Textiles of West Bengal

Baluchari is a type of saree worn by women across India and Bangladesh. It is a handwoven saree known for its intricate motifs depicting Indian mythology on the saree’s Pallu. It is a silk saree, which is dyed using natural colours. The motifs and designs are largely inspired by the epics such as Ramayana and Mahabharata. 

Baluchari saree takes its name from a small, weaving village called Baluchar in the Murshidabad district of West Bengal. With time, the weaving centre was shifted to Bishnupur, where the Baluchari saree became immensely popular. Making of a Baluchari saree is a time-consuming process. It typically takes a week or more to make one Baluchari saree on jacquard looms, using mulberry silk. The designs are often inspired by the motifs engraved on the terracotta temples at Bishnupur. 

There are a few variations to Baluchari sarees based on the usage of thread. Meenakari is one such type, where two or more colours are used to create beautiful motifs. Another type of Baluchari is Swarnachari, known for its illuminative look as its woven using gold or silver threads.

In the year 2011, the Baluchari saree was given the status of the G.I. tag for West Bengal, India.

Tangail sarees are handwoven sarees crafted in the state of West Bengal. The saree got its name from a place called Tangail, now in Bangladesh. Tangail sarees have a lightly designed pallu with tiny, repeated motifs in the body of the saree. This reduces the labour, hours of manufacturing and cost as compared to Jamdani sarees. These sarees are woven on a jacquard loom using dyed cotton and silk yarns for making designs on the border of the saree. 

The borders of the Tangail saree are its characteristic feature. These carry a variety of traditional motifs, some of which are - Ardha-Chandra (half-moon), Haathi (elephant), Bhomra (bumblebee), Ratan Chokh (gem-eyed), Tabij (amulet), Rajmahal (royal palace), Chandmala (garland of moons), Taara (star), and Phool (flower). 

Originally, Tangail sarees were produced in the Tangail district only but as the saree became popular its manufacture spread to other districts of undivided Bengal. Today, West Bengal is host to many famous places for weaving of Tangail saree; these are Phulia in Shantipur, Dhaniakali, Begampur and Farasdanga. The migrant weavers of Shantipur are known to be original craftsmen who carried their authentic weaving style from Tangail and settled in Phulia. 
 

Jamdani sarees are handwoven and are popular as the finest muslin textiles of Bengal. In Jamdani, the design is created on the loom using the extra weft technique. The extra weft is added by interlacing the threads using bamboo sticks.  The work on these sarees is labour intensive and time-consuming as the weaving involves intricate designs using different colours. An authentic Jamdani saree often is a mixture of plain cotton and golden threads.

In undivided India, the Jamdani saree was also known by the name Dhakai, as the city of Dhaka was the weaving centre of these sarees. It is also said that Jamdani weaving is like tapestry work, where threads of different colours, including gold and silver, are passed through the weft. The designs often include floral motifs scattered over the body of the saree, in the form of Tercha (diagonal floral-stripes) and Jhalar (a network of floral motifs ).

During the partition of India, the craft of weaving Jamdani took some major blows. The subsequent years were full of economic instability leading to a shortage of yarn and dyes for the weavers. Some of the weaving families also abandoned the craft due to low demand and shifted to other professions. However, the situation improved when the government made efforts to revive the lost craft of Jamdani. In the year 2013, the traditional art of weaving Jamdani was declared as an ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity’ by UNESCO. Jamdani sarees are extremely popular in West Bengal and are produced there in large numbers.