Orissa Diaries- Visual Blog

The pic was captured at the head office of Boyanika at Bhubaneshwar. Boyanika is a government organization promoting the handloom weavers of Orissa

 Watching a saree being woven at Barapalli Cluster of Bargarh

Watching Bandha in Preparation for Sambalpuri Ikat

Silk sarees after finishing and "ironing" being put under the sun. To "iron" the sarees are applied with water and rice starch and rolled very tightly between wooden rolls and kept under the sun. The place is Nuapatana. 

At Nuapatna - Weft yarn in preparation

Going from Bhubaneswar to Nuapatana- A long stretch of road accompanies a river branch!!!

Captured at Biju Patanayak Park Bhubaneswar.

The termites making "Valmiks" of soils. Remember Valmiki !! You can find it all the way to Nuapatana.

A classic Nuapatana Silk or "Khandua" saree

This design of Nuapatana Silk is Called "Tarawalli"

Buy my books at Amazon.com

Notes on Various Traditional Textile Clusters of Orissa

Orissa is rich with its textile heritage. As depicted by the picture above, a diversity of traditional textile products are obtained from the region. Saris in particular find a new language here. A variety of sarees from Ikat to traditional Jaala ( simplified jacquard) can be obtained from here. Here is a brief outlook of the various traditional clusters.

1. Pitala Cotton Sarees

These are simplest sarees from Orissa and are used in the daily work. These are characterized by a simple Ikat pattern at the border, pallu and butis in the body.

2. Berhampuri Silk ( Patta) Saree with Phoda Kumbha

Phoda Kumbha is a technique of producing temples at the border with the help of three shuttle technique.

These Sarees are produced by Bangalore Silk ( 2-4 ply organzine) in the warp and Malda Silks ( 4-8 ply Charkha Silks).

3. Dhalapathar Sarees

Please have a look at this link. 

4. Bomkai Sarees

Bomkai Cotton and Silk Sarees are known by the elaborate thread work. These can be compared to the Balucahris of Bengal.

5. Nuapatna Tie-Dye or Khandua Sarees vs. Sambalpuri Sarees

Nuapatna sarees are also known as Khandua Sarees.

These sarees are characterised by the characteristic ikat patterns. The main difference between Nuapatna and Sambalpuri  sarees is that the sambalpuri sarees have more elaborate and dense Ikat patterns, thereby making them more clostly. Also Sambalpuri Silk Sarees Use Mulberrry x Mulberry yarns ( 3 ply x 3 ply) and thus have a weight of 650 to 700 grams. Nuapatna Silk sarees use 2 Ply Bangalore x 3 ply Malda Silk with a weight of 380-450 grams.

In cotton Sambalpuri Sarees the count is about 2/120s x 2/140s or 2/120s x 2/120s with a reed and pick of 72 and 76. Whereas in Nuapatna it is 2/100s x 2/100s, 2/80s x 2/80s or 2/100s x 2/80s with reed and pick of 64 and 72. One warp for Sambalpuri is only 2-4 sarees; whereas for Nuaptna, it is upto 30 sarees.

Nuapatna Cotton

Sambalpuri Cotton

6. Pasapalli Sarees

Pasapalli Sarees are those woven in the town of Bargarh. They have patterns inspired from those of chess board. The weave is used as Double Ikat in the typical Sambalpuri Style

7. Habaspuri Sarees

The design of Hawaspuri sarees are inspired from the designs of Kalahandi.

8. Dongria and Siminoi Sarees

These sarees are produced in the Nuapatana cluster of Orissa. they have a characteristic woven pattern at the Pallu produced by local jacquard or Jaala. Click here to know more about them.

9. Tussar Ghicha Saree

Apart from this, Gopalpur village specializes in making Tussar Ghicha sarees, with temples at the border created by tye-dye techniques. The Pallu has usually Ikat horizontal patterns, either in Sambalpuri or in Nuapatana styles.

Count, Construction and Width of Common Hotel Linens

What is Thread Count

Thread count is a term used in bed sheets and bed covers. Thread count simply means how many threads are there in one square inch of the cloth. Thus it is the sum of Ends per inch and Picks per inch.

Bed Sheets 

Yarn Count- 40s x 40s
Thread Count- 200 and above

Single Bed Sheet is normally comes in 90" x 108". Double Bed Sheet comes in 108" x 108".

Weave Pattern - Plain weave or satin, sometimes satin stripes are usd.

Bed Spread

Size: 108" x 108" and 90" x 108"
Normal grammage for single bed cover is 880 grams, and double bed cover is 980 grams.

Duvet Cover

Thread Count: 200 and above
Size : 61" x 91"

Here is a list of all the items

Buy my books at Amazon.com

Is GI Working in Indian Traditional Textiles ?

In a thought provoking and I would say "disruptive" paper, author Aarti Kawlra, makes some important points citing Kanchipuram Sarees. I have experienced the same while buying sarees for my company.

GI has worked in both ways. On one hand, it has provided some standard under which the quality of a particular nomenclature of textile can be evaluated. On the other, it has given rise to a whole bunch of manufacturers, who have subverted the spirit of GI.

The author has argued that GI in Indian context is arguably useful as it is a highly segmented market and manufacturers have to make a balance between the quality and saleability and thus their sustainability.

The author says that it is the way in British Rule, where the "traditional" fabrics were fixed to a particular area.

The fact that material, processes and place are fixed means to disparage innovations and imitations as deviant and spurious.

She pointed out that even the material specifications as mentioned in the GI journals, specifically Kanchipuram Sarees are not adhered to. Eg. for Kanchipuram saree, the zari should have 78% silver, 21% silk, and 1% gold, which are impossible to comply with. The "Zari Mark" of cooperative society has stipulated as 40% silver, 35.5% copper, 24% silk and 0.5% gold.

Also the Korvai ( Three Shuttle Technique ) of weaving sarees is declining as the process is vary much combersome.

So because of fixing of attributes of sarees, there is a spawning of a whole genre of products knows as "Duplicate Sarees", which have all the features of the Kanchipuram sarees as mentioned in the GI, which have everything except compromise on three cost raising features- zari, silk and Korvai.

GI has transformed manufacturing hubs from "spaces of production" to "places of origin".

Source: http://125.22.40.134:8082/jspui/bitstream/123456789/888/1/29_Aarti_Kawlra.pdf 



Buy my books at Amazon.com