India’s World of Handloom
The Handloom industry mainly exports fabrics,
bed linen, table linen, toilet and kitchen linen,
towels, curtains, cushions and pads, tapestries
and upholstery's, carpets and floor coverings,
etc. The Handloom industry has adopted various
measures and techniques to provide high quality
and eco-friendly products to the world market.
In the world of handlooms, there are Madras
checks from Tamil Nadu, ikats from Andhra and
Orissa, tie and dye from Gujarat and Rajasthan,
brocades from Banaras, jacquards form Uttar
Pradesh. Daccai from West Bengal, and phulkari
from Punjab.
The Surat tanchoi based on a technique of
satin weaving with the extra weft floats that
are absorbed in the fabric itself has been reproduced
in Varanasi. Besides its own traditional weaves,
there is hardly any style of weaving that Varanasi
cannot reproduce. The Baluchar technique of
plain woven fabric brocaded with untwisted silk
thread, which began in Murshidabad district
of West Bengal, has taken root in Varanasi.
Their craftsmen have also borrowed the jamdani
technique.
In the deportment of Woolen textiles, Woolen
weaves are no less subtle. The Kashmiri weaver
is known the world over for his Pashmina and
Shahtoosh shawls. The shawls are unbelievably
light and warm.
The states of Kashmir and Karnataka are known
for their mulberry silk. India is the only country
in the world producing all four commercially
known silks - mulberry, tasser (tussore), eri
and muga. Now gaining immense popularity in
the U.S.A. and Europe Assam is the home
of eri and muga silk. Muga is durable and its
natural tones of golden yellow and rare sheen
becomes more lustrous with every wash. The ikat
technique in India is commonly known as patola
in Gujarat, bandha in Orissa, pagdu bandhu,
buddavasi and chitki in Andhra Pradesh.
