Bandhani - Ancient Indian Tie and Dye Technique

 

 
     Full of life and color, with tiny shapes/dots of square and circle, rectangles & triangles, textured with crease of fabric, Bandhani or Bandhej of Gujarat attracts attention of millions across the world. As the name suggests this tie-dyeing technique is derived from word Bandhana.

History

     History of Bandhani dates back to pre-historic times. It was believed that wearing bandhani sarees brings good fortune to the bride. It is the oldest tie and dye tradition being practiced till today. In the pre-historic times the colours were extracted from plants, flowers, barks, leaves etc. and were applied to fabric to give life and colour to the fabric. These colouring technique was later developed to give a permanent bonding between the fabric and colours. Herbs and plants like turmeric etc were crushed to powder and dissolved in water and this coloured water was then used to give permanent colour to the cotton material. This technique of ancient times is considered to have given birth to the art of dyeing. Southern disctrics of Gujarat such as Jamnagar, Kutch area are considered to be producing the best and richest bandhani fabrics. Most colours used in this tie and dye technique were natural during the olden times, with modernisation now less natural colours are used. Besides Gujarat bandhani form of arts and craft of Rajasthan is also quite famous. It is said that this form of art started mainly from Kutch area of Gujarat and due to proxmity of Rajasthan to that region of Gujarat it was also picked up by the locals of Rajasthan.

Process of Bandhani manufacturing

      The process of manufacturing the Bandhani fabric is very tedious and time consuming. Dyeing is accomplished using the tie-resist method as the patterns are made up of numerous dots and weaves. This dyeing technique is carried out by men and women alike. Men usually performs the dyeing while the women would do the tying. The process of Bandhani includes several stages such as Farma mamking, Transfering design to clothes, Baandhan or Bandhej(tying), colouring(dyeing), removing the bandhan, Drying. If there are more than one colour the Baandhan(tying) and colouring(dyeing) needs to be done again. Usually light colour dyeing is done first and dark colour dyeing is done afterwards.
       Farma is the design used for generating Bandhani patterns on the fabric. The design is first developed either by the craftsmen or the wholeseller. The design is then transferred to plastic sheet using pinholes. These pinholes are then used to transfer the design onto the fabric.

       Once the farma(design) is ready, the fabric is laid open and the plastic sheet with farma is laid onto the fabric.With the help of coloured powder or coloured water the design is then transferred from the farma to the fabric through the pinholes which were formed on the farma plastic sheet. Once the design is transferred to the fabric, it is then ready for the next step of Baandhan(tying).

       Baandhan(tying) or Bandhej is very fine and intricate work and it is usually done by ladies. There are two types of Bandhej namely bandhej for colouring and one for design. The bandhej for colour is done if base colouring of the fabric is needed. If the base colour is not needed then only the bandhej for design is done. Once the design is transferred on to the fabric, fabric is then passed onto the ladies to do the bandhej(tying). The ladies uses the thread and passes it loosly through the pattern formed by the farma. This thread is then pulled to form a knot. This knot will prevent that part of the fabric to be dyed or catch the colour thus maintiaining the base colour. Bandhej is the main part in manufacturing Bandhani fabric. Most of the fabric goes through two rounds of bandhej, one for colouring and one for design.

        Upon completion of bandhej, the fabric is ready for dyeing. If basic colouring is required, the fabric with colouring bandhej is soaked in coloured water for about 2 minutes and then fabric is dried and sent for bandhej again for the design. Once the design bandhej is completed, the fabric is then dyed for the design using other colour solutions. This process is repeated if there are more colours invovled.

      Once the dyeing is completed, fabric is sent for drying. The drying process can take from few hours to 2 days depending on the season. On a hot summer day drying could take 2-4 hrs while during the wet monsoon season it can take upto 2 days for drying.

       After the fabric is dried, the bandhej is opened up and the fabric is full of life and colour. These fabric are used for different purposes from Turban for men to different apparels for women. The women apparel ranges from traditional Indian clothes to the modern design such as skirts and tops of latest fashion. Bandhani fabric is now used along with other crafts such as zari and embroidary.