Silk itself is synonymous to luxury and well-being, but when it comes to Patola Silk of Patan, there is nothing that could beat the grandeur of this luxurious cloth. Embedded in the land of Gujarat, PATOLA is one of the many vivid and ornate arts the land boasts of.
A glimpse of the most opulent art of India
Patola is a form of textile art that employs double ikkat technique of weaving. Crafted from the finest silk, the fabric thus produced is referred to as patola silk. This Opulent art is exclusive to Gujarat and owing to its exceptional magnificence has made its way to every textile museum on this planet.
The word ‘Salvi’, derived from Sanskrit, is the name given to the artisans of Patola.
Patola being a complicated variant of double Ikkat is acknowledged to be one of the best and most expensive textile arts in the world, by international textile experts. A simplest version of a patola Saree costs more than One Lakh and prices could rise up to 5 lakhs as the level of intricacy rises. The amount of hard work and patience it seeks from the weavers, the fact that this magnificent silk is perfectly wearable from both the sides and it’s vibrant colors that are claimed to stay put for centuries, validate the exorbitant price of Patola!
Even the dyeing of the ‘warp and weft’ in Patola is no child’s play. It needs absolute accuracy to wrap/tie the warp and weft silk threads and resist dye them in accordance with the desired pattern to be produced. The yarns have to go through several phases of dyeing to obtain all the colors that are to be embossed in the final fabric. Dyeing alone takes around 3-4 months to complete. The famous notion that the color of a true Patola lasts a lifetime, even if the fabric has worn off, is based on the fact that an authentic patola uses natural vegetable dyes. It takes somewhere in between 6 months to one year to produce one Patola silk saree and hence the price.
Without taking a leap, let’s first get to know the gist of this finesse.
Getting to know Ikkat
Ikkat or Ikat is an Indonesian term, meaning “to tie”; Ikat basically uses tie and dye method, that we all have probably learned in our schools as a part of our mandatory craft syllabus, but what makes Ikkat a meticulous art and totally different from the usual resist-dyeing is the fact that here the dyeing process is implemented on either of the warp or weft yarn rather than the whole material and that’s what explains the uniqueness and intricacy of Ikkat. Weaving is the next and even more arduous task in Ikkat where motifs or designs are the soul of fabric; strand by strand as the weaving proceeds the Ikkat fabric along with its design takes its form and what we get is not just a piece of cloth, it’s an entirety.
Other than India, Ikkat is popular in Indonesia, Japan and some parts of Central and South America.
Double Ikkat however is the art where both the warp and weft threads are tie-dyed; this in turn doubles the amount of labour and precision needed, as aligning the pattern-dyed warp and weft to craft a pre-designed fabric, calls for extensive dexterity on the part of the craftsmen. Today there are only three double ikkat weaving centers in the entire world- Patan(Gujarat), Okinawa (Japan) and Bali(Indonesia).
Taana-Baana
When talking about Ikkat, it gets inevitable to familiarise with the general concept of warp and weft (taana-baana). Warp is the yarn or thread that gives the fabric its length; held in tension on the loom or frame, the warp is the core of the fabric through which the weft (also called fill) has to pass. In a plain weave, the weft thread or yarn is introduced in the warp in a manner that it crosses over and under the warp alternatively.
The process of tie and die in progress
(Image Source : Kunzum.com )
A peek into the history
Likely to have originated in 7th Century, Patola art is said to have gained momentum in the 12th century during the reign of Raja Kumarpal (1143-1172 AD) of Solanki Dynasty. According to the tales, Raja Kumarpal was extremely fond of the Patola which he used to import from Jalan ( South Maharashtra) and every day he would bring out a fresh new piece for offering prayers (or so he thought), until one day he was kept from entering the temple by the priest indicating that his clothes were unchaste (impure), investigations followed and it was then that he realised that the King of Jalan had been playing with his faith by sending him clothes that he had first used as bedcovers. Enraged, he declared war on Jalan and came victorious, relocating 700 Salvi weavers to Patan. And thereafter he was sure to own the most impeccable Patola.
illustration of warp and weft in a plain weave
(Image Source : wikipedia )
The revered craft
Owing to its luxury, Patola has always been a status symbol, afforded by only Royals and Aristocrats and is highly revered by a few Gujarati communities (where it is passed as heirloom down the generations). The popular motifs woven in Patola are parrot, elephant, flower and dancing girl, other than that, geometrical patterns are also common. While figurative motifs are preferred by Hindus and Jains, Vohra Muslims of Gujarat prefer sarees with either flowers or geometrical designs, which are reserved for auspicious occasions.
Other instances that glorify this meticulous art is the reference of Patolas in the Kalpasutra (Jain holy book) and in the poem of one of the most revered writer Munshi Premchand Ji, apart from many other popular traditional folk songs.
History manifests the value of this symbolic art around the world, the celebrated Morocco-born traveler Ibn-Battuta offered Patola as a mark of honor to the Kings whose courts he visited in 1342 AD.
Salvi brothers at work
(Image Source : kunzum.com )
Endeavour to save the art
Sad to say, but one of the finest craft this world has ever seen is virtually coming to an end, with just one Salvi family of Patan (Gujrat) practicing the original art in the purest form. The amount of time and labour required and availability of cheaper imitations, coerced all other Salvi weavers to quit their legacy and switch to more lucrative employment options.
Award winning Salvi family at their home in Salviwado, Patan.
(Image Source : Livemint.com )
Rohit Salvi and his family of master weavers are now the only craftsmen of this exquisite art. As an effort to save their heritage, this last practicing Salvi family set up a self-funded private Museum in 2014 under the name “Patan Patola Heritage Museum”.
It’s the only museum in the world dedicated to Ikkat art.
Patan Patola Heritage Museum
(Image Source : The Tribune )
The visitors of this museum include Celebrities and Politicians. Interestingly, being the only craftsmen of Patola, the Slavis are already book for the next few years to come and their Clientele today comprises of well-off NRI’s, Gujarati Industrialists and Celebrities.This National award winning family is willing to give it all to save the glorious art their clan has exclusive ownership of.
By Zainab Samar
