CRAFTS OF INDIA / BANDHANI / TRIVIA

CRAFTS OF INDIA / BANDHANI / TRIVIA

- The Khatri community of Kutch in Gujarat is known to excel in this art. Works like, that involving the tying of thousands of miniscule knots on the fabric, which spread and form exquisite designs on opening after the dyeing process, speak volumes for their skill.

- The Bandhani work has been exclusively carried out by the Khatri community of Kutch. A meter length of cloth can have millions of tiny knots known as "Bheendi" in the local language ("Kutchhi"). Four bheendis are known as a "Kadi". These knots form a design once opened after dyeing in bright colors. Traditionally, the final products can be classified into "khombhi", "Ghar Chola", "Patori", "Chandrokhani" etc.

- The biggest draw is still in North & Central Gujarat where large sections of women wear Bandhani sarees, shawls or odhnis. The odhnis are also decorated with mirrors, gota and tassels to give it a richer and more decorative look.

- Different communities in Rajasthan have for ages followed the tradition on tying turbans with different patterns of bandhani on their heads. These were used to identify which community the person belonged to.

- In Bandhani, different colors convey different meanings. While red represents a bride, a yellow background suggests a lady has become a mother recently.

- Some of the most common designs are dungar-shahi or the mountain-pattern, boond that results in a small dot with a dark centre, tear shaped kodi, and the laddu-jalebi or the swirling.

- In Tikunthi, circles and squares appear in a group of three, in ‘Chaubasi’ in groups of four and in Satbandi in groups of seven. Boond is a dot with a dark centre and ekdali just a dot.

- Also different printers can call same design different names. Some names have become famous and some are used for reference reasons with the dyers and printers.