#jamdani

[thejawsdevour]

Yasmin Jahan Nupur (Bangladeshi) - Time Couldn't be Kept in Bay (Jamdani pieces, hand weaving, 80 count cotton hand embroidery, 2021)

[aworldofpattern]

Brighton & Hove News, 28 July 2023:

'A Brighton family have literally stopped traffic with a new mural inspired by a sari pattern on their new home.

Poppy Jaman and Jaan Madan moved to Southampton Street in Hanover in January, and immediately knew they wanted to make a splash when decorating the outside.

She said: “One of the reasons we wanted to move to the centre of Brighton is that it’s so colourful.

“We were inspired by murals in Washington where there’s a whole area where there’s murals which have been created out of adversity.

“That inspired the idea of making a statement with our home. I wanted to not just paint something that I love. If you just love something that’s enough, but I also wanted to say here’s a bit of my identity.

“I collect saris and Jamdani is a signature saris of Bangladesh. It’s got a colonial past to it.

📷 X

The mural is inspired by the Jamdani weave saree, the signature saree of Dhaka, Bangladesh, which dates back at least as far back as 300BC.

Between the 16th and 19th centuries, Jamdani fabric – so fine it was known as ‘woven air’ – was one of the most highly coveted commodities in Mughal courts and further afield. However, by the mid-19th century, Jamdani had become almost extinct.

Poppy has written more about her relationship with the Jamdani design and its colonial history here.'

[kaalbela]

Jamdani (Bengali: জামদানি), also known as Dhakai named after the city of Dhaka, is a fine muslin textile developed in Narayanganj in Bangladesh. Jamdani is a woven with thread in cotton, using a supplementary weft technique of weaving, where the artistic motifs are produced by a non-structural weft, in addition to the standard weft that holds the warp threads together. The standard weft creates a fine, sheer fabric while the supplementary weft with thicker threads adds the intricate patterns to it. Each supplementary weft motif is added separately by hand by interlacing the weft threads into the warp with fine bamboo sticks using individual spools of thread. The result is a complex mix of different patterns that appear to float on a shimmering surface. The pattern is not sketched or outlined on the fabric, but is drawn on a graph paper and placed underneath the warp. Jamdani is a fine muslin cloth on which decorative motifs are woven on the loom, typically in grey and white. Often a mixture of cotton and gold thread is used.

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[rapurnas]

Muslin Dhakai Jamdani Saree.

Blouse piece : No

Length : 5.5 m

[banglanotebook]

SAREES OF BENGAL

While Bengalis have a wide variety of fabrics to choose from, some sarees have stronger ties to Bengal than others. Below are some of the traditional favorites, and I’ve included photos so you can easily recognize these Bengali styles when you see them.

1. West Bengal’s famous white saree with the red border, Garad is made out of Tussar silk or mulberry silk that has not been dyed; the purity of the material in this saree makes it the garment of choice for religious occasions. Garad sarees can be seen decorated with floral or paisley motifs. Sarees that are plain white with bold red borders are Korial sarees and are also native to West Bengal; Korial sarees are the ones that are often worn for Durga Puja.

2. Banarasi fabric was brought to India by the Persians and flourished most prominently in Varanasi (previously named Banaras); while it’s not exactly native to Bengal, it is probably the most popular choice of saree among Bengali brides. This material was first developed for royals and features gold or silver Zari detail, often including Mughal motifs, which are woven into silk. A deep red Banarasi saree adorned in gold detail is essential to the traditional Bengali bridal look.

3. Dating back to 300 AD and perfected in Bangladesh, West Bengal, and Varanasi, Jamdani [জামদানি] sarees were originally favored by the noble women of Bengal for their lightweight comfort and display of remarkable craftsmanship. In a true Jamdani saree, designs are woven into the fabric as opposed to being printed or embroidered, creating the appearance of the designs floating within the otherwise sheer garment. Jamdani was almost exclusively made with muslin or cotton, but today it is sometimes also made with silk and Zari designs.

4. Kantha [কাঁথা] (or the “running stitch”) is the name for the embroidery used in Bengal to stitch pieces of fabric together and is popular among rural communities where fabrics are often recycled. Kantha is seeing more attention as an art form within the fashion industry as this stitching style is as decorative as it is functional. Most Kantha sarees are made of silk or cotton and are covered in beautiful natural imagery and geometric patterns.

5. Another West Bengal treasure, these regal sarees tell stories through stunning details and vivid imagery, from florals and animals to mythological and historical scenes. Baluchari [বালুচরী] sarees are mostly woven with Tussar or mulberry silk, while Swarnachari uses gold or silver threads in additional to silk for a more luxurious appearance.

6. The least expensive saree on this list, Tant [তাঁত] (“loom”) style sarees are equally liked in West Bengal and Bangladesh and are a common choice for casual occasions. Most often made of cotton, these sarees are lightweight and breathable --perfect for Bengal’s hot and humid sub-tropical climate. Tant sarees can also be made of silk for the winter time and tend to have relatively thick borders to help them survive regular wear.

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Sarees pictured from left to right: silk saree in a Garad pattern, Banarasi saree, Dhakai Jamdani saree.

There are perhaps hundreds of ways to drape a saree, and different regions in South Asia have varying local styles that reflect the community. The most widely seen draping styles are found in Bollywood/Tollywood and in fashion catalogs, where sarees are wrapped low around the hip to emphasize an hourglass shape, and then finished with several pleats in the front. The pallu end (heavily decorated end) is either neatly pinned to the blouse at the left shoulder to fall down the wearer’s back, or it drapes over the wearer’s left arm for a slightly more conservative appearance. This style is used all over South Asia due to its simplicity, functionality, and figure-flattering fit.

The Bengali draping style is largely associated with elegance, grace, and tradition, and provides a more modest silhouette that offers the wearer a little more coverage than other draping styles. While most draping methods leave the pallu falling down the wearer’s back, the Bengali style drapes the pallu end over the left shoulder and back to the front on the right shoulder. From here there’s some flexibility; either the pallu can cross the chest to be brought back to the left shoulder and pinned (left photo), or it can be draped under and back over the right shoulder and pinned there (right photo), or weighed down with a large key or heavy ornament. Up until England’s Victorian era, Bengali women were bare-chested under their sarees, and therefore didn’t have a blouse to pin their sarees to. Weighing down the end of the saree was a way to ensure it stayed over the shoulder. Even after blouses have long been adopted, weighing the pallu is still a maintained tradition.

The easiest way to discern a Bengali drape is by looking at how the border falls from the left shoulder; if it falls in a straight line to the floor, it’s likely a Bengali drape, but if it’s at a diagonal across the body or the straight edge stops halfway to the floor it’s likely a different style. Overall, the pallu is usually positioned in front of the body with this draping style, allowing the wearer to show off a heavily decorated saree by showcasing more of the fabric.

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I hope most of you got to learn something new, and if you guys liked this post lemme know because I’d love to do more when I have the time!

PHOTO SOURCES The sarees pictured come from the following websites:

AJIO

Weaver Story

Bengal Looms India

Jaypore

[ayushkejriwal]

Letter 1 . My Dearest Tapun, If you find this letter, please note I am going to #Banaras to look for you. It has been over 6 months and I have not heard from you. I am very worried, I can’t wait any longer. Since you never came back home your mother asked me to leave our home and never return as she thinks I am cursed and the reason for your disappearance. I have been staying with Shipon in Kalighat for the last 4 months. At the moment, I have very little money so I don’t know where I will stay in Banaras, but every evening at 6pm I will come and wait for you on the steps of ‘Tulsi Ghat’, I do hope you will come and find me. Do you remember the black and maroon #Jamdani #saree you got me for Pujo last year? The one from the shop in Gariahat, the one which 'Thaku Ma’ attached a lovely embroidered border too, the one that you loved seeing me in! I am taking that saree with me, it’s one of your favourites and I do hope you will be able to spot it easily. I have never gone anywhere by myself, I am very scared Tapun, but I know I will find you. I don’t know what has happened, I don’t where you are, I don’t how we got here but I do know one thing no matter what everyone says I will not stop loving you or looking for you. I do hope you find this letter. I am hiding it just behind the big tree in the park, just like old times when you hid love notes for me to find. Blaho Theko Tapun, I miss you so much. Yours and only yours, Dabasini, 13th August 1948 , Chowringhee, Kolkata. . #sari #ayushkejriwal #designerayushkejriwal #worldofayushkejriwal #ayushkejriwalstyling #bengal #handloomsarees #madeinindia #ayushkejriwalstory #varanasi #photography #textilesofindia

Credits : @mrinmoy4u4ever @mahuyaacharjya @neelmua

[wovenfabricstudio]

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#muslin #khadi #jamdani #saree #india #eco #organiccotton #organic #nifty #nift #lakhmefashionweek #fashionweek #vogue #nippori #greece #designer #Jamdani is a time-consuming and labour-intensive form of weaving because of the richness of its motifs, which are created directly on the loom using the discontinuous weft technique. Weaving is thriving today due to the fabric's popularity for making saris, the principal dress of Bengali women at home and abroad. (at CHAK Islampur)

[dhakayeah]

পান্তা ইলিশ . . . . #pohelaboishakh #bengalinewyear #april14 #dhaka #bangladesh #hilsha #fish #bengali #kolkata #illustration #foodillustration #southasia #heritage #cuisine #jamdani (at Dhaka, Bangladesh)