Rajasthani Leheriya

Rajasthani Leheriya
In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Marwaris, merchant of Rajasthan and dominant business community of India, wore as dominant business community of India, wore as their distinguishing mark elaborately tied, brightly colored striped turbans. These turbans were made by the Leheriya technique (‘Leheriya’ in Hindi literally means ‘waves’) and this process continues to be practiced in the dyeing quarters of the Rajasthani towns of Jodhpur, Jaipur, Udaipur and Nathdwara. Leheriya is method of resist dyeing whereby material is rolled up and tied tightly at intervals, then dyed, so that the sections that have been tied remain un-dyed and the untied portions take the color of the dye bath. Color must penetrate right through the tightly rolled cloth, so the leheriya technique can only be applied to highly permeable, thin loose cottons or silks.
Fabrics-generally turbans or sari lengths-are rolled diagonally from one corner to the opposite selvedge, and then tied at the required intervals. The pattern results in diagonal stripes. If multi-colored stripes are required, they can be obtained after the first dye-bath by opening up some sections of the rolled fabric, leaving other sections still tied and tying up fresh sections, then dyeing the whole, or part, of the fabric in a fresh color. After the patterning process has been completed in one direction, striping in the opposite direction can be added. First, the fabric is unrolled and then rolled up again from the next corner along. The dyeing and tying process is then repeated and a chequered pattern of intersecting diagonals results. Leheriya is tied wet, with the fabric looped around a short vertical wooden pole. The tying is arduous work done by Muslim crafts workers, and as with bandhani, Leheriya is sold with its ties still in place. A small end Portion is unraveled to display the pattern. Images sourced from Google Search Engine with the term "Leheriya"