Traditional, Yet Trendy.

Bandani with its intricate designs in kaleidoscopic colours manages to survive inspite of changing trends says Anita Iyer.

Bandhani are the bright multi-coloured patterns on cotton, muslin or silk cloth using the Tie and Dye method. As the name suggests, the technique of Tie and Dye involves two stages: tying sections of cloth and then soaking it in colour dyes. The word "bandhani" is derived from the verb ‘bandhna’, which means to tie.



Shabnam Deshmukh, Head of Department of Academy of Art and Design says, “Bandhani has survived through the ages inspite of the changing trends in fashion. Many patterns in fashion get replaced but Bandhani has adopted the changes and has survived. Earlier only duppatas, dress materials or sarees were available with Bandhani works on them but today even Kurta, tops, men’s shirts are available”.

She further adds, “People are fed up of wearing machine made modern garments with same prints so they prefer going back to their traditional roots and wearing hand designed garments. The tying effect in bandhani gives it an appealing effect, which cannot be seen in any other form of garments. Also, the colour combination in Bandhani is unique with multi coloured shades on it”.

The colours mainly used in bandhani are yellow, red, green and pink – the traditional colours in Rajasthani culture. Different colors used convey different meaning like red color stands for bride and a yellow bandhani is mainly for the lady who has become a mother recently. Bright colours as green and maroon are extensively used in the art form, but with changing times, as bandhani has become a part of fashion, various shades and English colors like grey, beige are now used for tie and dye.

The process of making bandhani is complex and involves many steps right from tying the cloth to washing the cloth after dying. Portions of cloth to be retained from the dye are tightly tied with wax cotton threads so as to give white circles when wrappings are removed. The remaining part of the fabric is dyed in dark colours like red, purple, dark green, deep blue or black to form the background.

There is a unique design in bandhani where the background is in light color and the patterns are in dark colors. This pattern is made by dyeing sections of the cloth in the desired color with a piece of a felt (non-woolen cloth) and then tying it. The cloth is bleached and only the tied sections retain the colors. Later when the background color is dyed, the finished bandhani emerges, with dark coloured dots on a light background. According to the necessary, the cloth is retied and redyed.

For making small white circles on the cloth, green peas for smaller circles and Kabuli chana for bigger circles and coins can be used for concentric circles. The whole concept of tying before dying is basically to prevent the dye from reaching the fabric evenly. Portions that are tied will stay white, or of a lighter shade because the knot prevents dye to reach those areas. Gradations of colour from dark to light make the bandani cloth look beautiful.

The fascinating thing about the process of bandhani making is the artists often grow a long nail on the little finger of the left hand or wear a ring with a tip on it. This rings helps them to push the cloth upwards to form a point that would then be tied and left uncoloured.

Another interesting aspect is the local name given to each pattern according to the shapes they form. Some of the most common designs are dungar-shahi or the mountain-pattern; kodi for a tear shaped one, boond for a small dot with a dark center, and the laddu-jalebi for the swirling patterns. Others include Tikunthi for circles and squares in a group of three, ‘Chaubasi’ for four and Satbandi for a group of seven.

The origins of this lasting traditional art form can be associated to the State of Jaipur. However, the common belief states that it was brought to Kutch by Muslim Khatris from Sindh. Bandhani was introduced in Jamnagar around 400 years ago and today is a leading center of Bandhani. The literary text of the Harshacharita refers to Bandhani. A bandhani garment is considered lucky for the bride.

A bandhani artist from Kutch Mr. Zakharia Khatri, a 62 year old, National Award winner says, “We have been involved in bandhani making since ages. Our forefathers were involved in this art form, we inherited it and now even my children have adapted it. What makes bandhani attractive are the geometric patterns like dots, circles, squares, waves and stripes etc. Also, the other attractions are the colours used which are generally burnt brown with the designs worked in red, yellow, green, maroon and orange”.

Earlier, natural and vegetable dyes were used to colour the fabrics but today, synthetic modern dyes have replaced them. The main reason being that natural dyes are expensive than their synthetic counterparts. On this, Survat Anand, a fashion designer says, “Contemporary designers are opting for synthetic chemical dyes to keep pace with ever changing fashion tends. Also, the use of chemical dyes has reduced the time required for fabric to absorb the colours, in contrast with the natural dyes which took several days to marinate”.