The Legacy of the Kanchipuram Sari
Introduction
Tamil Nadu’s Kanchipuram lies forty-seven miles away from Chennai. Once upon a time it was the capital town of the Pallava Rulers, but eventually became an integral part of both Chola and the Vijaynagar Empires. Apart from being famous for its temples it carries a long-standing legacy of producing silk brocades of eloquent texture and colours (Gillow & Barnard, 2008, p. 203- 204).
Kanchipuram is renowned for its heavy silk saris which are woven “with tightly twisted three-ply, high-denier threads, using thick zari threads for supplementary wrap and wept patterning” known as murukku pattu. Weft borders that are interlocked and petni technique to make the end piece are some common techniques. This demands each warp thread of the field to be twisted around “new sets of warp threads” having same colour as that of thee border, after which field warps are separated. The join at the back of the sari is identified by “two parallel warp fringes with the fringe facing the field the same colour as the endpiece, and vice versa” (Lynton, 1995, p. 123).
Town of Kanchipuram
A ninth century Pallava inscription mentions the name of Asokavarman among the earliest rulers of Kanchipuram. The Pallavas made Kanchipuram their capital. Kanchipuram also became a secondary capital for the Pandyas. The Tamil poet and philosopher, Sivasprakasar, who had contributed more than thirty books was born in Kanchipuram. It is also said that the in order to built the Virupaksha Temple built, one of the queens of Vikramaditya II, called the workmen of Kanchipuram (Shastri, 1958).
During the rule of Pallava Kings Kanchipuram was the capital of Thondaimandalam. It is often said that silk weaving commenced in this area when weaving communities of Devangas and Saligars migrated here during the Reign of Krishna Deva Raya. Though, contested by other historians who are of the belief that the weaving tradition of the region is much older, and started when in the 2nd Century C.E. the city of Kaveripoompattinam got submersed into the sea, as a result of which the Pattu Saliyars’ migrated to Kanchipuram. However, the Madras Census Report Of 1891 mentioned by Jha in his article The Saris of Kanchipuram. Woven Splendours: Indian Silks, says that the weavers were invited by Raja Raja Chola, while other records say that silk weaving is not more than one fifty years old, “when cotton saris were woven with silk borders and a silk pallav– a tradition that is still continued” (Jha, 1995, p. 75). As believed by some that the silk weaving tradition of Kanchipuram began around 18th century, however, this could be seen as a revival of the tradition as the entire town was set ablaze by the French in 1757, as a result of which the crafts of woven silk were also destroyed. It is believed that the tradition was revived both by the local weavers and also by the ones who migrated from Gujrat (because of a series of natural disasters in their region like famines and droughts) (Agrawal, 2003, p. 68).
An interesting belief about the town of Kanchipuram is that Goddess Kamakshi was originally an ugra swarupini, who was pacified by Adi Shankara by embossing the Shri Chakra, after which she assumed the form of Shanta swarupa or the peaceful form. It is further said that the destructive presence of the ugra swarupini was also felt in the nearby villages, therefore, she was requested by Adi Shankara not to leave the village without his permission, to which she agreed. As a symbol of this pact between the goddess and Adi Shankara, bronze portable festive images of Goddess Kamakshi before going through the city in her procession, stops in the inner prakaram, before the shrine of Adi Shankara (Ghosh, 2009, p. 140).
Mulberry Silk and Silk weaving traditions in India
The Mulberry silk weaving became greatly advanced in India over time. Different regions developed different and unique weaving styles like, silk khes and lungis in Punjab, soft and checkered patterns in Kashmir, zari brocade work in Varanasi, Ashvalis having rich gold patterns in Gujrat, Paithnis and Chanderis, Amoori Gadwal, richly decorated Kanchipuram silk saris etc (Dhamija, 1995, p. 13). The mulberry silk used in making the Kanchipuram sari is grown in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. It consists 57% silver and 0.6% gold (Saraswathy & Veeramani, 2018, p. 130).
Steven Cohen elaborated about silk weaving that was done in Gujrat. According to Dhamija, it is possible that this influence in turn spread to Varanasi, as per earlier references it was a cotton weaving centre (Dhamija, 1995, p. 13). Even traders from north brought with them a heavy influence from Varanasi. Such saris being popular among the wealthy “influenced the design terminology of the South Indian silk” (Jha, 1995, p. 82)
Literary References:
The tradition of silk weaving is also recorded in the Sangam Texts like Silappadikaram and Mani Mekalai in which the weaving of silk or pattusutram along with the use of natural dyes is mentioned.
The Jeevak Chintamani, one of the five great Tamil epics written by Jain ascetic Tiruttakkatevar in the 10th Century C.E., has mentioned about women wearing sarees which have folds and drapes the end. The Manasollasa of Someshwer, talks about exquisite textiles of Thondaimandalam. The gold embroidered textiles of Kanchipuram were called Kanchivani or Sachapakachi.
The Brihadeshwar Temple has paintings in which the consort of Raja Raja 1 is “dressed in garments of gossamer translucence.” Even the paintings of the Tanjore School of Art dating back to the Serfoji rulers of Tanjore, have illustrated women in bordered saris and designs in gold thread (Jha, 1995, p. 76).
Two 17th Century Rajasthani compositions which were written in Braj Bhasha, namely, Kapada Chintani and Kapada Kutuhal, talks about fabrics made in southern centres which acted as “coveted gifts” for women of northern India. The saris and dupattas made at Kanchipuram were referred to as Dakhani Cheer or southern fabrics. (Agrawal, 2003, p. 68).
Jha mentions about the District Gazetteer of Salem District which talks about, “The old-time industries of the District, of whom handloom industry is by far the largest, flourished for centuries in the District and elsewhere in India”
Gazetteer of Tanjore 1906, mentions about weaving of pure silk in Tanjore and Kumbakoam. women’s clothes “were enriched with gilt lace imported from France. The patterns at Tanjore are generally of a more complicated character than those at Kumbakonan, the figures of many kinds of animals and flowers being worked into the body of the cloth. At Tanjore and elsewhere, the borders are formed with separate shuttles, the threads of which are linked with the thread of the main warp at every passing ” (Jha, 1995, p. 76).
A Tradition kept alive
By the close of the nineteenth century the industry suffered a severe decline due to the catastrophic Carnatic wars, the devastating famine and plague coupled with tight restrictions on the export of textiles from India. When the entire industry was going down a nosedive, the tradition was kept alive by the tradition of wearing saris.
Until late 1800s, exclusive silk saris were made in Mysore, Kollegalam, Kumbakonam, Tirbhuvanam, Arani, Siruvandadu and Ayyampettai. Kanchipuran then, produced cotton saris.
Jha writes, “By the turn of the century Kanchipuram was firmly regarded as the centre of silk weaving. The older and richer traditions were until then found only in Kumbakonam, Tanjore and Salem.” He further mentions that Kanchipuram housed “the single largest group of weavers and looms in any single town in the Madras Presidency at that point of time” (Jha, 1995, p. 79).
Design and making
Kanchipuram sari is unique as its body and pallu are woven separately and then are joined. The interlinking is done in such a way that this joint is not seen from the front (Gowri & Ramchander, 2018, p. 3).
Zari threads used for the brocade work come all the way from Surat, in Gujrat. The acquired raw silk is then washed in the waters at Kanchipuram. These Kanchipuram saris have a pallav or border with generally tends to contrast the colour of the main field of the sari (Gillow & Barnard, 2008, p. 203- 204).
Due to the patronage given by the rulers, and the lustre that the waters from Palar gave to dried silk which was coupled with a strong maritime trade to the Port of Sadras, weaving in the town of Kanchipuram flourished (Jha, 1995, p. 75). The stiffness in the sari is because of being washed in the waters of the Palar River. For bringing thick consistency in the sari, the silk yarn is dried up in the sun after being dipped in rice water (Gowri & Ramchander, 2018, p. 3). It is widely believed that the waters of Kanchipuram give the silk “its lustrous sheen” (Gillow & Barnard, 2008, p. 203- 204).
Different patterns and designs are done with the help of adai, which means using three shuttles. The techniques which make the Kanchipuram saree stand out are: weaving a border with a solid single colour contrast in a way that the weft threads are not able to enter the border. Petni, a pallav weaving technique with contrasting colours with the background wrap is first cut and then the pallav is replaced by a different wrap (Gillow & Barnard, 2008, p. 203- 204). A unique feature of the cotton as well as the silk textiles produced in South India is that “woven designs are an integrated part of the woven fabric, rather than an addition to the fabric.” In Tamil Nadu an ingenious weaving technique developed where the korvai or the solid borders were weaved using three shuttles. Colours are carried by the two side shuttles located on either side are of the same material and colour which is used in the border wraps, while the centre shuttle contains the material and colour of the body. Firstly, the right shuttle goes in the shed of the border and is pushed by hand, the thread gets intertwined with the weft of the body which is then placed upon the woven part. After this the second shuttle goes to the other end of the border where the third shuttle intertwines the thread with the weft of the body and then goes through the border. The process is repeated after the shed gets closed. This allows the borders to be woven “with a non-continuous weft and interlocked together” through which sari borders of solid colours are made (Dhamija & Jain, p. 148).
Patterns and Motifs
The Kanchipuram sari consists of woven patterns which are heavily influenced by “tradition of using symbols and imagery from nature, flora, fauna and religion.”
Many literary texts have detailed description of textile designs, for instance, there is a mention of geometrical, floral, jalilu (jali or net), gajapapallav (pallav having the motif of an elephant), kalka (mango or paisley) and most importantly “tree of life” motif. These motifs find their place in the borders, pallav and the body of the sari. The body surface of the sari can be either woven plain or “with extra weft and/or warp in the same-coloured yarn or with simple lines or checks in silk yarn or gold threads.” More often or not the designs are a combination vertical and horizontal lines and checks. The body of the sari is often decorated with motifs of veldhari or neli (curved lines having dots within each curve), thuthirpoo (geometrical lines having floral patterns), muthuchir (dots or dashes within horizontal lines which looks like pearls), vazhaipoo (bands of two colours which are alternately woven and have even width), malligai mogu (jasmine buds), oosivanam (horizontally running pin-stripes of gold), pavun (gold coin), kamalam (lotus), panchrangi (horizontal bands of five different colours)
The checks which are woven in the sari are of different types like: muthukondi (checks of mortar lines), kottadi (checks of fine gold threads in various sizes), puliyamkottai (checks of the size of a tamarind seed in two different colours having a fine line surrounding it ) paimadi (alternate horizontal and vertical lines form a square), yanai papli (chessboard checks), palum pazhamum (small checks of two or three different colours), sabhanayakam (large and small checks in variegated colours) and muthukattam (lines of dots or dashes forming checks).
The pallav is highly decorated with lines, rekhus (serrated lines), floral motifs, creepers, animals (simham) lion, (yali) mythical animal, (annam) birds, parrots, peacocks and rudraksham (prayer beads).
Decoration of the borders are done by creating lines, (vanki) geometric motifs, motifs like rudraksham, moplapettu (two horizontal lines in a broad border of coloured yarn or threads of gold running parallel to each other ), paneer shombu (rose water sprinklers in geometric motifs), kodivisiri (two lines having floral fan motif in between), pogidi (triangles containing geometric motifs which is on one or two lines ), paisley salangai (chain motif), brick pettu (border with brick motif), half diamond pettu (diamond border), mayilkan (peacock’s eye) and kuyilkan (nightingale’s eye).
Sari weaves have four to five different colour palettes. The process begins with degumming the raw silk with natural dyes. The colours that are used are- arakku (stick lac), kiriminji (cockineal), kapila (orange), manjal or nimiri (yellow), nilam or karuppu (dark blue). These colours were initially obtained naturally, for instance, red obtained from chips of sappan (vattangi or patang), yellow from powder of saffron roots and nimri by mixing powdered saffron roots with fuller’s earth’s decoction, dark blue came from indigo and green was made by dipping the threads in indigo and later in saffron water, violet was made by mixing cochineal with indigo.
However, due to the decline of the natural dye industry in the mid- 1800s, which happened because cheap dyes were started being imported in large numbers, this led to acquiring of bright colours from foreign dyes. These colours were red, crimson, yellow, orange, black, green and indigo. The use of two colours were used in warp and weft became popular. Some of the most liked combinations were- red and yellow, green and red, blue and yellow. The length of the sari usually varies from five to nine yards. Though, today, a six-yard sari has become more popular.
Scenes from Ramayana, Mahabharata and Bhagavata Geeta are often seen in these saris (Savithri, Sujathamma & Ramanamma, 2013, p. 63). Jha writes, “The influence of traditional motifs, however, has not waned even when other prominent features in the environment such as a cycle, an aeroplane, or a flower vase of European design have sometimes been woven into the fabric of the sari.” (Jha, 1995, p. 82)
Weavers
Traditionally the weaving community used to live outside the village because of the stench created during the preparation of cloth. Under the Cholas and the Pallavas, urban space was made and the weavers were encouraged to migrate. This resulted in the creation of Temple Towns. During the Chola Period the weavers of Kanchipuram and its sub regions paid taxes to the government, one such tax was called tari arai, which was the tax on looms (Bhoopathi, Dhanalakshmi & Balasubramanian, 2020, p. 171).
Most of the weavers in southern India were given land and houses within the temple towns. These weavers also wove flags for the temples, decorations for the chariots, wall hangings which depicted figures from the Puranas and mythology (Agrawal, 2003, p. 68).
These talented weavers claimed to have “mythological origins” The Madras Census Report of 1891 says that, “The Saliyars are a class of weavers found chiefly in the district of Tanjore, the word being derived from the Sanskrit word salika, the weaver. They claim to be the descendants of the Sage Mrikanda-the weaver of the gods”
The Hindu god Vishnu is also called Tantuvardhan, which means weaver, because it is believed that he weaved a garment for himself using the rays of the sun. The Kailkolars believed themselves to be the soldiers in the army of Virbhadra. The Devangas said they were the soldiers of Chowdmbike, their patron deity (Jha, 1995, p.86).
G I TAG
These saris were given the Geographical Indication by the government in the year 2006. The GI tag has helped in building the “brand name Kanchipuram” After receiving the GI, the sales of the Kanchipuram saris have been hiked up globally. (Gowri & Ramchander, 2018, p. 3). The GI tag also ensures that the product is authentic, reduces the appearance of fake products, control of infringement etc (Dinal & Sundaram, 2022, p. 803).
Conclusion
The legacy of the Kanchipuram silk saris continues even today where it is worn with great enthusiasm in religious, auspicious occasions including festivals. The GI Tag gave it not only a national but international recognition. A tradition that goes back to hundreds of years is celebrated even today and that is what makes Indian silk weaving tradition unique in its own ways.
References
Agrawal, Y. (2003). Silk Brocades. New Delhi: Roli & Janssen BV.
Bhoopathi, N., Dhanalakshmi, N. & Balasubramanian, T. (2020). Crafts and Craftsmen in the Chola Empire. JuniKhyat 10(9).
Dhamija, J. & Jain, J. (1989). Woven Hand fabric of India. Ahmedabad: Mapin Publishing Pvt Ltd.
Dhamija, J. (1995). Introduction: Woven Silks of India. Woven Splendours: Indian Silks. 46(3). Mumbai: Marg Publications
Dinal, J. & Sundaram, S. (2022). A Study on the Rural Development Potential of the GI Tagged Products with Special Reference to Kanchipuram Silk Sarees. Baltic Journal of Law & Politics 15(4).
Ghose, R., Pal, P. (2009). Goddess Durga: The Power and Glory. Mumbai: Marg Publications.
Gillow, J. & Barnard, N. (1991). Indian Textiles. New York: Thames and Hudson.
Gowri, P. & Ramchander, A. (2018). “An Overview on the Growth of Kanchipuram Silk Industry” ISBR Management Journal 3(2).
Jha, R.V. (1995). Kanchivani: The Saris of Kanchipuram. Woven Splendours: Indian Silks. 46(3). Mumbai: Marg Publications.
Lynton, L. (1995). The Sari: Styles, Patters, History, Techniques. London: Thames and Hudson.
Sarasvathy, R. & Veeramani, G. (2018). A Study of Manufacturing and Marketing of Silk Sarees in Kanchipuram District. IMPACT: International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts and Literature.
Savithri, G., Sujathamma, P. & Ramanamma, CH. (2013). Glory of Indian Traditional Silk Sarees. International Journal of Textile and Fashion Technology (IJTFT) 3(3)
Shastri, N. (958). A History of South India: From Prehistoric Times to the Fall of the Vijaynagar. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.