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Jamdani: A Weave, Often Mistaken to be an Embroidery

Ranjani Govind

Actress Rashmika Mandanna posted a photo of herself in her instagram where she is seen wearing a colourful handwoven Jamdani sari, saying it’s suitable as a summer wear!

What is coincidental is the April Earth month, celebrating the spirit of natural, sustainable work.

Different weaves have emerged from different parts of India, one of them being Bengal, the motherland of a number of traditional cotton weaves like Taanth, Baluchari, Jamdani, Dhania-khaali among others, not-to-forget the host of silk versions that followed.

If there is one that rose above skill and precision it’s Jamdani, where its defining rich motifs are intricately added by hand.

Jamdani weavers are sure that this weave is among the most advanced hand-weaving technique in the world.

“Some people mistake Jamdani to be an embroidery! The standard weft is a fine sheer fabric while the supplementary weft, with thicker threads, adds the intricate patterns. Jamdani weaving is like tapestry work where small shuttles of coloured, gold or silver threads pass through the weft. Selected motifs are inlaid into the fabric by adding these denser threads to the fine warp threads in a process so unimaginably laborious that an artisan is able to weave only two inches in a day making a sari weave go on for months!” says weaver Biswanath Deb of Shantipur in West Bengal.

This is the reason Jamdani was declared a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013.

This particular weaving technique is practiced in India and Bangladesh which, as a part of undivided Bengal before 1947, had common cultural, craft and literary traditions with what is now Bengal in the western part of India.

While the West have seen technological innovations in textiles, the gratifying aspect of wearing a muslin woven by hand with intricate Jamdani work has no bounds, according to master weaver Dasmahapatra, who is part of the Bengal Weavers Association.

“What underlines this craft is that motifs were always taken with geometric outlines and shapes and the traditional Jamdani motif consisted of panna hazar (thousand emeralds); kalka (paisley); butidar (small flowers); fulwar (flowers in rows); tersa (diagonal patterns); jalar (motifs covering the entire sari); duria (polka dots); and charkona (rectangular motifs)” explains Das, whose family had migrated to West Bengal from Tangail, Bangladesh after Partition and even sold handloom saris going doorto-door in Kolkata later.

Nadia and Burdhaman districts in West Bengal are two centres known for the famous Jamdani textiles.

Weaving takes place in a host of villages and towns nearby too that have been traditional handloom midpoints for generations.

Additionally, some areas have become home to skilled weavers who were displaced from similar centres in Bangladesh.

Origin & History

Originally, the base material for Jamdani technique was muslin, fabric made in the kingdom of Rahmi (erstwhile undivided Bengal) the admirably floaty fabric created by deft hands that could pass through a signet ring!

It shares its origin with several airy muslin fabrics of India that went missing when the erstwhile East India Company wiped out the textile industry in the late 18th century.

Around the 12th Century, Islamic influences brought in numerous motifs and colours.

Although it began with the charm of seeing one inlaid thread onto the loom, it soon brought in branches with bewitching patterns.

This technique gradually flagged off motifrich fabrics and during the Mughal emperor Akbar's reign, flowered into muslin, Jamdani.

Jamdani, an enduring craft

Jamdani, say weavers and textile revival boutiques, is an enduring craft as it can be replicated on newer materials.

Says Bharathy Harish of arts revival boutique Madhurya in South Bengaluru, “Jamdani has hopped on from contrasting monotones of white-on-white to a palette in colourful and vibrant forms. While Jamdani work was done on muslin originally, different kinds of sheer materials have brought in threads of silk, silver and gold for more vibrancy. The art has travelled much beyond its birthplace Dhaka and we today find Jamdani with additional regional features in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.”

Talking of Jamdani sari from Madhurya that Rashmika Mandanna wore, Bharathy says, it’s the most intricate tapestry weave represented with Jamdani work of a fully blossomed garden.

“The thread turns nearly 20 times with a dozen different colours every five inches highlighting its intricacy to showcase its floral makeup. It’s taken the weavers nearly eight months to do this muslin Jamdani.”