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Jamdani

The document discusses Jamdani sarees, a type of finely woven muslin saree originating from Dhaka, Bangladesh. It details the history of Jamdani weaving under Mughal patronage, the decline due to cheaper European imports in the 19th century, and the migration of weavers after partition. Jamdani is created using a unique and intricate supplementary weft technique that results in vibrant patterns appearing to float on the fabric. Though originally made with bright colors, modern Jamdani comes in self-colored or half-and-half styles and uses motifs like flowers arranged in patterns.

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Annu Kashyap
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956 views9 pages

Jamdani

The document discusses Jamdani sarees, a type of finely woven muslin saree originating from Dhaka, Bangladesh. It details the history of Jamdani weaving under Mughal patronage, the decline due to cheaper European imports in the 19th century, and the migration of weavers after partition. Jamdani is created using a unique and intricate supplementary weft technique that results in vibrant patterns appearing to float on the fabric. Though originally made with bright colors, modern Jamdani comes in self-colored or half-and-half styles and uses motifs like flowers arranged in patterns.

Uploaded by

Annu Kashyap
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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When one thinks of Bengal, one of the first things to

pop up in our mind, right after the fish and sweets, is


its thriving saree industry. Sarees form an integral
part of every Bengali woman’s wardrobe and one of
the most popular textiles that boast of a rich history
and heritage is the Jamdani sarees. Popularly known
as Dhaka Jamdani or simply Dhaka, this art of textile
weaving has its roots in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Considered to be one of finest variety of muslin that
is hand-woven from cotton, the art flourished under
the Mughal patronage. Even the name, Jamdani, is
of Persian origin and comes from the word “jam”
meaning flower and “dani” meaning vase. The name
is suggestive of the beautiful floral motifs on these
sarees.
Export of cheaper yarn from European countries in
the 19th century was one of the primary reasons for
the decline of Jamdani. Also, with the decline of
Mughal rule in India, producers of Jamdani were
deprived of their most influential patrons. Villages like
Madhurapur and Jangalbadi, once famous for the
intricate Jamdani industry, faded into oblivion. Post
the partition, many weavers migrated to present day
West Bengal, and that marked the beginning of the art
form in India.
Origin and history
The name Jamdani is of Persian origin and is
strongly suggestive of Mughal influence. It is a
compound word wherein “jam” means flower and
“dani” means vase. The name is suggestive of the
beautiful floral motifs that adorn these gorgeous
sarees. The Bengali version of the name, Dhakai,
comes from the place of its origin — Dhaka in
Bangladesh. Interestingly, the earliest mention of
Jamdani sarees can be found in Chanakya’s
Arthashastra, dating back to the 3rd century BC!
The book refers to it as some fine cloth from
“Bangla” and “Pundra” region. Significant
mentions of Jamdani can also be found in the
book of Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, besides
the accounts of Arab, Chinese and Italian
travellers and traders. In the first half of the 19th
century, James Taylor described the flowered
Jamdani. The late 19th century saw the
Anglicization of rooted Indian concepts and
consequently, TN Mukharji referred to this fabric
as Jamdani muslin.
Weaving process
The base fabric for Jamdani is unbleached
cotton yarn and the design is woven using
bleached cotton yarns so that a light-and-dark
effect is created. The process is extremely time
consuming as it involves a tedious form of
hand looming. The making of Jamdani involves
the supplementary weft technique along with
the standard weft technique. With the latter,
the base sheer material is made on which
thicker threads on used to create designs. Each
of the supplementary weft motif is then added
manually by interlacing the weft threads with
fine bamboo sticks using individual spools. This
process results in the vibrant patterns that
appear to float on a shimmering surface, which
is a feature unique to Jamdani sarees.
Jamdani weaving is somewhat like tapestry
work, where small shuttles of colored, gold or
silver threads are passed through the weft.
Designs range from the “butidar”, where the
entire saree is scattered with floral sprays, to
diagonally-striped floral sprays or the “tercha”
and a network of floral motifs called “jhalar”.
Today, however, price constraints have forced
weavers to simplify their designs. The most
remarkable part of this technique is that the
pattern is not sketched or outlined on the
fabric. Instead, it is drawn on a translucent
graph paper and placed underneath the warp.
The fabric is not just limited to sarees; scarves,
handkerchiefs and dupattas made out of this
fine muslin are also extremely popular.
Special features

One of the most laborious forms of handloom weaves, it’s no surprise that it is
considered to be one of the most prized fabrics in the world. Jamdani weaving is
time-consuming and labour-intensive because of the richness of its motifs, which
are created directly on the loom using the discontinuous weft technique. Threads of
gold and silver are usually woven together with these sarees to create a variety of
patterns and motifs on a brocade loom. It has the supplementary weft technique
along with the standard weft technique. The standard weft creates a fine, sheer
fabric while the supplementary weft with thicker threads adds the intricate patterns
to it. Each of the supplementary weft motif is manually added by interlacing the
weft threads with fine bamboo sticks using individual spools. It gives an illusion of
the designs floating on a shimmering surface, a characteristic of Jamdani weaves.
colours
Though originally made in a variant of
contrasting bright colours, many Jamdani
sarees are now coloured, and even the half
and half Jamdani variety is extremely popular.
The two current favourites in Jamdani saree
are the self-coloured style where the work is in
the same colour as the base fabric and the half
and half style where the inner and outer
halves of the saree are in complementary
colours. The designs and colors also changed
with time. Originally, the motifs used to be
made on grey fabric. Later on, fabrics of other
colours were also used. In the 1960s, Jamdani
work on red fabric became very popular.
MOTIFS
The most remarkable part of about the Jamdani weaving technique is
that the motifs are not sketched or outlined on the fabric. Instead,
they are drawn on a translucent graph paper and placed underneath
the warp. Though Jamdani technique is famous for sarees, it is also
used to make scarves, handkerchiefs and dupattas. Popular motifs
include panna hajar (thousand
emeralds), kalka (paisley), butidar (small flowers), fulwar (flowers
arranged in straight rows), tersa (diagonal patterns), jalar (motifs
evenly covering the entire saree), duria (polka spots)
and charkona (rectangular motifs).

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