India is known as the land of varieties—you get to see varieties right from food, culture, customs and traditions, festivals to even clothing. The beauty of Indian wear is that not only there are attires that represent India as a whole, but also apparels that represent a particular Indian culture or a region. And we have an impressive collection of finest fabrics, which are exclusively found in many states.
While weaves, patterns and designs have changed over time boasting of glamour, magnificence, and exquisiteness but the importance of traditional fabrics still remains the same. Here are four traditional fabrics that have been used since long:
- Ikkat (Andhra Pradesh)
The Ikkat fabrics have been used since long not only in India but also worldwide and apparently having origin in South-east Asia. They are exclusively known for their distinct style and the unique beauty which they carry. It is a resist dyeing process, which involves wrapping bundles of yarn together tightly and then being dyed as many times as is required to create the desired pattern. What separates the dyeing process from others is that the yarns are dyed before being woven into cloth.
- Bagh (Madhya Pradesh)
Bagh prints are believed to have its origin in Sindh of Pakistan. Over the years, the style of Bagh printing has evolved beautifully with their uniqueness intact. The natural dyed Bagh Prints are embossed on simple cotton and silk fabrics in altered geometrical shapes that have an enchanting as well as three-dimensional effect. Bagh printing basically involved blocks that are carved onto motifs that represent flora such as Jasmine, Mushroom, lehariya etc.
- Ajrak (Gujarat)
The ajrakh enthusiasts claim that their craft dates back to early medieval times. Scraps of printed fragments, believed to be belonging to Western India, were dsicovered at Fostat near Cairo. The khatri community, living in the banks of river Sindh, used to practice the craft of Ajrak printing. The beauty of Ajrak designs lies in the fact that it’s a magnificent depiction of age-old Indian heritage and culture. The process for making ajrak designs involves churrai or fabric washing and cleansing, resist printing or both sides printing and bleaching.
- Daboo (Jaipur)
The origin of Dabu printing can be traced to the village of Akola, in the Chittorgarh district of Rajasthan. Dabu printing is often grouped together with other Rajasthani hand block prints like Sanganeri and Bagru, but is in fact quite distinct in terms of its look and method. The prints have a sublime quality and appearance. A unique element of this print, giving special variation is mud resist printing. A lot of manual process and hard work is involved in the making of the printed fabrics, and the process of uses lots of natural dyes and vegetable pastes.
These fabrics are a representation of Indian culture and traditions that are being revived by Indian fashion designers in innovative creations.
