From the Flame buoyant lands of Rajasthan... Laheriya

Fabric Resist - Tie and Dye

        ‘Tie and dye’ is the process of creating patterns on clothes or fabrics. It is dyeing natural fabrics that results in interesting and colorful patterns. The technique of tying of cloth with thread and then dyeing it is the simplest and perhaps the oldest form of creating patterns on a plain piece of cloth is known as tie and dye.

        However, the art of dying fabrics and specifically tie-dyeing goes far back in time. The earliest surviving examples of pre-Colombian tie-dye in Peru date from 500 to 800 A.D. Their designs include small circles and lines, with bright colors including red, yellow, blue, and green. 

        China and Japan had fully developed the art of tie-dye as early as the sixth century AD, about one and a half millennia ago. It has been practiced there since at least the eighth century. The availability of silk and hemp, which are very receptive to the resist technique, made these countries' art outstanding. Some early tribes in Western China, South East Asia, and Central America tied and dyed the threads before weaving their cloth. Technically this was not tie and dye but the beauty of the designs that appeared was striking as were the patterns done with tie-dyeing. 

       Other forms of tie and dye can be found in other countries around the world. Varied styles of tie-dye have emerged to distinguish the different nations of Africa, the Indian tie & dye technique called Bandhani, also known as Bandhni and Bandhej is the oldest tie and dye tradition we know that is still practiced. The Malay-Indonesian name for this technique is Plangi. The technique involves a design made of dots, in which many small points are tied with thread before immersion dyeing.

       The centres of tie and dye fabric, especially in Gujarat are Jamnagar in Saurashtra and Ahmadabad. The finest bandhani work of Rajasthan comes from Bikaner, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Barmer, Pali, Udaipur, and Nathdwara. Tritik and plangi are derived from Indonesia. Additional varieties include mudmee which originated in Thailand but is also used in Laos. Shibori, which started in Japan somewhere around the eight century.

Bandhej of Rajasthan

Tie and dye is known as Bandhej in Rajasthan. Multi coloured chunries, sarees, safa were very popular in Rajasthan. The characteristic feature of these kinds of chunaries was that, after the material was folded in several layers, the entire area was equally divided by a diagonal line, according to the number of colours to be used. The various coloured backgrounds were took up in the form of alphabet V on untying the chunri.

Laheriya of Rajasthan

Laheriya was another style of tie and dye of Rajasthan. The term laheriya originated Hindi word ‘Laher’, meaning water waves. The laheriya had diagonal stripes and available from two to nine colours. Laheriya striped designs were created through damp material rolled diagonally from one end to another end till it looked alike a rope. Then tying and dyeing of the cloth was done proceeded with lighter shade followed by darker ones. According to the number of colours used in laheriya, it was named as do ranga laheriya (Two coloured Laheriya), teen ranga laheriya (Laheriya in three colours) or panch ranga laheriya (Laheriya in five colours).

Article: Odhani

Origin: Rajasthan

Fabric: Georgette

Fabric Colour: White and Dark Pink

Style of Resist: Fabric Resist

Description:  This laheriya had diagonal stripes in two colours. To manufacture this laheriya, fabric was rolled diagonally, tied at regular intervals with untwisted cotton threads and then dyed in dark pink colour to create laheriya on it. The laheriya saree had thin and narrow bands i.e. shike in white and pink. The saree was further embellished with tikki (sequin) work on pallav as well as on the field to make it more decorative and to enhance the aesthetic appeal of the saree.   

Types of Laheriyas
1) Pasavalli

It was also observed that if a laheriya had interrupted patterns on the stripes were known as pasavalli designs. The broad bands in laheriya were known as ‘patta’, narrow bands known as ‘shike’ and interrupted laheriya were known as ‘pasavalli’. 

 Article: Saree

 Origin: Rajasthan

 Fabric: Georgette

 Fabric Colour:  Blue and Pink

 Style of Resist: Fabric Resist

 Description: Laheriya with interrupted patterns on the  stripes were known as pasavalli designs. The fabric rolled  and tied at intervals and then first dyed in light colour. Then  fabric is again rolled and tied at intervals from the opposite  direction and dyed followed by darker shades. The field of  this pasavalli saree had thin diagonal stripes i.e. ‘shike’ in  blue and pink colour in opposite direction intersecting and  forming interrupted laheriya pattern called pasavalli. 

2) Mothara

Mothara was also a one type of laheriya only. The main characteristic feature of this laheriya was plaid striped pattern. It was tied and dyed to form plaids.

Article: Odhani

Origin: Rajasthan

Fabric: Cotton

Fabric Colour:  Yellow, Light Green, Dark Pink, Violet Blue and Sky Blue

Style of Resist: Fabric Resist

Description: The field of the saree had diagonal broad bands i.e. patta in light green, yellow, violet and sky blue. Over these multi coloured bands dyeing with magenta colour was done to create magenta thin bands i.e. shike in opposite direction. The plaid effect was carried out on the saree through tie and dye method as the characteristic feature of the Mothara.

3) Bhopalshahi

Bhopalshahi was a type of laheriya with distinctive feature of zigzag striped pattern. 

 Article: Saree

 Origin: Rajasthan

 Fabric: Georgette

 Fabric Colour:  Black, White, Orange and Violet

 Style of Resist: Fabric Resist

 Description: Bhopalshahi was a type of laheriya with  distinctive feature of zigzag striped pattern. The saree was  first pleated in several layers and then rolled diagonally, thus  giving a zigzag pattern. The saree had white colour as a  background. The saree was dyed first in light colour i.e.  orange colour followed by darker shade such as violet and  black. The field of the saree had thin bands ‘shike’ of white  followed by thick bands ‘patta’ of black, orange, white and  violet colour. 

4) Samunder Laher
The Samunder Laher saree is one type of laheriya only. The Samunder Laher word literally means 'Ocean Waves'. The characteristic feature of this saree is that it is always dyed in pastel shades of colour of Ocean water such as Sky blue, Blue, Sea green, Light green, Light Yellow, Pink, Magenta etc. 

Article: Saree

Origin: Rajasthan

Fabric: Georgette

Fabric Colour:  Yellow, Light Green, Magenta, and Sky Blue

Style of Resist: Fabric Resist

Description: The Samunder Laher word literally means ‘Waves of the Ocean’. The field of the saree had laheriya bands of equal thickness called patta. The characteristic feature of the saree was the samunder laher saree is that it always had pastel shades. This saree also had selected numbers of colour which resembles the colour of the ocean and creates shades of it that’s why it was classified as samunder laher saree. The field of the saree had diagonal patta of equal thickness dyed first in light green followed by darker shades i.e. sky blue, yellow and magenta.

That's all for today....

*I do not own this samples. All this samples can be seen at 'Textile Art Museum', Department of  Clothing and Textiles, Faculty of Family and Community Sciences, The Maharaja Sayajirao      University of Baroda, Vadodara - 390002, Gujarat, India.