A CENTURIES-OLD TRADITION
The town of Patan was founded in the mid-eighth
century AD, having served as the nucleus of
several dynasties during their heyday. It is said
that during the 12th century, 700 weaver families
from Jalna in Maharashtra migrated to Patan at
the invitation of King Kumarpal. They settled in
the capital city and wove beautiful double ikat
textiles for the then royal family. Thus, the double
ikats woven in the city came to be called ‘Patan
patolas’; the word ‘patola’ is said to have been
derived from the Sanskrit word ‘pat’, which
means silk, and alludes to a silk textile woven with
resist-dyed yarns.
From about the 13th century, patola textiles
were being exported to Indonesia, where they
were deeply revered and used for ceremonial
purposes, and treasured as family heirlooms.
European traders, who came to Southeast Asia
to buy spices, also used these textiles as a
valuable medium of exchange. However, during
the onset of World War II, its trade declined. But
that did not daunt the Salvi weavers who kept
up the weaving tradition and supplemented their
earnings by taking on other work.
A COMPLEX WEAVE
While ikat textiles are woven in different centres
in India and in several countries around the
world, the patola stands out for its double ikat
weave as well as its elaborate compositions.
The weave features multiple motifs in striking
colour combinations that reflect the skill of master
artisans who are involved in the intensive dyeing
and weaving process. While the production of
single ikat textiles involves hand-weaving with
either resist-dyed warp (longitudinal yarns that run
through the length of a fabric) or resist-dyed weft
(horizontal yarns that are woven into the warp),
@Bharat
UNIQUE INITIATIVE
double ikat textiles are handwoven with both
resist-dyed warp and weft.
Double ikat requires immense skill to obtain
neat, solid colour motifs weaved onto dyed yarns.
When the textile to be woven is designed with
an elaborate composition (such as a sari with a
long, motif-laden end panel, patterned borders,
and varicoloured grids featuring motifs in each
square), the calculation and effort involved in
correctly tying and dyeing the yarns to procure
the envisaged design is truly mind-boggling.
Patolas woven by the Salvi family feature
traditional patterns of birds, animals, flowers and
leaves, and these are known by their local names
such as nari kunjar bhat (a pattern with a woman,
parrot, and elephant), chabadi bhat (the flower
basket pattern), navratna bhat (a pattern with
nine gemstones), paan bhat (a pattern with betel
leaf motifs) and choktha bhat (a square pattern
derived from the inner courtyards of homes).
APPAREL
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