Kachchhi artisans weaving magic

India was once a thriving place of art and culture, but modern India is heavily influenced by the West. Thankfully there are parts of the country which practice art that reflects our traditions. Nirona village in Kutch, Gujarat is a village just like any other, except for the fact it practices centuries old art. The colorful and vibrant village still practices Rogan art, Lacquer art, Copper art and much more.

The small dusty village attracts a number of tourists thanks to their weaving skills. Traditionally kachchhi weavers come from the Marwada and Maheswari communities. The two diversified into different directions, while the Maheshwaris moved towards the art of mashroo the Marwada became well known for Kachchhi. 

Over the years the small community specialized in crafting woven textiles, leather and woodwork.

Taking inspiration from the community culture, kachchhi woven fabric mirrored the shapes of musical instruments, the footsteps of an animal herd and other designs. Motifs names like vakhiyo, chaumukh, satkani, hathi and dholki are reminiscent of rural images. 

The process starts with shearing the wool from the sheep and is washed and dried readying it to turn it into yarns for weaving. 

The process of carding converts the rough wool into a thin, clean, homogeneous strip which is easily spun into a yarn of equal thickness. Creating this wrap takes days, which includes dyeing too and women play a major role in this.

upright loom

Kachchhi weaving was generally done on Panja loom by hand. Later shuttle looms were used, an advanced technology. There are two types of shuttle looms- the upright loom for coarser fabric and the pit loom for finer fabric that are used. 

pit loom

Designs were created directly on looms through sequential movements of pedals. Blending white and black in a certain proportion creates different shades of grey from which different motifs, stripes and checks are made. Knitting has attained a different level of fabric construction altogether with the motifs getting three dimensional.  

The weaving market have drastically changed, over the changing years weavers have had to become dependent on outside markets for raw materials. Diverting from the original raw materials they now use silks, rayons and acrylic yarn. 

The rarity of the weaving art has made it more alluring and even though there are glimpses of contemporary touches, like designer cushion covers or even chairs for that matter, there is nothing compared to the old school designs!