sold as yardage or lengths measuring 13 yards (11.9 metres) and tailored according to intended usage. Pintados were characterised by a light background painted with intricate floral designs, depictions of exotic fruits and vegetables, patterns and narrative scenes. A popular motif among British buyers was the Tree of Life, often painted with deep red flowers on a plain background.

The pintado was banned in England in 1701, after the imposition of a duty tax of fifteen percent on dyed, printed and stained calicos. This ban was amended in 1720, making it illegal to use or wear pintado. The Manchester Act, passed in 1736, made provisions for linen warp and cotton weft fabric to be printed, but it was only in 1774 that restrictions were lifted completely.

Today, pintados are part of the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Musée de l’Impression, Mulhouse; and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A term encompassing textiles and garments made of cotton, silk or sico in single and double ikat, Pochampally ikat derives its name from the centre of its production, the town of Bhoodan Pochampally in the state of Telangana (previously a part of Andhra Pradesh).

Ikat weaving in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh is locally known by names such as pagdabandhu, buddavasi and chitki. Scholars speculate that knowledge of ikat in the Deccan region stretches back to the second century BCE, with ikat-like patterns being identified in the mural paintings of the Ajanta Caves. While the origins of ikat in present-day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have not been dated, it is believed that the technique is a relatively recent development in these regions. Telia rumals, large square handkerchiefs dated to the late 1800s, are considered to be the oldest examples of ikat textiles in the region.

Within Pochampally, ikat is likely to have been introduced from Chirala, which was the chief centre of production for telia rumals and a brisk export trade. Weavers in Pochampally adopted the ikat technique to produce jananis (a long sari), dupattas (head coverings) and mardans (turbans), among other textiles. From here, it also spread to the villages of Koyyalagudem, Chautupal and Puttapaka. As ikat weaving suffered a decline in Chirala, Pochampally became the new centre of the technique in Andhra Pradesh (and later Telangana).

All three ikat-weaves – single ikat, compound ikat and double ikat – are produced in Pochampally. In single ikat, only the warp yarn or the weft yarn is tie-resist-dyed. Of the two, the single weft ikat is more complex, requiring greater skill to correctly weave the pattern. In compound or combined ikat, the warp and weft are both tie-resist-dyed, but form motifs in different parts of the fabric and have little interaction. Double ikat demands the most skill: here the warp and weft must be resist-dyed and woven with great precision for the pattern to emerge. The preparation of the warp and weft prior to dyeing is similar to the process followed for the telia rumal, with the exception of the ash and oil pre-treatment, which is not required for synthetic dyes. In the 1960s, interventions by the All Indian Handicrafts Board began training weavers in Pochampally in silk weaving. Weavers also quickly adapted to the use of modern synthetic dyes, as opposed to the organic alizarin dyes favoured in Chirala. In terms of patterns and motifs, Pochampally ikats expanded from using simple geometric designs to include complex floral patterns and even imitations of the patola motifs and designs.

Pochampally and its neighbouring villages are still a major centre for ikat, producing textiles such as saris, yardages, dupattas and stoles. These are made by individual weavers as well as handloom cooperatives. Launched in 2018 with the support of the Ministry of Textiles, the Pochampally Handloom Park employs weavers to produce home textiles such as bedspreads, quilts and bags using the ikat weave.

Pochampally Ikat received its Geographical Indications tag in 2004.

A Persian word meaning “curtain” or “veil,” purdah (also spelled pardah or parda) refers to a set of religious and social customs practiced within some Hindu and Muslim communities in India under which women are required to conceal their face and body from public observation. Purdah may also refer to the covering itself that is worn by women over their faces in accordance with the rules of the purdah. The custom of purdah resembles another tradition known as ghoongat, which is more popular among Hindu communities. Much like purdah, the term ghoongat may refer to both the practice as well as the veil or headscarf used for the practice.

The purdah system is likely to have reached India through Persia and become widespread during the rule of the Mughals, though some scholars argue that it predates the arrival of Islam and covering the head with a headscarf or veil was already practiced in parts of the country. However, the predominance of Muslim culture in northern India did lead to the popularisation of the custom within Hindu communities as well. Accounts from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries indicate that purdah had become fairly commonplace by this time, especially among groups of higher socioeconomic status, such as the Rajput community of Rajasthan.

A woman practising purdah was known as pardanashin or purdahnisha, which means “covered by the purdah or veil.” Purdah observance can broadly be categorised as complete observance, which involves covering the entire body and face, or partial observance, which primarily involves covering the head and face. Purdah may include the use of garments such as the hijab, the naqaab, the burqa and the chador. In parts of India where women wear the salwar-kameez, a dupatta may be worn on top of the head and used to cover the face.

A devotional tradition where the cloth was painted with images for veneration and hung behind the deity, pichwai means “that which hangs back”. The tradition emerged from the temple town of Nathdwara, near Udaipur, Rajasthan where the shrine of Nathdwara was built in the seventeenth century and the idol of Krishna installed here was moved from Mathura during the reign of Aurangzeb. Under the protection of Maharaja of Mewar, Raj Singh, the shrine came to be known as the Haveli of Shrinathji and was revered by the adherents of Pushtimarg, a Vaishnavite sect that worshipped Krishna as a child-god in the form of Srinathji. When the haveli of Nathdwara was set up artists migrated from Kota and Kishangarh to join its atelier, which is why pichwais bear a resonance with the Rajasthani school of painting, particularly with the Mewar school. The atelier had a system where a master was at the top followed by a body of assistants who were in turn assisted by their apprentices. The artists primarily came from three sub-castes: Adi Gaur, Jangid and Mewaras, but little is known about how they got into the profession. Many paintings, from the nineteenth century onwards, bear the name of artists on them.

Most commonly pichwais were rendered on cotton but also heavy silk and brocade. They could either be embroidered, painted, dyed or tinsel-printed. Painted pichwais used mineral pigments such as metallic shades from pure gold and silver, and organic shades derived naturally such as red lac from trees and deep yellow from a formula of cow urine called goguli. Hand-embroidered pichwais were rendered with silk threads and zari work. During the winter months, painted pichwais in the haveli would be replaced by those in heavy brocades to offer warmth to the deity, as well as for elevating the visuality of aarti during winter months where the sacred flame would make the silken and metallic threads glint. With the presence of Pushtimarg followers in Deccan India, a style of Deccan pichwai also emerged. As an outcome, the Deccani pichwai combined printing, painting, goldwork and kalamkari.

The centre point of pichwai canvases is always Srinathji, who appears as a black stone icon with garlands at his feet and left hand always in the air, lifting Mount Govardhan. The background and the borders employ motifs such as gopis (milkmaids) in colourful skirts, cows covered with red handprints and gods flying vimanas (flight). The paintings have a lush, bucolic scenery because they show Krishna’s childhood in rural Mathura, Braj and Vrindavan and include peacocks, lotuses, swaying plantains and mango trees, cows grazing and gwalas (shepherds). Even as these paintings retained their connection with Krishna’s childhood, and were stylistically shaped by them, the tradition was later also influenced by visual techniques of realism employed by artists such as Raja Ravi Varma and photography.

Originally, the paintings that were to be hung behind the idol would have a cutout which would offer space for the idol to be placed in. Therefore, the centre would remain empty for the idol. The integration of deity on the canvas eventually happened due to the notion of chitraseva (chitra means “picture”; seva means “service”) that was central to the worship of Srinathji. The devotees were meant to serve the image and would seek souvenirs to take back to their homes after visiting the temple. Consequently, the pichwais made for the market came to have the image of deity painted on them. They were seen as a living picture that re-enacted the myth of Krishna and was used not only for private worship but also for festivals, especially Janamashtami, which celebrates the birth of Krishna.

Very few pichwais are dated, among the earliest known is one from Nathdwara dated circa 1846, which depicts an aarti ritual being performed. Some of the scenes commonly depicted include Krishna’s mother, Yashoda, rocking his cradle, scenes from raas leela where Krishna is surrounded by gopis and celebrations of Sharad Purnima, where the full moon would be shown as a grey circle on top. In the months of the monsoon, Morakuti and Varsha/Vrikshachari pichwais are displayed. Former depicts dancing peacocks that mimic Krishna’s raas leela, while the latter, symbolically, depict Krishna as a tree dweller, where he is represented by the kadamba tree and gopis flank the tree on its sides, waiting with garlands, peacock fans and fly whisks for his arrival.

Today, even as the tradition continues to be practised in its ritual context, it has stepped out of practices of worship and pichwais are produced and purchased in the form of paintings and hangings to be used for decorative purposes.

A hereditary embroidery tradition, phulkari was historically practised by women of the Punjab region in present-day India and Pakistan. It is a form of counted-thread embroidery recognised by its neat, regular patterns of geometric and natural motifs, whose name translates to ‘flower work’ in Hindi and Punjabi. Embroidery was traditionally considered an integral skill for women in the region, and phulkari garments came to be closely associated with major events in their lives, particularly marriage. In the medieval and colonial periods, girls would initially learn to embroider small garments like odhinis or scarves for themselves, and as they grew older, produce chaddars or shawls to be handed down to younger generations of women in their families. Phulkari shawls are often gifted to brides on wedding days, especially by maternal relatives. 

The origin of the craft is debated, with some scholars suggesting that it was introduced to India from Central Asia by the Jat community in the late medieval period, while others state that the craft was born of influences from Persian gulkari embroidery designs. Phulkari embroidery and the traditions surrounding it have been mentioned in the Sikh holy book Guru Granth Sahib, and the eighteenth-century Punjabi epic Heer Ranjha. 

Phulkari embroidery is done using a running stitch with brightly coloured untwisted silk thread historically imported from Kashmir and Bengal. It uses a base of coarse handwoven cloth called khaddar (or khadi), typically comprising strips about half a metre wide, or less, stitched together. In most cases, the khaddar is traditionally dyed red using plant-based dyes obtained from palash (Butea monosperma) flowers, madder root (genus Rubia) or the bark of acacia (genus Acacia) trees. Embroidery threads are often yellow, orange or pink; darker colours like black, brown and green are less frequently used, and blue rarely.

Despite its name, phulkari embroidery includes the depiction of animals and geometric forms in addition to flowers. The floral imagery used in phulkari includes marigolds, jasmines, lotuses and Tree of Life motifs. Modern motifs such as trains, trucks and cars have also found their way into phulkari patterns. The counted-thread method also lends phulkari designs a floral symmetry. In some cases, the embroiderer deliberately breaks the geometrical pattern in a small area, exposing the base fabric below. These are known as nazarbuti motifs and are meant to ward off misfortune for the wearer.

Shawls and wraps traditionally made with this craft are also called phulkaris, as the embroidery is their main feature. There are various types of phulkari, distinguished by their size, style and ceremonial value. The chope, made with a reversible, double darning stitch, is the largest and of the most ritualistic importance in Punjabi culture, as it is embroidered by a bride’s grandmother, who presents it as a wedding gift to be worn by the bride during the marriage ceremony. Others include the sainchi phulkari from the Bathinda and Faridkot districts; the blue-based nilak phulkari embroidered in red and yellow; the thirma phulkari made on a white base; the shishedar phulkari embellished with glass pieces; the til patra phulkari made with patterns of sesame seed motifs; and suber phulkari, which is embroidered only in the corners. Bagh embroidery, which uses an all-over design where the base is completely obscured, is sometimes regarded as a type of phulkari, but this and its subtypes are distinct textiles.

Prior to British rule in South Asia, phulkaris were not produced for commercial purposes but circulated as heirlooms in what is now Pakistani Punjab, mainly in the Peshawar, Sialkot, Hazara, Rawalpindi and Jhelum districts. From the nineteenth century onwards, embroidered shawls began to be given to British officers as tokens of goodwill. This period also saw the beginning of the commercial application of the craft on other garments, such as coats for women buyers living in cities. Following the Partition and the violence faced by Punjabi women in its aftermath, phulkari embroidery declined in India and Pakistan through the 1950s. Moreover, developmental agendas drafted by both countries in the post-Independence era depended on the rampant mechanisation of the goods and services sector, which pushed local craft traditions into further oblivion. 

The 1980s and 1990s, however, heralded a revival for India’s art and craft traditions. Encouraged by a robust economy and counterculture movement against the West, the Indian government and NGOs made concerted efforts to revive phulkari and make it commercially viable. Women artisans were given skill-based training and financial support from banks and other government organisations like the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KIVC), the Ministry of Textiles and the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). Furthermore, the formation of self-help groups during this period encouraged women to form clusters and embroider at home for fashion designers and NGOs such as the Nabha Foundation, which in turn also played a major role in supporting local artisans by expanding the market presence of phulkari embroidery and design. 

Today phulkari is produced mainly in Gurdaspur and Patiala, India, and is applied to several types of Indian garments, particularly dupattas, kurtas, blouses and saris, using various cotton fabrics as a base.

The national dress of the state of Mizoram, the puan is a long, handwoven cloth which is wrapped around the waist as a skirt. In Mizo, the word “puan” means cloth and, up until the twentieth century, the puan was worn by both men and women. Today, it is mostly worn by women, with trousers becoming the preferred lower garment for men. Previously woven as two separate pieces that were then stitched together, the puan is now hand woven as a single piece with the help of a shuttle. Made of cotton, it is traditionally woven by women on a loin loom and, occasionally, a Zo loom (also known as a frame loom).

The puan is a garment of historical and cultural significance in Mizoram, and the variations in design and motif were traditionally used to distinguish between tribes and indicate social status. It is usually forty five to forty eight inches in width and sixty to sixty five inches in length. For special occasions such as weddings, it is paired with a handmade blouse called a kawrechi.

The earliest forms of the puan were the puangngo, a white puan made of coarse cotton; the puanmawl, a puan in a single colour with no design; and the puanhlap, a larger puan that could also be used as a shawl or a blanket. Though the puan is largely worn by women, some types such as the ngotekherh, chyna hno and puanchei may also be worn by men. There are over thirty kinds of puan, including the puan laisen, which has a red horizontal section in the middle; the thihni, a heavily embellished puan worn by the Lai and Mara community of South Mizoram; and the shorter hmaram, which is worn with a petticoat and a girdle. The puak puan is a sling-like variation that is worn around the body and used to carry children.

Worn together, the phi and phanek comprise the traditional attire of the women of the Meitei community, the largest ethnic group in Manipur. The phi (also known as the phee or the innaphi) is the upper shawl-like garment and phanek refers to the lower sarong-like skirt. The innaphi and the phanek are traditionally handwoven on backstrap looms, which can be found in almost every Meitei household.

In Manipuri, the word phi is commonly used to refer to cloth, and innaphi literally translates to “wrap for the upper body.” Resembling a dupatta in function, the phi is normally worn with a blouse and draped around the upper body. Traditionally made of a coarse material called uriphi, prepared from the bark of creeping plants, today the phi is usually made of fine cotton or silk and has an almost translucent finish.

The phanek is considered to be an important symbol of femininity and conventional beliefs forbid men from touching the garment. The style of wearing the phanek varies between unmarried women, who wear it at their waist, and married women, who wear it around their chest. There are broadly four types of phaneks: pumngou phanek, a typically white or light pink phanek meant for everyday use and religious functions; phanek mayek naibi, or the patterned phanek worn on formal occasions such as marriages; and the kanap and the pumthit phanek, which were reserved to be worn solely by royal women and are rarely in use today.

The border of the phanek typically features intricate embroidery. The earliest motifs found on the border were of two kinds — the khoijao or hook pattern, and the hija pattern, which was inspired by the wood used to make boats. Historically, the colour of the phanek was also used to differentiate between the seven Meitei clans, but these distinctions no longer persist.

A folk tradition of scroll-painting in Bengal, patua combines visual and oral storytelling narrated by a community of roving performers. Patua carries three different connotations simultaneously. First, it refers to a community named Patua which has held the occupation of handling the pata, meaning “scroll” or “canvas” in Sanskrit. Second, it refers to someone who paints or displays scrolls. Third, it refers to the practice of showcasing pictures. In the patua tradition, all these three meanings overlap often, but not always.

The history of patuas is untraceable since it was a performance tradition that lacked written records. In documents from the colonial period, the word patua is used interchangeably for the caste and the practice, making it additionally harder to discern which of the either two is indicated. Presumed to be dating from as early as the tenth and eleventh centuries, the oldest surviving evidence of the scroll comes from the eighteenth century. The tradition – popular in Bengal, especially in Midnapur, Murshidabad, Birbhum and Purulia districts – is known to have been constituted by members of a specific caste (Patua), who narrated a body of stories through performance and demonstrated images by unravelling the scroll, moving across villages where they had been invited for festivals such as Durga Puja. The unfolding of pata is known as pat khelano and the narrative is called paater gaan.

Patuas belonged to the Islamic faith and the narratives in the paintings included themes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata; religious texts like the Magalakavyas; and stories of Radha and Krishna, Behula and Lakhinder, renunciation of Chaitanya, Krishan Leela, among many others. The patuas bore symbols of flora and fauna and other decorative motifs along with the story. While initially painted on dried leaves, the patuas used cloth canvases, painting them with naturally extracted colours, prepared in broken coconut shells.

Depending on their themes, there are several different kinds of patas. The Satyapir Pata is part of a syncretic belief system that fuses various local faiths. The Santhali Patai, also known as Jadu Pata or Chakshudan Pata is associated with the Santhal tribe and their rituals. The Manasa Pata centered around the snake-goddess, Manasa, who cures diseases and grants fertility. The Jama Patas depicts Yama, the god of death, and some variations depict his assistants torturing subjects in hell. The Kalighat Pata was created by Patuas who migrated to Kolkata in the eighteenth–nineteenth centuries and centred around the Kalighat Temple. In Odisha, the practice of Patachitra emerged in relation to that of patua.

During the Bengal Renaissance, Gurusaday Dutt, an Indian civil servant who was the district magistrate of Birbhum in 1930, devoted himself to collecting scroll paintings and songs, becoming instrumental in popularising and exhibition of patas. The first public exhibition was organised at the Indian Society of Oriental Art, Calcutta in 1932, followed by another exhibition in Shantiniketan (now Visva Bharati University) in 1934. He also wrote and published extensively, arguing that Patuas claimed ancestry from the ancient Chitrakar caste, which was well-known as a painter caste across India. This gave Patuas a significant impetus and saw a revitalisation of the tradition as they were commissioned by individuals and organisations to depict subjects beyond religion. From the 1970s onwards, the scenes they depicted began to include family planning, literacy campaigns, anti-dowry campaigns and environmental appeals. In the 1980s, the demand for patua increased substantially, as its popular usage attracted people outside of art collecting circles. Since the 1990s, selling patua paintings has become the mainstay of the artists.

Therefore, the patas came to be divorced from the performance tradition and got consolidated as a visual folk art. In 1986 and 1991, the Handicrafts Board of West Bengal financed training courses for Patuas in Midnapur and in 1992 a workshop was organised at the Ashutosh Museum, Calcutta University. Presently, the artists have adapted the form to offer depictions of contemporary life, and have shifted their scale to medium and small size canvases to cater to the market.

One of the only surviving examples of hand-spun cotton in India, Patnulu khadi is spun using the single-spindle Gandhi charkha as opposed to the multi-spindle ambar charkha. The textile is prepared in a variety of counts, ranging from a coarse thread count of 44 to a finer count of 100.

Patnulu khadi is also known as Ponduru khadi, after the Ponduru village in Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, where the yarn is spun manually using indigenous tools by women of the Pattusali community. After the yarn is spun, it is woven in a process that is undertaken by both men and women of the community. At present, there are over 300 spinners and 350 weavers engaged in the production of the fabric in Srikakulam and neighbouring Vizianagaram, of which only about fifty spinners and fifteen weavers live in Ponduru.

The cloth is spun on a single-spindle charkha using two indigenous varieties of short-staple cotton cultivated in the area and used exclusively for Patnulu spinning — konda patti (“hill cotton”), which is used in the production of cloth with finer counts, and yerra patti (“red cotton”), which is used for coarser thread counts. The cotton is first ginned using the jawbone of the catfish to separate the seeds and impurities from the wool before it is straightened using a balni (a hand-operated double drum roller). The repeated use of the balni ensures that the cotton fibre attains a smooth texture. Additional impurities are cleaned through carding the cotton wool using a carding bow, with a spinner continuously plucking the string of the bow to open up the loose cotton. The resulting airy fibre is rolled into a sliver using a rolling pin, and the sliver is held within a dry banana stem from which the spinner draws and twists the cotton to make yarn and wind it onto the spindle of the charkha. The yarn is then wound around the spindle to create hanks that are used for weaving. The yarn may be dyed in vegetable or chemical dyes depending on the kind of cloth being produced.

Once the yarn is prepared, it is stretched out by winding it on bamboo stalks placed at even distances. The stretched yarn is then spread out on the street and sized by applying dried rice gruel and brushing it multiple times to strengthen it. Subsequently, the yarn is wound on a beam and drafted through the loom in order to achieve the required yarn length. The weft is prepared by winding the yarn hanks around pirns inserted in shuttles.

The weaving process involves two weavers, who weave the textile on a pit loom using the fly shuttle technique, although some weavers also use the frame loom. The fabric may be woven using the plain weave, basket weave or twill weave, depending on the nature of the product. Sometimes designs may be woven using the supplementary weft technique or inlaid in the fabric as seen in jamdani. However, the most common form of Patnulu khadi is the plain, undyed cloth in ivory or cream colour, depending on the variety of cotton used.

The textile became popular after MK Gandhi visited the village in the 1920s. He subsequently sent his son Devdas Gandhi to the village to research the process. The adoption of khadi spinning as a nationwide symbol of resistance and self-reliance helped further establish Ponduru as a major khadi-spinning centre in independent India. In 1949, the Andhra Fine Khadi Karmikabhviruddhi Sangham (AFKKS) was established to promote and market Ponduru khadi products. Since 1956, the AFKKS has been managed by the Khadi Village Industries Commission (KVIC).

Today, commercially sold Patnulu khadi products consist primarily of undyed or plain fabric, as well as woven sarees and dhotis made on a per-order basis. There have also been sustained efforts to provide intellectual property protection and support to the spinners and weavers through the establishment of handloom clusters. To preserve the textile, the Intellectual Property Facilitation Centre’sTechnology and Support Centre in Visakhapatnam prepared a proposal to attain a Geographical Indication tag for Patnulu khadi. The textile was also highlighted during the National Handloom Day 2021.

A bed cover made with hand-painted or woodblock-printed chintz, palampore is derived from the Persian word palangposh, meaning “bed cover.” Palampores were one of the trade textiles exported by the British and Dutch East India Companies from India to Europe and remained popular throughout the eighteenth century along with boteh, calico and crewel embroidery and were a significant part of the English home interiors. They eventually gave way to mass-produced, cheaper adaptations of chintz palampore made by English manufacturers.

Made with a single off-white chintz panel that is hemmed around the edges, traditional palampores were decorated using the kalamkari technique. The fabric was dyed with finely ground myrobalan nut powder and buffalo milk, which helps the fabric absorb the metallic mordant and adopt a permanent black colour from the iron mordant. Milk fat prevents the dye from spreading during printing, resulting in a pale yellow cloth. The detailed design was then pricked and transferred onto the fabric using charcoal powder. The palampores were then dyed with natural dyes of different colours, mordants and resist-dye techniques. Palampores were generally made near water bodies to facilitate the several rounds of washing and rinsing that were required before the cloth was sun-dried. Several families from weaving communities were involved in the various stages of production, with each palampore taking upto two months to be completed. Important manufacturing clusters included Gujarat, Golconda, the Coromandel Coast and Madras (now Chennai).

Palampores carried a central motif, such as the tree of life, and floral borders. The central motifs could be elaborate, as well as feature an “exotic” array of flora and fauna. Palampores were made according to the sizes of beds in English households. At times, they were also hung on the walls like tapestry. Palampores were also traded in South Asia, where they were showcased prominently during religious ceremonies.

Today, palampores are part of the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), London; the Royal Ontario Museum; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City; Dallas Museum of Art; Los Angeles Museum of Art; and the National Gallery of Australia.

Double ikat textiles woven in silk with meticulous attention to detail, Patan patola are named after the town of Patan in Gujarat, where they are woven. Historically, these fabrics were highly coveted in parts of India and Southeast Asia. Known for their masterful weaving, sharply defined patterns with geometric layouts and richly dyed colours, patola are considered to have social and ritual significance in several communities and regions.

While evidence of ikat patterns can be found on the mural paintings of the Ajanta caves, the origins of the double ikat technique in India, and specifically in Patan, remain unclear. Certain terms similar to patola – such as patalika, patakula vastrani – have been identified in Indian literature dating to the fourth century BCE, fifth century CE and tenth century CE, but historians believe these associations do not provide an established reference of patola as it is known or made today.

Firmer evidence of the Patan patola appears in the sixteenth century, in the form of accounts by European travellers such as Alfonso d’Albuquerque and Duate Barbosa, who referred to these fabrics in the context of the spice trade with Southeast Asia. A description of patola and their source of origin comes from an account by the seventeenth-century French traveller, Jean Baptiste Tavernier, who states that the silks were being manufactured in Ahmedabad. In historical literature, Ahmedabad, Patan, Baroda, Bharuch, Surat and Cambay are noted as centres of patola. However, historians believe that the mentions of Surat and Cambay may have been due to their importance as ports from which the fabrics were shipped, rather than as centres of weaving. The Salvis, the community who process and weave patola, link their own history to Jalna, a town in present-day Maharashtra, which was also a centre of patola until about the 1930s. However, the chronology of when and how the Salvi community arrived in Patan and began weaving patola remains unclear. Currently, Patan is the sole centre in India to follow the traditional patola weaving technique, although imitation patola, made mostly in single ikat and in both cotton and silk, are also woven and sold in Rajkot, Gujarat and Pochampally, Telangana.

Outside Gujarat, the cultural influence of patola can be seen most prominently in present-day Indonesia and in the Indian state of Kerala. Indian textiles possessed considerable economic value as trade goods in Southeast Asia, even before the arrival of colonial enterprises, such as the Dutch East India Company (DEIC). The DEIC, which supplied both cotton chintz from Coromandel, as well as cotton and patola from Gujarat, augmented the value of the silk textiles by gifting them to rulers on the islands and a few high-ranking individuals. In this way, patola textiles became markers of status and patola fabrics – known as chindé – began to be used as material for sewn garments, royal bedspreads, shoulder cloths, sashes and belts. Soon, restrictions were placed on who could wear patola textiles. In the Javanese courts of Yogyakarta and Surakarta, for instance, only the rulers, nobility and high-ranking officials were allowed to wear patola fabrics, with the sole exception being a bride and groom on their wedding day. Certain patola patterns, or local designs inspired by patola, were reserved for the exclusive use of ruling families, such as in 1769, when the ruler of Surakarta reserved the use of the jlamprang motif for his family.

Patola textiles also gained ritualistic importance. They were used as hangings in temples in Bali, as sacred textiles in the Central Celebes, and even as burial shrouds, coffin covers and talismanic fabrics in other local cultures. In Bali, small pieces of the textile were burned in traditional healing rituals. Patola also influenced the design of Indonesian textiles, which borrowed not only patterns such as the jlamprang, but also the composition and structure of a patolu, with its demarcated end pieces, main field and frames. Detailed patola-like designs were also made using the tulis batik technique. The demand for patola spurred the production of imitations, both locally and from India, where patola patterns block printed on cotton were produced for the trade market.

Patola made for Southeast Asian markets were not necessarily always of sari length or composition. The textiles had varied uses, including as hip wrappers, shoulder cloths, trousers and wall hangings. Material for sewn garments was sold as pattern pieces and the dimensions varied according to the intended use. The quality of the finished textile, too, was different. The silk used for export textiles tended to be heavier and coarser and the textiles, which often had cotton borders, were more loosely woven compared to those meant for the domestic market. Certain patterns were also made for the Indonesian market. These included the elephant pattern, similar to a pattern locally known as shrikar bhat, an elephant-and-tiger pattern in a grid, and variations of the chhabdi bhat. Another important motif was the tumpal (or row of triangles) in endpieces.

Patola were likely introduced to Kerala through trading routes. Here as well, as in Indonesia, they became associated with rulers and assumed ritual significance. The earliest visual documentation of patola in Kerala was in the form of the images published by HT Harris in 1908 of the collection within the Trivandrum Palace. However, the presence of patola patterns in murals at several palaces – including Padmanabhapuram Palace and Mattancherry Palace – and temples in Kerala indicates an older historical association. In these murals, Hindu deities were depicted wearing garments of patola designs or the motifs were used as backgrounds. The stepped-design of patola motifs can also be found in Theyyam shrines, where it is locally known as virali dalan.

In Gujarat, although they are considered auspicious, patola are not used by all communities as wedding saris to be worn by the bride. In some communities, a patolu piece may be used as an odhani by the bride, while in others bridegrooms drape a patolu around their upper body during the rituals. A patolu may also be used as a wedding cover draped on the bridegroom’s horse. Among the Bohra Muslims, who were also involved in the historical trade of patola textiles, these fabrics are a sign of the family’s social status during events such as weddings, where they are worn by the mothers of the bride and groom. Bohra Muslims also have their own unique patola pattern known as Bohra gaji bhat, in which the main field is filled with rows of gem-like shapes and motifs such as leaves, stylised creepers and stars.

The patola trade with Indonesia declined sharply after the Second World War. The laborious process of production has also affected the tradition, forcing many in the community to move to more lucrative and less intensive work. While a single patolu may be sold at upwards of INR 200,000 (USD 2000), it may take several months, sometimes even a full year, to weave. Given these constraints, the weaving of patola textiles has also expanded outside the Salvis, with workers and weavers from other communities also taking up the business.

The Geographical Indications (GI) tag for patola textiles became a subject of conflict between the Salvi weavers of Patan and the weavers in Rajkot. However, in 2013, it was finally awarded to the Patan patola.

A fine variety of yarn obtained from the fleece of Changthangi goats native to Mongolia, China, Nepal and Ladakh, pashmina – originating from the Persian pashm, meaning “wool” – is also known as cashmere, an anglicised name for Kashmir where the fibre was woven into shawls. Pashmina is substantially warmer, softer and lighter than sheep wool, making it a luxury material for durable apparel worn in cold climates.

The raw fleece is collected in the spring when the goats shed their fur. Pashmina goats have two types of hair: a soft undercoat used for the yarn and coarser bristles called guard hair. The two are separated by combing the softer hair out by hand, particularly from around the neck and underbelly of the goat. The fibres are exceptionally fine, ranging from twelve to sixteen microns (μm) in diameter. Yarn is then spun from this hair and can either be knitted into clothing such as sweaters and gloves, or woven into fabric from which coats, trousers, blankets and other products can be stitched. Apart from plain-weave fabrics used by locals in the weaving community, pashmina yarn is also used to make kani shawls on which intricate floral butas are woven.

Pashmina garments were coveted as luxury goods from Northern Africa to South Asia since the sixteenth century and became popular among the European elite after India’s colonisation. Pashmina goods, even after use, had great value both for resale and gifting in Europe and were often passed between generations as family heirlooms. Colonial control over trade in South Asia and the popularity of pashmina garments fuelled the desire to eventually produce the fabric in Europe itself. As with cotton fabrics such as calico and chintz, this production took the form of mechanising and appropriating designs native to Kashmir.

Until the 1950s, Ladakhi traders were the primary middlemen in the local market for pashmina fibre, as the Changthang region of Ladakh lay between western Tibet where the goats were raised, and Kashmir, where the shawls were woven. Since the Chinese occupation of Tibet and the closing of the border, goat-rearing has had to take place in a smaller area in Ladakh with government support. Today, China is the largest producer of raw pashmina yarn in the world and the highest quality fabric is made by European brands. It is sometimes also woven together with silk, sheep wool or synthetic fibres to add elasticity, lightness and make it more affordable. This – coupled with the high demand for pashmina products worldwide – has made it difficult to regulate their quality and distribution.

The government of India has launched various schemes to boost the production of pashmina goods in their historical regions, such as setting up Changra goat-rearing farms in Upshi, Leh, supporting women weavers through the Ladakh Environmental Health Organisation (LEHO) and pashmina collection and spinning facilities organised by the Handicrafts Centre, Leh.

During the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries, the garment also gained popularity among the British in India, who referred to it as ‘mogul’s breeches.’ By the 1870s, it was being exported to Britain by the East India Company and became a common form of nightwear or loungewear for men. In the 1920s, through the influence of fashion designers such as Coco Chanel, it was adopted by women as well.

The modern-day pyjama is made from a variety of fabrics and remains a popular garment across the world.

An Italian ethnologist, Paola Manfredi is most notable for her work on chikankari, the intricate form of embroidery commonly associated with the city of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. She is the author of Chikankari: A Lucknawi Tradition (2017), which documents the history of the craft, its contemporary practices and techniques, as well as its social context.

Born in Genoa, Italy, Manfredi studied ethnology at L’École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris, France. She became interested in Asian textiles while working at Musée de l’Homme —an anthropology museum, also in Paris — where she helped write descriptions for textile exhibits from Central Asia. After returning to Italy and briefly working in marketing, she enrolled in a design school to gain the technical knowledge that would supplement her interest in textiles. At the end of the course, she was offered the job of a consultant by a branch of the institute that worked with textile companies.

As a part of the consultancy, Manfredi came to India for the first time in 1978, followed by a longer visit in 1981 – a time when the Indian handcrafted-textile sector was attracting widespread attention thanks to high-profile events such as the Vishwakarma exhibitions and The Festival of India.

At the end of the project, Manfredi decided to stay back and work in India. She first became acquainted with chikankari through the work of the Self-Employed Women’s Association, Lucknow (SEWA). While in Lucknow, she collaborated with a local craftsman, Salim Khan, to design and produce pieces with white-on-white embroidery and ari work. In 1991, she was commissioned by Laila Tyabji, the founder of Dastkar, to document chikan embroidery at SEWA Lucknow as part of a project to create handbooks for embroidery artisans.

In 2012, Manfredi began work on her book on chikankari, researching the origins of the technique as well as documenting historical pieces in museums and private collections. Apart from chronicling information on the embroidery for her book, her aim was also to help create a visual archive that could be referenced by contemporary chikankari artisans.

Alongside her research, Manfredi continues to work with Indian craftspeople to create chikankari textiles for special projects such as exhibitions or events. She also studied kantha embroidery while living in Bangladesh for a few years. She is a member of the World Crafts Council and has worked as a consultant for development organisations in the Indian subcontinent and in Africa.

Patachitras depict religious, mythological and folkloric themes. Foremost among these are Vaishnavite narratives of two of Vishnu’s avatars: Jagannatha and Krishna. Prominent depictions include highly stylised paintings of the Jagannath Temple, scenes from the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, and regional mangalakavya texts such as the Chandimangala and Manasamangala. The painters follow certain conventions from the classical treatises on Indian art such as chitralakshana, paying attention to formal aspects of painting composition. One of the most distinguishable features of patachitra is its typical style of portraying faces such as long noses, prominent chins and elongated eyes. The paintings also have ornately designed borders that follow the colour scheme of patachitra’s narrative scene.

The tradition is presently concentrated in and continued by the artist community of the village Raghurajpur in Odisha. No longer restricted to ritual use, these paintings enjoy a commercial market within India and internationally and are now rendered over a wide range of materials from synthetic cloth to paper, and in varying sizes.

In Europe, the design went through another transformation as the hollow of the boteh came to be filled in with intricately stylised floral compositions. The earliest iterations of manufactured Kashmiri shawls came from Edinburgh, Scotland which was soon eclipsed by another Scottish town, Paisley, hence giving it its popular name. It was also the first town to successfully adopt the Jacquard loom in production, which allowed an intricate pattern while easing the weaver’s task. With its integration into European fashion and industry, especially in Great Britain and France, the paisley motif was not only used on other garments besides the shawl, but also came to be painted and printed. The motif drew on more design references from Parisian design books from the 1840s than it did from the designs of the Kashmiri shawls. Through the nineteenth and early twentieth century, it came to be printed on dresses, coats, ties, wallpapers, bedspreads and so on. Additionally, during the 1960s, the fashion movement now termed as “Peacock Revolution” saw menswear become more flamboyant, employing the paisley motif.

Today, the paisley remains one of the dominant motifs used in garments, decorative textiles and textile arts. It is difficult to pin down a source of origin for the boteh but the trajectory of its transformation from boteh to paisley records a significant episode in textile design history and qualifies its ubiquity.

A traditional method of weaving fabric, patola weaving follows the double ikat resist-dyeing method, in which both the warp and weft are both resist-tied and dyed before the weaving begins. Patola are known for their rich colours and patterns and sharply defined motifs, which are achieved through the meticulous preparation of warp and weft threads, followed by resist-dyeing and, finally, weaving.

The first step in weaving a patolu – the singular form of patola – is the preparation of the yarn. Patola have been traditionally made of silk procured from China or sourced locally. Today, silk procured from Japan is usually given preference. The fine filaments of silk are opened from their skeins and are rewound using a hand reel. Once this process is completed, eight filaments (the number may vary slightly depending on the design) are twisted together to create an eight-ply silk yarn, which is first wound onto a hand reel, then soaked in water and, while still wet, wound into hanks. These hanks then undergo the degumming process, where they are soaked in boiling water mixed with soda ash and oily soap. Following degumming, the hanks are again wound onto spools, with care taken to maintain even tension. This process sets the base for the preparation of the warp and weft.

The warp is locally known as tano. The main tool used to prepare the yarn is a set of pegs mounted on a wall. The number and position of these pegs can be altered, depending on the length of the warp required. Twelve spools of yarn are placed in front of the wall and a wooden bar with small rings is suspended above the spools. Each thread is guided from the spool through the rings on the suspended bar into a guide rod, which has a similar arrangement of rings. The individual preparing the warp collects the ends of the twelve yarns and fixes them on the outermost peg. They then wind the guide rod around the pegs in such a way that groups of twelve threads are prepared. A helper aids in separating the threads and marking out crosses of yarn and folds such that the warp remains untangled. Usually, a warp-length of around nineteen metres – equivalent to three patola saris – is prepared at one time.

The warp threads are then removed from the wall and are stretched out fully on a frame, where they are kept taut and in order with the help of wooden sticks. After this, the leasing of the threads takes place, with the help of leasing rods and cord, and units are sectioned off along the warp length. Using a thread dipped in a solution of charcoal and water, three sections are marked along the length of the warp, one for each sari. Before the cloth is folded, the weaver and helpers check for threads to ensure they are separate and any broken threads are fixed at this stage. The warp is then crossed and folded and folded again in such a way that six layers of warp are assembled. The middle portions of the patola – where the pattern is prominent – are all arranged on top of one another, while the end warp portions remain on one side.

The weft is prepared on a beam – locally known as paati tanvanu – on which a peg and an iron rod are fixed at either end. The position of the iron rod can be adjusted depending on the width of the fabric to be prepared. Near the beam, a set of cords are placed, which serve as leasing cords, separating sets as they are being wound. Yarn from six spools is first passed through the rings on the suspended wooden barn, then gathered by the individual and wound around the wooden and iron pegs. A leasing thread is added after each round to separate the weft sets, which contain twelve threads each. This process is followed until the required number of weft sets are ready. Like the warp, the weft sets are prepared in a manner such that they can be tied and dyed together with subgroups for repeat motifs. In relation to the warp prepared for three patola saris, weft sets for two patola are made at one time, using the process mentioned above, while the weft set for the third patolu is made separately.

For tying, the warp sheet is folded and stretched on an eight-yard length, and the weft is stretched on a frame of 48.5 inches, which corresponds to its width on the loom. The grid is marked using thread dipped in charcoal and the ties are then added using double ply cotton cords. Larger sections reserved for the resist are wrapped in plastic. While designs are mapped out on graph paper, the master artisans doing the tying can usually do so without the aid of a graph or design chart, tying basic designs from memory. Some traditional patterns include the pan bhat and fulvadi bhat, which are recurring rows of leaves and flowers. A pattern of rectangles filled with a diagonal box enclosing a geometric motif is called ratan chowk bhat, while a trellis-like pattern with the boxes comprising elephants, parrots and a woman is known as nari kunjar bhat.

The warp and weft undergo multiple dyeing cycles and, between each cycle, they are mounted on to the respective frames to open or add reserves. The yarn is generally dyed first in red, then yellow, blue and black. Traditionally, arns are dyed orange before yellow and green is added before blue. Before the dyeing process begins, the yarn is immersed in cold water for a day or two, to ensure it better absorbs the dye. Patan patola are traditionally dyed in natural dyes derived from plants such as madder, indigo, turmeric, pomegranate and gooseberry, among others.

Following this step, the warp is fully unfolded and, using the leasing sticks and leasing cords in, the groups and threads are separated and arranged properly. The tension of the warp is constantly monitored at this stage and threads that break due to the stretching and slacking are mended. The warp yarn for borders – usually ikat-patterned and single colour – is added next to the main field at this stage, having already been prepared and stored separately. The loom is thoroughly cleaned before the warp is fixed. Only three to five metres of the warp are set on the loom in the form of a sheet, with the rest of the warp carefully tied in a bundle and hung above the loom to be opened as weaving progresses. Starch made from rice water is sprayed to the opened warp and, as the fabric is woven, a few inches of the warp are also moistened with water. Once the weft is dyed, it is wound onto bobbins, which are arranged in a sequence corresponding to the pattern. The bobbins are kept in water and are filled into the shuttle while still wet.

A Patan patola is woven on a simple horizontal handloom, which has two string heddle bars and a lever, but no foot pedal. The lever is used to move the heddle. The weft is passed through a shuttle, which is made of bamboo. The weaving process is a two-person job: The weaver sits on the right, operates the heddle device and passes the shuttle from the right. The helper, seated on the left, ensures the right sequence of weft yarns are fed into the shuttle and throws the shuttle from the left side. Every few inches, both sides of the finished textile are rubbed with a steel plate to remove excess starch. The pair also align the threads to ensure a sharp demarcation of the pattern by using pencil-sized needles that push the warp threads sideways and the weft threads inside.

A white cloth separates each roll of the finished fabric at the weaver’s end. Once the weaving is complete, the full fabric is cut into three different patola and smoothened with the use of a half-round plate. No other treatments are done to the final textile, which is ready for sale. Patola weavers also create stoles, dupattas and scarves using the same process, with a few changes to the design of the fabric.

An applique tradition from Bihar and Jharkhand — particularly the Sitamarhi and Madhubani districts — made by women using recycled or waste fabric is called khatwa.

To make khatwa, the intended design is drawn on both the upper layer of cloth and the base fabric, after which the upper layer is cut roughly into the shape of the pattern or motif, leaving a wide margin. This margin is then segmented with cuts, folded down and stitched into the planned shape. In some cases where the design has only two colours, the upper layer is strategically cut and stitched down to reveal the patterns and motifs through the contrasting colour of the base fabric. Embroidery with a silk thread, in the form of running stitch and chain stitch, features prominently in the appliqued designs. The waste cloth may also be naturally dyed before being used for applique, and while a wide range of colours is used, the preferred palette for khatwa today are earth tones and muted.

The art form went into decline during British rule and was revived in the 1970s through non-profit organisations, such as Ford Foundation, and support of fashion designers like Anavila Misra. Present-day khatwa depicts the daily life and rural surroundings of the artisans and in some cases also includes illustrations depicting social issues — women’s rights and the spread of AIDS — often composed into a narrative. In addition to sarees and blouses, khatwa textiles today include household furnishings like cushion covers and wall hangings. These textiles received a Geographical Indication (GI) certificate in 2015, ensuring that khatwa artisans continue to sustain an income while preserving the tradition.

Hand-felted and embroidered rugs produced in parts of Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan, namda use felting instead of weaving, a technique that came to India from Iran and Turkey during the Mughal period. The technique of making a namda involves beating and fluffing the wool fibres with a wicker punja (comb) and then layering, matting and flattening. A minimum of three layers are prepared and each layer is spread separately, sprinkled with soapy water and pressed with a pinjra tool to enmesh and interlock the fibres. Each layer is flattened to a uniform size and dimension using water and heavy compression. This layered wool is then rolled out to rinse excess water, is washed with a cleaning agent and left in the sun to dry. Once completely dry, the rug is ready to use as plain or can be decorated using embroidery or appliqué. In the Kashmiri namda, cotton is often mixed with the wool fibre, making the base colour a light shade of white, which aesthetically makes room for vibrant embroidery. Most often the namdas are decorated with colourful aari and kashidakari embroidery using floral patterns and animal motifs such as the chinar tree, dachh (vine), cherry blossoms and pamposh (lotus).

Namda making is a household craft practised primarily by the Muslim community and passed on from one generation to another. In Kashmir, namdas are used as mattresses and floor coverings as they are warm and cater to extreme cold weather conditions. In eastern part of Kutch, Pinjara and Mansoori communities practise the craft of making namdas as floor coverings – for the use of Darbar communities – and their process varies regarding the appliqué technique where a pattern of dyed wool is laid out first and then fused with other layers through compression.

The making of namda rugs is a labour-intensive technique where a craftsman needs the assistance of three people to make two namdas in a day. Prominent manufacturing centres are situated in Tonk, Rajasthan and Srinagar, Kashmir where the rugs are sold in craft bazaars. There remains a notable demand for namdas in the urban cities and the international market, sustaining the craft through the years.

A technique of resist-dyed ikat weaving practised in Odisha, Odisha ikat is also known by the name Odisha bandha. It is characterised by a curvilinear arrangement of motifs, as well as feathered outlines worked primarily in weft-ikat — a complex process in which only the weft yarns are resist-dyed and require readjustment after each pass of the shuttle.

The origins of the Odisha bandha are unclear. While the oldest existing bandha pieces date to the early decades of the twentieth century, some historians date the technique to antiquity, going by the use of the Bichitrapuri pattern as well as the names of prominent motifs such as surya vandha, gaja vandha, vichitra and vichitrangada (elephant and sun motifs), which have been mentioned in Varna Ratnakara, a fourteenth-century prose work written by Jyotisvara. A document dated 1719, chronicling the activities at the Jagannatha Temple, Puri, refers to a bandha gita govinda being woven in Nuapatna, near Cuttack, suggesting that the technique used to weave what is now known as Gitagovinda khandua existed in the region at the time. Made of silk, these ritually significant cloths have a shloka or stanza from the Gita Govinda, a 12th century devotional poem by Jayadeva, woven into the main field using weft ikat.

At present, there are two primary centres of ikat weaving in Odisha — the Sambalpur-Bargarh region in western Odisha and the Cuttack district, closer to the coast. Sambalpur ikats are woven by the Bhulia Meher community, who are believed to have migrated to Odisha from Madhya Pradesh in the eighteenth century. In the Cuttack region, ikat weaving is practised by the Gaudiya Patra and Asani Patra communities in the town of Nuapatna as well as the villages of Badamba, Maniabandha, Narasinghpur and Tigiria.

The traditional bandha process entailed the use of natural dyes derived from powdered lac, madder, myrobalan, indigo and local trees such as the Kamala and the Lodhra trees. By the 1950s, however, synthetic dyes became commonplace. Sarees woven with the Odisha bandha technique feature two pallus on either end in a design known as domuha (from do, meaning “two,” and muha meaning “pallu” or “the transverse border of the saree”). Sarees for everyday use had shorter, less elaborate pallus, while those made for special occasions had pallus with supplementary weft-ikat woven in bands of motifs and patterns. These bands of weft-ikat in the pallu are called phool and can vary from two bands (duiphulia) to twelve (baraphulia). Traditionally, the pallu panels and the main field included simple motifs such as danti (teeth), kumbha (temple) and small birds, animals and flowers. The sarees were traditionally shorter — 4 metres long and less than 1 metre wide — than the current style, and were worn without a bodice. Today, the sarees woven in the region feature only one pallu.

Each centre of production has its own distinct weaving styles and motifs. Traditionally, ikat textiles from western Odisha, such as Sambalpur, Balangir, Bargarh, Sundergarh, Subarnapur and Mayurbhanj, were made of cotton, although today, weavers of the region have adopted ikat weaving in silk. The two textiles unique to Nuapatna are the khandua and the Gitagovinda khandua or the Gitagovinda pheta. The region is also known for two types of sarees, namely the saktapar and the bichitrapar, which are worn on special occasions.

The main field in traditional Nuapatna sarees had heavy motif work, featuring patterns such as elephants, fantastical creatures, lions, parrots, large flowers and creepers, stars and trellises. These sarees were also not domuha and were the same length as conventional sarees. More contemporary designs feature newer patterns such as large squares (known as a kothari pattern) and newer layouts of motifs in the main field. Weavers also experiment with landscapes, geometrical layouts and complex figures in the pallu and main field. Traditional ikat weaves were made of tussar silk cultivated in Nuapatna, although more contemporary weaves use cotton and mulberry silk sourced from Bengaluru.

Traditionally, the warp was prepared in open air, with the help of separating poles or warping frames, although this has been replaced by a warping drum, especially in Nuapatna. If the design is warp-based, the weaver will transfer the design to the yarn and tie the areas to resist the dyes before the dyeing process. Once the dyeing process is complete, the warp is starched and mounted on the loom. The weft is prepared on a frame with upright sticks or separating cords. After the weft has been grouped and sub-grouped, the design is marked and ties are added before dyeing. If a smaller area of the yarn requires dyeing, the dye is applied by hand using a brush. Once dyed, the weft yarns are wound onto pirns in the order corresponding to the design.

Weavers primarily use pit looms for weaving, although frame looms are also used in the Nuapatna cluster, with a throw shuttle used for a weft-ikat pattern and a fly shuttle used for a warp-ikat pattern. The fabric is finished by starching and wound on a roller before being folded.

The Odisha bandha became popular during the 1980s and ’90s, owing to a rise in popularity of Indian handlooms. Today, the technique continues to have a strong local market but there has not been an evolution in terms of the fabric or designs. The technique also faces competition from cheaper imitation fabrics featuring printed, as opposed to woven, ikat patterns. The Odisha bandha and Sambalpur ikats received Geographical Indications tags in 2006 and 2012, respectively.

Printed, woven, painted or embroidered with the name of a deity or a sacred chant, the Namawali Chadar is a type of religious garment found in India. The word namawali literally translates to “object inscribed with a name.” In this case, it refers specifically to the name of a religious deity or a particular mantra, which is repeated across the fabric as a pattern. The word chadar, meaning “covering,” is broadly used to refer to it as an upper-body garment, but the Namawali Chadar can also take the form of a shawl, stole or scarf.

The words on a Namawali Chadar are traditionally written in the Devanagari script. The Chadar can be made of a range of fabrics, including silk and cotton, and may feature additional motifs, such as images of the deity and other religious symbols like shankhas, chakras, tridents etc.

The practice of making Namawali Chadars is believed to have begun around the fifteenth century, with the advent of the Bhakti movement. Between the fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries, it was produced across different parts of India, including Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. The earliest versions of the Chadar were mostly owned and worn by members of royalty, who would specifically commission weavers to produce these cloths under their patronage. Indian paintings from the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries depict widows wearing the Chadar during religious ceremonies.

Once it began to be produced and printed in larger numbers, the Namawali Chadar was no longer restricted to use by royalty and gained widespread popularity. Today, it continues to be worn by priests and devotees during religious ceremonies, as it is believed to purify the soul. In many regions, it is used to cover the body during cremation ceremonies, and as a drape for altars and deities in temples. Depending on the deity it is dedicated to, the Namawali Chadar may be called by different names, such as the Hari-Nama Chadar, which features the sixteen-word Hare Krishna mantra.

A similar garment is the ritual shawl known as the Ramnami Ordhni, which is made by members of the Ramnami sect of Varanasi, and features the name of the god Ram repeated across the fabric.

As more women participated in the national movement for independence and became visible in the public sphere, the Nivi drape began to gain popularity throughout the country. It became synonymous with ideas of nationalism and modernity when it featured in the portraits of Mother India by painter Raja Ravi Verma and, by the mid 1930s, the drape began to appear frequently in cinema as well. After 1947, its status was officially cemented as it became a part of the uniform of the Indian army, the police as well as the national airline.

The Nivi drape is also the most common drape in other parts of South Asia, such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.

A textile woven from a variety of cotton species, muslin is characterised by lightness and durability, which results in its longevity. Also called mul mul, the cotton grown in West Bengal is especially renowned for its fineness, softness and gloss. Its name derives from the French mousseline (meaning “delicately woven cotton fabric”), which in turn derives from the Italian name for Mosul, Iraq, which was renowned for its muslin. Regions in present-day West Bengal and Dhaka, Bangladesh are historically renowned for their skilful manufacturing of the material.

There are five main types of muslin in India: jamdani, mosreen, doorea, charkhona (or chakat) and rang, as well as several subcategories and iterations of the textile around the world, classified on the basis of usage, quality, location and thread count. The general quality differentiations range in terms labelled “fine-super-fine,” “super-fine,” “fine” and “ordinary.”

Muslin production is a time- and labour-intensive process, with each metre of cloth requiring a month to be handwoven. Most muslin pieces are produced in approximately 20-yard-long by 1-yard-wide swatches. Raw, uncleaned cotton, also known as karpas, is first made into clean cotton (ruyi). The cleaning process is carried out by distinct groups and usually begins with women, who remove any foreign matter from the harvested cotton using combs traditionally made of the jawbones of the boalee, a local catfish, whose dense, fine teeth enable the micro-fibres in the cotton to pass. The clean cotton is then set to dry in the sun or in warmed earthen pots, ready to be rolled on a hard surface. Subsequently, the fibres undergo a clean-pressing process to make them fluffy and soft, which includes ginning. The fibres are then spooled into thread, which is woven into cloth using wood or bamboo looms — a process that involves approximately 190 distinct loom apparatuses and supplemental tools. Muslin manufacturing skills were generally classified within religious perimeters, with Hindus handling the yarn-spinning processes and Muslims handling the weaving of the fabric, especially for jamdani.

Dhaka muslin, which is considered to have been the finest quality of the textile, was produced from the Gossypium arboreum (regionally known as phuti karpas), which had shorter fibres, unlike the longer strands of modern cotton. Over the years, the knowledge around the process of manufacturing Dhaka muslin, which comprised sixteen steps, has been lost, and phuti karpas is believed to have become extinct. However, communities in the region continue to use similar steps to weave muslin using lower-quality cotton.

Owing to its lightness, Dhaka muslin was a prized material and was used in the royal outfits in Mughal courts. In the seventeenth century, Mughal emperors patronised muslin weaving, recognising its ability to protect the body from extreme heat while being comfortable and aesthetically pleasing, with various textural and visual variations. Even in plain white colours, muslin was considered a luxurious fabric. It was also the prime medium for embroideries such as chikan, as well as other embellishments and dyeing.

Muslin became a key trade commodity for the British East India Company in the seventeenth century and was instrumental in helping the British solidify monetary control over the region; records of a 1789 sale by the Company indicate that they held forty thousand muslin pieces in just two ships. The popularity of muslin rose throughout Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, being favoured by influential figures such as Marie Antoinette and Josephine Bonaparte, the first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte. Consequently, the Company demanded increased production of the textile from Bengal and pressured weavers to increase supply while lowering prices. The textile began to be simultaneously manufactured in Europe using machinery, which resulted in a coarser, lower-quality version of Dhaka muslin. Since the Company needed markets for this surplus of industrially produced muslin, they flooded India with imitation cloth, contributing to the eventual collapse of indigenous muslin manufacturing communities and products.

Following the Independence and Partition Act of 1947, as well as the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, several communities of skilled weavers migrated to Bangladesh. However, the production of the textile dwindled, since the weavers lacked vital resources for the process owing to the mass migrations and war. Over the years, there has been a rise in efforts to encourage and maintain the weaving traditions of West Bengal and Bangladesh, including the jamdani village established by the Bangladesh Small Industries Corporation in 1993, where over four hundred families lived on government-subsidised land. However, inexpensive varieties of muslin exported globally have resulted in decreased government funding, jeopardising the status of these communities.

Today, muslin is one of the most widely used cotton textiles in the world, with simpler versions of the textile being mechanically produced across the globe. It has also been incorporated in the work of fashion designers such as John Galliano and Vivienne Westwood. Several traditional examples of Indian, specifically Dhaka muslin, as well as the silk-muslin saree from Chanderi, Madhya Pradesh, are held in the collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

A thick, flat-woven rug or carpet produced in Karnataka, India, that is primarily used as a floor covering, is known as Navalgund dhurrie. Navalgund or navedu in Kannada, refers to the peacock which frequently appears as a design motif in the dhurries. The origin of Navalgund dhurries goes back to the sixteenth century Bijapur when for the sake of safety and continuity of their craft, the jamkhana weavers migrated from Bijapur to Navalgund, amidst the power struggle between the Deccan Sultanate and the Vijayanagara empire.

Navalgund dhurries are woven along the width on a vertical loom, locally referred to as khadav magga, with precise calculations on a naksha (graph). These are mostly weft-dominant where the warp consists of white cotton yarn and each design is unique. The designs include striped, stepped, serrated patterns with bright coloured wefts of red, yellow, blue and green, geometric designs and motifs of choukhas (dice game board), mor (peacock), charmor (peacock motif in four corners) and stylised intricate patterned mihrabs (niched arches). The dominant colour for the background is a bright red in most jamkhanas. The Navalgund dhurries are of various types and sizes – depending on their use – such as the jamkhana, which is used as a floor covering; the jainamaz, used as prayer mats; totalle jamkhana, used for cradles; and guddar which is used as a protective cover when storing grains.

Towards the end of the nineteenth century due to rampant commercialisation of weaving in rural India, the design, colour sensitivity, dyeing of the Navalgund dhurries deteriorated significantly, stagnating the industry. To support the weavers, the Karnataka state government established a production centre and brought in artisans to work there but the number of artisans has fallen significantly due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the prolonged lockdowns in the state. In 2011, Navalgund dhurries received the Geographical Index (GI) tag from the government of India.

A type of phulkari made on a neela khaddar, or base cloth, dyed with indigo, the nilak phulkari is characterised by red and yellow embroidery. A small amount of iron is sometimes added to the indigo to generate a darker shade of blue. Unlike chopes and suber phulkaris, nilak phulkaris are never used in wedding rituals.

The blue and black shades of nilak phulkaris have been variously associated with Krishna, who is depicted with blue skin, or the neelambari musical raga, which represents longing. Young girls in Punjab sometimes begin making simple nilak phulkaris before they make more elaborate or ritually significant embroidery.

Examples of historic nilak phulkaris can be found in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

At the time of writing, the Nehru jacket continues to be a popular garment among political leaders in India. However, the contemporary Nehru jacket is not the exact version of the garment that was favoured by Nehru – it is often sleeveless and shorter in length. Though occasionally seen in a mandarin-collared, hip length waistcoat, Nehru mostly wore a full-length achkan.

The Nehru jacket’s popularity has inspired other garment styles in Southeast Asia, including the Mujib Coat in Bangladesh and the Raj Pattern in Thailand.

Made of handwoven, starched cotton, the mundum neriyathum is the traditional attire of women in the state of Kerala. It consists of two unstitched pieces of white or cream-coloured cotton fabric, the upper neriyathum (also known as kavani) and the lower mundu, with the latter also being an independent garment. As with the mundu, the mundum neriyathum is traditionally woven by the Shaliar and Devanga communities in Balaramapuram, Chendamangalam and Kuthampully.

The mundum neriyathum is believed to be distantly descended from two pieces of clothing dated to the first century CE or possibly earlier: the antariya, a lower garment draped in a manner similar to the mundu and dhoti, and the uttariya, a long scarf-like piece of fabric from which the neriyathum (and the less common melmundu worn by men) was derived. The mundu is wrapped around the waist, and the length and drape of the cloth varies greatly across the many communities in Kerala. The neriyathum is either worn diagonally across the chest and over the left shoulder, resembling the pallu of a saree, or tied across the chest and tucked into the blouse, covering the body down to the knees.

Historically, both men and women in Kerala were required to bare their upper body when in the presence of a member of a higher caste. Upper castes therefore effectively wore the mundum neriyathum attire most of the time, unless they were engaged in a private darshan, or an audience with the image of a deity. Frustration with the caste-based permissibility for wearing the neriyathum led to the Channar Revolt, a series of protests and revolts by women of the lower caste Nadar community which began in 1813, and grew into a larger emancipatory movement over the course of the nineteenth century. The Nadar women were supported by local Christian missionaries and other members of lower castes, who were all met with violent opposition by the government-supported upper castes and Travancore royalty. After a series of attempted compromises — such as the permission to wear a jacket or cloth that was visibly coarser and duller than the upper caste neriyathum — Nadar women were permitted to wear the upper cloth at all times. The movement continues to be regarded as a landmark in the anti-caste history of south India.

Today, the mundum neriyathum is usually of two kinds: the set mundu or settu mundu, which is for everyday use and features a variety of colours, and the kasavu saree, which is worn by women for festivals such as Onam and has a gold zari border known as the kasavu. The weaving centres of Balaramapuram, Chendamangalam and Kuthampully received Geographical Indication (GI) tags in 2009, 2011 and 2015 respectively.

Often golden amber or creamy white in colour with a smooth texture and shiny appearance, Muga silk fibres derive from the northeast of India, namely the state of Assam. Every year, Assam produces approximately 180 metric tonnes of Muga yarn from over 100,000 handlooms. Many communities and classes are involved in the rearing of the Muga silkworm in Assam, but almost all silk production is carried out by women.

Historically, Muga silk was cultivated for royal family members of the Ahom Kingdom (1228-1826). The kingdom practised administrative strategies to oversee Muga and Eri silk production and rearing practices in the region, including the farming of Muga silkworms, reeling and weaving of silk fabrics.

The Muga fibre itself derives from the Assamese silkworm, Antheraea assamensis, a multivoltine insect species unique to the region. The silkworms complete four to five life cycles per year, each stage of the worm’s life being highly responsive to changes in daylight length due to seasonal shifts. To remove the natural gum and reveal the valuable silk threads, Muga cocoons must be boiled in an alkaline solution composed of ash and other plant-based materials. This removes layers of floss and reveals the silk filament. Muga filaments are naturally arranged in a continuous looped shape, different from Eri or Tussar silk filaments, which are usually flat.

The Muga fibre reeling process is most often carried out by hand using a pedal-operated Bhir. Two people work together to delicately reel and twist the end of the silk from the silkworm cocoon. Each cocoon holds approximately 300 metres of Muga silk, 5.5 denier in size.

Muga is valued for its luxurious texture and appearance and is employed for numerous formal and luxury products. The Muga Mekhela is a traditional garment worn by Assamese women, composed mainly of Muga silk. In addition, Muga is used for traditional events and ceremonial occasions including weddings and the Bihu festival. Muga is widely exported around the globe as well: Japan is a large purchaser of Muga for the manufacturing of quilts, curtains and fine kimono, among numerous other usages. Muga is also used for many textile applications in India including sarees, umbrellas, bed covers, upholstery and more. Muga was granted a Geographical Indication registration in July 2007, solidifying legal protection for the silkworms within India, preventing the unsanctioned use of Muga internationally, and recognising it as a cultural product of Assam.

Owing to the high demand for Muga silk, small-scale traditional handmade and hand-cultivated silk practices have slowly decreased over the last century. Factory machine methods and indoor silkworm farming attempts have been implemented around the world to quicken the production process. However, the Assamese silkworm does not produce at the same rate indoors, so this type of commercial silk production is in effect less profitable. As the silkworms are highly sensitive to changes in temperature and daylight, climate change has negatively affected their ability to produce fibres. Muga plantation land in Assam has also greatly decreased due to the expansion of industrial and residential areas.

A traditional lower garment worn by various communities in Mizoram, the Mizo puan is a woven cloth tied at the waist. There are several types of puan, which are used for different occasions depending on the kind of weaving and the design of the garment. The word derives from the Mizo word for “cloth.”

The puan was the traditional attire for both men and women of various Mizo communities till the twentieth century. Earlier puans consisted of an uncut rectangular cloth that was draped over a blouse by women and wrapped around the body by men. By the early twentieth century, following the arrival of missionaries and British administrators in the region, the communities began incorporating the puan with western wear, which informed the present form of the women’s puan, which is similar to a wrap skirt. Subsequently, the puan was incorporated into traditional and formal clothing worn by Mizo women, whereas men only wear puans while performing or in informal or domestic settings.

The puan is primarily woven by the women of the region using the fly-shuttle technique on backstrap looms or Zo looms, although these have been largely been replaced by frame looms. Cotton or wool yarn is used to weave the garment, although contemporary versions use acrylic, rayon and mulberry silk yarn sourced from Assam and West Bengal. A typical puan measures about 36 inches in length and between 44–54 inches in width.

Two balls of yarn are hand-rolled simultaneously to wind them on a bamboo stick, typically at a length of about 78 inches and a maximum width of 25 inches. A porcupine quill is used to untangle the yarn while it is being wound. The yarn is woven using the loin loom technique, wherein the weaver straps the loom at her waist and the bamboo rods hold the warp yarn in place. The loin loom process produces the puan in two parts which are later stitched together. In this process, the weft is handwoven using a shuttle called Themtleng, which is made from the wood of the Meihle tree (Caryota mitis). The shuttle tightens the weave while a wooden slab with grooves, called Tukkrek, holds the warp yarn taut. The decorative motifs on the puan, called zeh, are woven using extra-weft threads of art silk or coloured acrylic thread that use thread work to tie the weave from the reverse of the puan. Traditional puans are woven using the plain-weave technique, while designs such as the striped pattern are woven with wool threads using the rib-weave technique, with patterns inserted through swivel weaving.

For puans woven on frame looms, yarns taken from various coloured bobbins, depending on the design and desired colours, are first wound on a warping drum using a spinning wheel. The yarn is then transferred to a wooden beam set on the loom and passed through reeds and heddles which set the yarn according to the design, with the heddles tied to the bamboo deck below for footwork movement of the loom. The number of bamboo rods differ based on the desired design: five rods are used for twill-weave work, four for double-thread work and two for single-thread work. The frame loom produces single-width puans, as opposed to the two sections woven using the loin loom. The yarn for motif weaving is suspended on a rod above the woven fabric for easy access. The motifs are inserted using the same process as the loin loom, with the threads tied on the reverse.

Common motifs on puans include designs inspired by native flora and fauna, such as sawhthing (ginger flower), stars, roses, saskei or kepui (tiger skin), sinar (geometrical diamond, triangular or zig-zag patterns), kikau (geometrical zig zag pattern), hruih (plain black stripe), kawkpuizikzial (entwined leafy plants), disul (sungrass) and lenbuantham (two or four triangles, signifying the junction of the branches of the Lenbuan tree). The predominant colours on a puan are black, white and red. Traditional puans may also be decorated with gold and silver zari threads sourced from Assam. Handspun puans with bright colours generally have bold stripes due to the warp-dominant structure of the garment.

Different varieties of puans are used for different occasions, most commonly during weddings, cultural and ceremonial occasions and festivals such as Christmas and Easter, and are distinguished by their colour combinations and patterns. It is also worn with the kawrchei (decorated blouse) and vakiria (headdress) by women during Cheraw performances. Notable varieties of the puan include the puanchei, puan laisen (ceremonial costume with a red horizontal middle section), puandum, tawlhlohpuan and ngotekherh. Contemporary design experiments and variations in puan designs have altered the colour palette of traditional puans, incorporating bright colours, artificial diamond needle-work and embroidery. While early puans were woven in undyed white, they eventually began to be rendered in naturally dyed cloth. In recent years, synthetic dyes have replaced natural dyes, making it possible for variations to the traditional colour palette.

The primary knowledge of weaving and units remain generational, passed down within a family of weavers. After the independence of India in 1947, the village of Thenzawl near Aizawl emerged as an important centre of puan weaving, with concentrated efforts to train weavers in the fly-shuttle technique through a Weavers’ Service Centre certificate course instituted in 1979. By the 1980s, it had emerged as an important centre for traditional and frame-loom based puan weaving and has contributed significantly to the economy of the state. Thenzawl puans are typically 45–47 inches wide and between 56–70 inches long. Lengpui village is another important centre for loin loom puans, whereas Zuangtui village consists primarily of frame loom puan weavers. Today, the fabric is also used in accessories such as bags, cushion covers, table runners and tailored shirts, in addition to the skirt.

The tawlhlohpuan, puanchei, puandum and ngotekherh received the Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2019. Puans are also held in the collections of museums such as the Museum of Fine Art, Boston; the Yale University Art Gallery; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; and the Pitt Rivers Museum.

Made by the indigenous Mising community of Assam also known as the Mishing or the Miri, this gadu is a thick fluffy blanket used during the winter season. Traditionally woven on a mini handloom, the process of weaving a gadu is intensive and can take up to a month. The warp of a gadu consists of thick, coarse cotton yarn, while the weft is formed by inserting three-inch pieces of soft, spun cotton one by one using a tool called the sumpa. As a result, one side of the blanket is fluffy while the other is coarse. An average gadu is 3 x 2.5 metres in size and is often formed by stitching two separate pieces together. The gadu is traditionally washed by soaking it for several days in an alkaline solution made of banana leaf ash mixed with water.

The gadu is culturally significant in the Mising community. It is one of the gifts given to a bride by her mother, and the presence of a gadu in a household is considered to be a marker of social standing.

An anthropologist and cultural researcher, Monisha Ahmed is known for her work on the arts and crafts, and particularly the textiles, of the region of Ladakh. She is co-founder of the Ladakh Arts and Media Organisation (LAMO), a public trust that aims to document and conserve Ladakh’s art practices and material culture.

After graduating from St Xavier’s College, Mumbai in 1987, Ahmed spent a few months in Leh, teaching at the Moravian Mission School and studying Buddhist philosophy and thangka paintings at the Central Institute for Buddhist Studies. It was during this time that she first encountered the textile traditions of the nomadic-pastoralist Rupshupa community of eastern Ladakh.

Ahmed left to study anthropology at the University of Oxford, UK, returning to Ladakh to conduct research for her master’s as well as her doctorate degree. Her doctoral dissertation on the textile practices of the Rupshupa community became the basis for her first book, Living Fabric: Weaving Among the Nomads of Ladakh Himalaya (2002), which won the Textile Society of America’s RL Shep Award in 2003.

In 1996, Ahmed co-founded LAMO with Ravina Aggarwal. Among its earliest projects was the restoration of the Munshi House and the adjacent Gyaoo House, historic structures in Leh’s Old Town. The project was led by conservation architect John Harrison, with help from the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) UK. The houses were adapted to serve as the LAMO Centre: a dedicated arts venue with a library, offices, artist studios, galleries and spaces for performances. In 2018, the LAMO Centre received an Award of Distinction at UNESCO’s Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation.

Ahmed has also published on the history of the textile trade in the Himalayan region and its different textiles such as gyasar and pashmina. She collaborated with historian Janet Rizvi for the book Pashmina: the Kashmir Shawl and Beyond (2009) and contributed articles on the garments of the Himalayan region in the Encyclopaedia of World Fashion: Vol 4, South Asia and SouthEast Asia (2010). Along with British anthropologist Clare Harris, she co-edited Ladakh: Culture at the Crossroads (2009), which examines Ladakh’s traditional crafts practices from historical and contemporary perspectives. She worked with the Mumbai chapter of INTACH from 1997–200, and was associate editor of Marg Magazine from 2010–16.

At the time of writing, Ahmed lives in Mumbai, where she continues her work as Executive Director of LAMO alongside her research on Indian textile and craft practices.

A traditional, hand woven garment of Assam, the mekhela chador is a handwoven, two-piece attire worn by the women from the region. The mekhela is the lower piece, a sarong-like fabric that is wrapped around the waist like a skirt. Unlike a traditional saree, the pleats in the mekhela are fewer in number, and are made on the right side and tucked in. The top garment is typically a blouse and, for specific occasions like the festival of Bihu, it is the traditional, long sleeved red blouse. In earlier times, an unstitched garment known as the riha was wrapped around the upper body instead of a blouse. The chador, also called the cheleng, is a long unstitched fabric measuring approximately 2.81 x 1.25 m, one end of which is tucked into the top of the mekhela using triangular folds, while the other end is wrapped around the top half of the body.

The mekhela chador can be of three types: Muga, Eri and Pat, based on the kind of silk used to weave it. The most prominent centre for the production of the mekhela chador in Assam is the town of Sualkuchi, which has been a hub of sericulture and silk weaving since the eleventh century.

While it resembles the langa voni and the pavada davani of South India, unlike these, the mekhela chador is draped with pleats and can be worn by women of all ages. Different variants of the mekhela chador are worn by different Assamese tribes, such as the Yakan Age-Gasar, which is worn by the Mishing tribe and is black in colour.

An applique tradition from Gujarat and Rajasthan, katab applique is traditionally practised by women of the Meghwal, Rabari and Mahajan communities. Most present-day katab artisans come from families who migrated to India during the Partition, or more recently from Rajasthan to Gujarat and are now mostly based in Vadodara, Rajkot and Ahmedabad. Katab textiles have historically also been used by the Sodha Rajput and Mutwa communities in the region, particularly as part of dowries and bridal trousseaus. While its traditional uses take the form of torans, chandarvos (wedding canopies) and ralli (patchwork quilts), contemporary katab is applied to a variety of garments and household textiles.

Like many applique crafts, katab is executed using waste fabric and can be stitched using the direct and reverse applique techniques. The cloth to be appliqued is cut into specific shapes that are then arranged according to the planned design. These units are triangular pieces, squares called chitkis and strips of cloth. The resulting designs are usually symmetrical and geometric, but sometimes also floral. If the quantity of fabric allows for it, the artisan may also stack multiple pieces of cloth together, iron them down and use them as a single unit while stitching, thus sharply raising the texture of the overall design. The relatively more prized katab textiles usually have a muslin base and appliqued layers of mashru, bandhani or patola fabric, and may also be embellished with ajrakh prints.

While the craft has largely been self-sustained within a network of communities in Gujarat and Rajasthan, artisans are additionally supported by the Gujarat State Handicrafts and Handloom Development Corporation and organisations like Katab: Not Only Money, founded by designer LOkesh Ghai. This aid takes the form of developing a broad design vocabulary for artisans, guiding them on market forces in contemporary fashion and published research that helps maintain an academic interest in katab.

In the medieval period, pat, a variety of Bombyx silk was patronised by the Ahom rulers of Assam (c. 1228–1894 CE) and may likely have been introduced in the region from Bengal. By the late medieval period, textual evidence suggests the presence of mulberry sericulture in the Bengal and Kashmir regions. The fifteenth–century account of the Chinese traveller Ma Huan provides an account of mulberry cultivation for silk production in Bengal, while in Kashmir, the industry likely dates to the sixteenth century.

In the seventeenth century, Bengal emerged as an important centre for mulberry sericulture in the subcontinent, in terms of production and export. The town of Kasimbazar (now Cossimbazar, near Murshidabad, West Bengal) was at the centre of this growth, with mulberry cultivations an important feature of the area. By the mid-seventeenth century, the region had attracted the attention of Dutch and British traders and emerged as an important source of silk for European and domestic markets, the latter including the region of Gujarat, which had been heavily reliant on Chinese raw material for its woven silk goods.

In Bengal, the English East India Company introduced a few different mulberry varieties, distributed financial resources and held training for local workers by European experts. One such intervention was the introduction of a new technique of filature or reeling of silk, aimed at matching the product with the requirements of the European market. In addition, the Company also played a significant role in promoting mulberry sericulture in parts of southern India. In Kashmir, in the late nineteenth century, a stagnant mulberry sericulture industry was revived under the Dogra rule with inputs from Sir Thomas Wardle, a noted British sericulturist. The means here included the importing of eggs from France and restrictions for the protection of mulberry trees.

In the post–independence era, mulberry silk has been produced primarily in the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and the union territory of Jammu & Kashmir. India is the second-largest global producer of mulberry silk after China. In 2020–21, the volume of mulberry silk produced in India was 23,896 metric tonnes out of a total raw silk production volume of 33,770 metric tonnes. The Central Silk Board, instituted in 1948 under the Indian Government’s Ministry of Textiles, is responsible for the promotion of mulberry and non-mulberry sericulture in the country. It has institutes dedicated to mulberry silk in Mysuru, Karnataka, Behrampore, West Bengal and Pampore, Jammu & Kashmir and works with state-level sericulture units. Its research projects include studies of mulberry varieties tolerant to different climate conditions, disease and pests and the rearing of hybrid silkworms for better yield and quality. In addition, the Board conducts academic and training programmes in sericulture and aids in the procurement of silk seeds, the technical term for silkworm eggs.

Despite these interventions, Indian mulberry silk faces a significant challenge from Chinese mulberry silk, which is imported into the country. The Indian variety is considered less suitable for power-looms and the lower price of the Chinese yarn has also resulted in its wider adoption in several traditional handloom clusters.

In mata ni pachedi the figure of the goddess has a commanding presence, depicted flanked by worshippers, musicians and animals. Many forms of the goddess — known through mythological and oral narratives, textual sources, and popular local traditions — are found in these images, including various representations of the goddesses Durga and Amba. Also included are goddesses from the local folk tradition of Gujarat, such as Vishat Mata, one of the most important goddesses for the Vaghris, who claim their ancestry from her; Vahanvati Mata, who is worshipped by seafarers and traders; Momai Mata, more popularly known as Dashamaa, a goddess of the Kutch region and protector of health, livestock and harvest; Khodiyar Mata, who is thought to be powerful enough to predict the nature of incoming monsoon; and Hadkai Mata, who protects her flock from rabies. The pantheon of such local goddesses in the mata ni pachedi tradition serves to illuminate the social and cultural life of the Vaghris as a nomadic agricultural community dependent on monsoon rains, as well as Gujarat’s history of maritime trade. 

Images of the goddesses in mata ni pachedi  generally follow traditional iconographic conventions. In some versions, the Hindu god Ganesha appears in either the upper portions of the cloth or to the left of the goddess. Narratives from Mahabharata and Ramayana also find a portrayal, with artists improvising and adapting scenes from the texts to fit them into the mata ni pachedi painting conventions. For instance, the golden deer from the scene of Sita’s abduction in Ramayana is depicted instead simply as a two-headed deer since the colour gold was not available as a natural dye. Similarly, the game of dice from Mahabharata was substituted by a game of cards as the latter was easier to illustrate. 

The need to improvise and adapt the form has led to significant changes in the art form; the grid-like structure for the narrative is no longer a requirement, and traditional depictions of rows of worshippers carrying garlands and flags have been supplemented by angels carrying them. In some cases, the temples also appear to be domed like mosques. To reduce costs and meet increased demand during the festive season, mata ni pachedi artists today have replaced natural dyes with a vast array of artificial colours, such as sap green, yellow ochre and dark blue. 

The popularity of mata ni pachedi is no longer restricted to its ritual aspect and its significance during the nine-day Hindu festival of Navaratri. Artists now produce decorative consumer goods such as bedsheets, pillowcases, wall hangings and garments in the traditional style all year round.

A form of kalamkari from southern India, where designs are printed, instead of being drawn using a kalam (pen) are known as Machilipatnam block prints. These prints are presently limited to the town of Pedana, near Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh. As a trade textile it was known by several names: chintz by the English, sitz by the Dutch and pintado by the Portuguese. Locally, it is also known as addakam (dyeing) and Pedana kalamkari.

The blocks are traditionally carved out of teakwood. The dyes are procured from minerals, leaves, flowers and barks of local trees. The colour red, a distinct presence in kalamkari, is made from a solution of alum and tamarind seed powder; the colour black comes from iron ore; violet is derived from indigo; and shades of yellow, such as mustard and lemon, are derived from varying mixes of turmeric and harad (myrobalan). The fabric is soaked in water for three days to remove starch from it. It is treated with buffalo’s milk and harad, then rinsed and dried for the first stage of printing. The edges of the carved block are pressed onto the cloth, beginning first with outlines and then filling in colour. If the design is supposed to be polychromatic, the red and black portions are printed first, after which the fabric is rinsed and dried to be prepared for a second round of printing. Once printing is finished, the fabric is boiled in a bath with dyes, creating varying combinations of colour. The fabric is rinsed and dried and after another stage of printing with natural dyes the cycle of rinsing and drying is repeated.

In the Machilipatnam style, the outline drawing is carved on wooden blocks which are then used to print on fabrics. Unlike handpainted kalamkari, which was a smaller setup concentrated as an inter-generational craft, Machilipatnam print production is carried out in karkhanas (commercial workshops) where block making, washing and printing takes place simultaneously. Srikalahasti, the major centre where kalamkari developed, provided patronage to it through religious functions. Machilipatnam, on the other hand, was an important port city from the medieval period and a bustling trade centre. Due to the textile trade and varying influences of Persian, Arab and European traders, the motifs and designs of Machilipatnam block printed fabric were cross-cultural. Textiles were mass-produced in the karkhanas for trade, leading to a prioritisation of decorative function over the narrative function as was done in Srikalahasti kalamkari. Common patterns include geometric formation, floral patterns, twining creepers, animal figures and ornamental arches and niches.

During British rule, Machilipatnam block printing was used to produce textiles for garments as well as for furnishing. While locally it was used for prayer mats, tents and canopies, the European market used it for clothing and bedspreads that were known as palampores. Presently, the craft faces difficult competition from techniques of mechanical printing and digital design. One of the few remaining craftspeople, Pitchuka Srinivas has established a small kalamkari museum for the tradition in the town. The production of kalamkari has been extended to markets of home linens, garments as well as souvenirs and it enjoys a great popularity in the west, where it is routinely exported. Pedana kalamkari received a Geographical Indications (GI) tag in 2013.

Though widely worn in different parts of India, the lungi is popularly associated with a South Indian identity. This became a source of controversy in Maharashtra during the 1960s, when a regional political organisation began using the term lungi–wallah (“lungi wearer”) to refer to migrants from South India in a derogatory manner. Further, unlike the dhoti, the lungi was historically associated with non-dominant castes, though it is worn by men and women across castes today. The garment is known by different names in different parts of India and Southeast Asia, including tamba/tehmet in Punjab, kaili in Kerala and longyi in Myanmar.

A natural red colorant extracted from the roots of the Indian madder or manjistha (Rubia cordifolia) and common madder (Rubia tinctorum), madder dye is known for its vibrancy and fastness.

Indian madder is a cultivated species of madder that contains high amounts of alizarin, which is the main compound responsible for producing red in most natural dyes. Common madder is native to West Asia and the Mediterranean region and has been grown and used as a dye across Asia for centuries. The widespread habitat of madder plants as well as the long history of the trade of Indian cotton cloth has resulted in multiple varieties of madder being cultivated and used throughout Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Mediterranean coast and northern Africa.

Madder has been used across the Indian subcontinent since the second millennium BCE, with traces of the dye found in cloth from Mohenjo-daro. The dye was also found on textiles discovered in the tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutenkhamun, dating to the fourteenth century BCE. Chintz, kalamkari and other Indian textiles coloured with madder were extremely popular in Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Madder dye began to be directly exported to Europe after cotton cloth began to be produced in the West. Textiles dyed, painted and block-printed with madder as well as other red dyes, such as those derived from lac, Indian mulberry and safflower, were also regularly exported to eastern Africa, West Asia and Southeast Asia from the first millennium CE onwards.

The roots of the madder plant are gathered when it is between two and five years old. They are then cleaned and crushed into powder or small fibres. In pre-industrial India, soft water was first heated without bringing it to a boil before adding the cloth and salt- or oil-based mordants, preferably alum, to the water. The cloth was then allowed to sit in this solution as it cooled, before being removed and wrung. A dyebath was then prepared by wrapping the crushed madder in cotton cloth and placing it in a separate vat of water, followed by the mordanted cloth. Since alizarin has low solubility in water, this method allowed the red colour to disperse through the water slowly, so that the bath was evenly coloured and the cloth dyed uniformly. The dyebath could be reused to obtain lighter shades of red or pink.

Madder dye was replaced by synthetic dyes by the late nineteenth century. Today, the dye is used to a small extent in traditional textile craft.

Fugitive dyes, also known as kuccha dyes, are used in leheriya, so that the excessive dye may be easily discharged, leaving clean lines in the pattern. If multicoloured stripes are required, some of the ties may be opened for further rounds of dyeing, while others may be reserved accordingly. Once a diagonal pattern is completed, a second diagonal pattern may be created using the same process mentioned above. For this, the fabric is unrolled and tied from corner to selvedge in the direction opposite to the first pattern, resulting in a design that features two diagonal stripes crossing each other. This process creates the pattern of mothra, the name given to the small rectangular spaces where the diagonal stripes intersect, which has been inspired by moth, a type of lentil. Striped leheriya patterns are called salaidar, while chevron patterns are known as gandadar. A finished leheriya textile can also be embellished by khari work (not to be confused with khadi, the handwoven cotton fabric), where metallic dust is applied onto a motif that has been stamped with an adhesive on the cloth.  

Tie-dyed textiles, including leheriya, have deep cultural significance in Rajasthan and are worn on special occasions. Women wear leheriya odhanis and sarees for the spring festivals of Holi and Gangaur, as well as the monsoon festival of Teej. Red or pink safas are typically worn by males on these festivals and on special occasions such as weddings, while a safa with the mothra pattern is traditionally worn during periods of mourning.

A cotton and silk sari developed in Maheshwar, Madhya Pradesh, Maheshwari saris are known for their intricate designs, bright colours and reversible pallu designs on both ends.

The Maheshwari sari is believed to have been conceived and designed by Maharani Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore in the eighteenth century, after she shifted her capital to Maheshwar and sought to establish a weaving centre to boost the economy. In 1760, she invited weavers from Surat and Mandu in Gujarat to prepare turban fabric and nine-yard saris that could serve as royal gifts and be worn by the ladies of the Malwa court. Consequently, the weavers developed the Maheshwari sari, which was made using pure silk or pure fine cotton yarn and was nine yards (8.22 metres) long, with a pallu on both ends. Contemporary Maheshwari saris feature a ground made using a blend of cotton from Coimbatore and silk from Bengaluru.

Both pit looms and frame looms are used to weave the saris, with the latter being the preferred mechanism today. The warp yarn, which arrives at weaving centres in dyed bundles from across the country, is stretched and untangled before being rolled onto smaller spindles and bobbins using the charkha or spinning wheel. The warp threads are rolled using a larger motorised wheel, whereas the weft threads are prepared using a smaller, hand-driven spinning wheel. The silk threads are warped using an octagonal cylindrical frame with hooks. The yarn thread is then untangled and reeled onto rods using a charkha. The design of the sari pallu is set up by the weavers on a dobby machine placed on the top of the loom. Maheshwari fabric is usually deep brown, golden yellow, angoori (grape) green, peacock blue and aal (red brick).