West Bengal GI Handloom Products

Santipore Saree

Santipur Saree in its present form may be defined as the Saree which is traditionally woven in Fly Shuttle Frame/Pit Looms using 80s-100s cotton yarn in warp and weft with plain border and/or border with extra warp jacquard designs of different characteristics viz. floral, abstract, geometrical, instrumental motifs, special motifs of different historical backgrounds, temples and other natural motifs with typical color patterns in pallu. Body of the fabric may be plain or decorated with “Buti” using Extra Warp/ Weft with or without the help of jacquard. Ten different types of products were woven depending on the complexity of the patterns woven and the number of colors of threads used. These were – sada, rangeen, dure (ten different coloured threads were used), sarbasundari, kharkemoti, sinduri, chaurangi, tashkhupi, choukhupi, ayanakhupi etc. The edges or paras of the saris also had variety – chandmama, taj, tajkalka, choukalka, phuljhumka, parijaat, dhakai, karnish, tekka etc.

Santipur Saree in its present form may be defined as the Saree which is traditionally woven in Fly Shuttle Frame/Pit Looms using 80s-100s cotton yarn in warp and weft with plain border and/or border with extra warp jacquard designs of different characteristics viz. floral, abstract, geometrical, instrumental motifs, special motifs of different historical backgrounds, temples and other natural motifs with typical color patterns in pallu. Body of the fabric may be plain or decorated with “Buti” using Extra Warp/ Weft with or without the help of jacquard. Speciality of Santipur Saree is that it is marketed in a typical traditional folded form known as “Guti Bhanj ''.



Baluchari Sari

Baluchari Sari is a type of sari, a garment worn by women in Bangladesh and Indian States of West Bengal. This particular type of sari originated in West Bengal and is known for depictions of mythological scenes on the pallu of the sari. It used to be produced in Murshidabad but presently Bishnupur and its surrounding areas of West Bengal are the only place where authentic Baluchari sarees are produced. It takes approximately one week to produce one such sari.In 2011, the Baluchari Sari was granted the status of Geographical Indication for West Bengal in India.

In the history of textiles in Bengal, Baluchari came much after muslin. Two hundred years ago Baluchari was practiced in a small village called Baluchar in Murshidabad district, from where it got its name. In the eighteenth century, Murshidkuli Khan, Nawab of Bengal patronized its rich weaving tradition and brought the craft of making this sari from Dhaka to the Baluchar village in Murshidabad and encouraged the industry to flourish. After a flood of the Ganga river and the subsequent submerging of the village, the industry moved to Bishnupur village in Bankura district. Baluchari Sari is made of tussar silk and was a thousand years old when the Jagat Malla king ruled in Mallabhum. This flourishing trend later declined, especially during British rule, due to political and financial reasons. It became a dying craft as most of the weavers were compelled to give up the profession.



Dhaniakhali Saree

Dhaniakhali Saree is named after the place Dhaniakhali in Hooghly District, West Bengal. It is located about 50 kms away from Kolkata. In earlier days the ground of the saree used to be in ‘Kora’ or natural gray with either red or black color plain border. By taking the concept of decorative border design of dhoti the use of 6 levers’ kat-kal’ or barrel dobby came into practice for saree weaving during early 1940 . Dyed yarn was first introduced in 1942. Nowadays, lattice dobby is used for weaving bigger designs. Dhaniakhali sarees are produced in Haripal, Rajbalhat Rasidpur, Dwarhata, Ramnagar, Gurap and Antpur area of Hooghly District in West Bengal.

Dhaniakhali Saree can easily be distinguished by the presence of ‘khejur chori’ design thread, an arrangement of special weft threads of twisted cotton yarns in two colors woven in pallu portion. In this saree picks per inch is always more than ends per inch. Grouping of two warp threads in the saree is noticed since bamboo reed is used.



Tangail Saree of Bengal

Tangail Saree of Bengal in its present form may be defined as the saree which is traditionally woven in fly shuttle pit looms using 100scotton yarn, silk yarn of different counts (14/16-20/22 Denier), tassar yarn and also synthetic filament yarn in warp and weft with plain border and/or border with extra warp jacquard designs of different characteristics viz. floral, traditional flora and fauna, abstract, geometrical, instrumental, special motifs of different historical memorials, temples and other natural motifs with typical traditional colour pattern in pallu or colourful cross border with extra weft designs. Body of the fabric may be plain or decorated with „buti/buta‟ using extra warp/weft with or without the help of jacquard.

In Tangail Saree of Bengal (Jamdani variety), extraweft thread is inserted for producing extra-weft designs maintaining the ratio of 1:2 between the extra-weft and ground weft.The speciality in designs lies in the fact that the edges of the designs are step like, similar to graphical designs. The saree is woven by using two or more shuttles. Body warp is controlled by treadles whereas extra warp threads for extra warp designs and body warp threads for extra weft designs are controlled by jacquard and pattern of the designs are controlled by the punched cards mounted on the jacquard in lace form. Usually double jacquards are used, one is for border designs and the other is for Body /Pallu designs.



Garad Saree

In its present form the Garad saree may be defined as the silk saree which is traditionally woven in fly shuttle pit loom using 14 Denier to 16 Denier twisted Mulberry silk as a warp yarn & 18 Denier to 20 Denier filament 2 or 3 ply Mulberry silk as a weft. The saree is with plain border or border with extra warp or „jala‟ designs of different characteristics viz. floral, geometrical & natural motifs in „aanchal‟. Ground of the fabric may be plain or decorated with „buti‟, woven with help of „jala‟ or jacquard shedding arrangement i.e. extra weft design. Extra warp design is made by jacquard or „jala‟ for the border design.

The specialty of the Garad Saree is the beauty of the natural colour of the silk fibre. The wide red border and the off white ground with or without design in the border, ground and „aanchal‟ is very enchanting to the consumers. The border of the Garad Saree is woven by 5 ends sateen weave. This results in an attractive compact border of the saree. The smoothness & paper like appearance and feeling of the Garad Saree is one of the important characteristics of the saree. This characteristic appearance of the saree brought about by the application of starch on loom.



Korial Saree

Korial, the purely silk saree is very popular for its own special character and quality. Since ancient times, the Red border white ground saree is considered as a symbol of devotion, respect, sacrifice, especially in spiritual festivals the ladies of West Bengal decorate themselves wearing the Korial saree as a worshipper. In its present form the Korial saree may be defined as the silk saree which is traditionally woven in fly shuttle pit loom using 14 Denier to 16 Denier twisted Mulberry silk as a warp yarn & 28 Denier–30 Denier filamental 2 or 3 ply Mulberry silk as a weft.

The saree is with plain border or border with extra warp or “jala” designs of different characteristics viz. floral, geometrical & natural motifs in “aachal”. Ground of the fabric may be plain or decorated with “buti”, woven with help of “jala” or jacquard shedding arrangement i.e. extra weft design. Shuttle is runs one side to another side by hand. In Border face side and back side are same. Because in here border of saree and body of saree both are woven separately and simultaneously attach. Here warp of border used red as well as for Border weaving weft yarn is red and for body both warp &weft yarn are white. Hence giving the solid appearance to the Border.



Banglar Muslin

Muslin, a plain-woven cotton fabric made in various weights. The better qualities of muslin are fine and smooth in texture and are woven from evenly spun warps and wefts. They are given a soft finish, bleached or piece-dyed, and are sometimes patterned in the loom or printed. The coarser varieties are often of irregular yarns and textures, bleached, unbleached, or piece-dyed and are generally finished by the application of sizing. The Banglar muslin is made of cotton, which are spun to create threads that maintained tensile strength at counts (above 300 Counts and upto 600 Counts) i.e., higher than any other cotton products. Banglar Muslin fabric is the finest variety of muslin fabrics weighing less than 48 grams per square metre and the count of Banglar muslin fabric yarn is mostly between 300S - 500S metric count in warp/weft.

The Banglar Muslin is a delicate handspun yarn produced by the skilled weaver of Bengal at the early morning hours as it needs high humidity and low temperature to spin and to weave. This appropriate humidity and temperature is generally obtained between 5.00 AM to 9.30 AM in West Bengal. The yarns of Banglar muslin fabric are produced through a hand spinning process especially in five spindles Wooden Ambar Charkha. The cotton lint and seed were separated by hand. Sliver making, doubling and drafting is further carried out in a manual operated machine known as Belni unit. There is a unique way of starching of warp yarns, and making of warper's beam.



Source: Wikipedia