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The Silk Industry of Kanchipuram
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Kanchipuram, in Tamil Nadu, is a famous temple town forty-seven miles south-west of Madras. It was the capital city of the Pallava Empire, in the latter part of the first millennium AD, and then became part of the Chola and Vijayanagar Empires. Kanchipuram produces brocaded silks of superb texture, color and luster.
As in many weaving centers, the workers say that the weaving of silk developed from that of weaving cotton through a series of intermediate stages. The raw mulberry silk used is brought in from the Bangalore area, which has ideal climatic conditions for the rearing of mulberry silk worms. Zari threads for brocading come from Surat, Gujarat. The dull raw silk yarn is washed in the waters of Kanchipuram. It is this water which gives Kanchipuram silk its lustrous sheen.
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The main items of production are the silk saris with the solid brocaded borders ('korvai'); silk yardage is also produced. The silk is woven on a throw shuttle pit loom with a drawboy harness. Designs and patterns are woven with extra warp and weft, and are worked into the body of the fabric by means of an indigenous device known as the 'adai', which fulfils the same function as the Jacquard.
Kanchipuram saris in the south Indian style have a pallav and/or borders that contrast in color to the main field of the sari. Although methods of weaving are traditional, Kanchipuram textiles have attained their current status by always keeping pace with changes in popular preference and taste. It is in this capacity that the role of the Weaving Service Centre set up at Kanchipuram by the all India Handicrafts Boards has been vital.
Tamil Nadu has very strong cotton handloom industry organized into co-operatives. Cotton lungis and yardage, mainly in checks, are woven in villages all over Tamil Nadu. Arni is known for its hand-woven textiles, Madras, Thanjavur and Madurai are centers for hand-printed textiles and Madurai also for tie-and-dye work. The towns of Salem, Erode and Kumbakonam are centers for both hand-woven and hand-printed cloth.
Appliqué hangings, banners and decorations for temple carts used to be made in and near Thanjavur. Felt materials, or velvet, were appliquéd to a cotton background and the appliquéd patterns were the edged with cotton cords. The background colour was usually decorated with pieces of cream, green, yellow and black cloth being used for the appliquéd pieces. The central motifs were usually of Ganesh, Lakshmi or other deities surrounded by floral motifs. Appliquéd cloths are now prepared in the Thanjavur-Madurai area, to be sold mainly to the tourist market.
The Todas of the Nilgiri hills around Ootacamund are a small tribe, very different in both appearance and customs to the surrounding Tamil communities. Both men and women wear a long, called a ‘putkulli’. The end of this shawl has two woven bands of either red and black, or red and indigo blue. Toda women embroider geometric designs between these two bands to give the shawl a striking pallav. The embroidery is worked by counting threads and follows the warp and weft threads of the material, giving the impression that the patterning is achieved through weaving rather than by embroidery.
Images sourced from Google Search Engine with the term “Kanchipuram Silk” |
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