Bandhani Tie Dye, Gujarat

The tie-dye technique known as Bandhani is renowned in the Kutch area. Is considered a symbol of married life and is often incorporated in both Hindu and Muslim marriages. Typically, each village would have its own color scheme and design. Tie-dyeing in the area can be traced back to the Indus Valley civilization around 5000 years ago. Now, many of the designs are machine printed, but there still are places where the craft remains intact, particularly in Jamnagar, Anjar, and Bhuj. We visited the home of Mr. Ali Mohammed Isha in Bhuj.

First the cloth was laid on a table, on top of which stencil paper was laid. Thinned dye was brushed over the paper, with the color penetrating into the holes of the design. Tiny knots (whose positions are indicated by the dot design) are then tied in the folded cloth. The areas tied with string retain the color of the fabric. To remove the stencil marks, the cloth is bleached. It is then dyed in a light color, after which the areas that are to remain in that color are tied. The number of times that a piece is knotted is directly proportional to the number of colors used. A skillful person could tie about 2500 knots in about six hours. Imagine how many knots were made in a piece that took 15 to 20 days to tie! Seeing this process in action prompted me to purchase a Chandro Khani, a marriage shawl from the Khatri community. Along with such traditional designs, Mr. Isha had many contemporary pieces as well.

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