The Pagadi Unravelled

“We wanted to make it as recognisable as say the Maharashtrian Paithani sari,” says Sandeep Khandare,one of the few manufacturers and wholesalers,who has been dealing in the 11-layered pagadi and its many variants for the past decade.

But the headgear has long past its everyday utility or importance,and is now reserved for traditional ceremonies and weddings. In spite of the sanguine title it has just received,it evokes mixed response. The few traders who sell it want to preserve its authentic form and make,but youngsters hardly look up to it as being a symbol of the current reality.

The irony is that the pagadi’s modern connotations are in doubt,but its traditional significance remains unrivalled. On traditional days celebrated in schools,colleges or corporates,this one tops the attire. At weddings,this is what many guests cap their finery with,as do the youngsters performing the ritual gondhal art form. They make for classy gifts and souvenirs,open to customisation with zari work and pearls. But this is where the buck stops. “I don’t think anyone my age even gives it any deep thought. It is like the many traditions we follow,we understand or question very little of it,” says 20-year-old musician,Saket Kanetkar.

Twenty-four-year-old student,Yatin Mazire,also admits to the pagadi’s disconnect with the Pune of today,but feels it important to acknowledge its place in history. “I respect it as a symbol of Maharshtra; in a globalised world,it’s a symbol of tradition. Its historical journey has ensured its popularity.”

The pagadi’s visage is most kept alive by period films and theatre plays. But it has hardly ever crossed the creative threshold to become an item of widespread discussion or analysis.

The Raja Dinkar Kelkar museum remains the ultimate repository of a large number of pagadis,their different faces speaking of the eras they belonged to.

Historians agree that this is the last sentinel of the headgear. “They can be expensive,so no one bothers nowadays,” historian Mandar Lavate explains. “One will find the remnants of these pagadis on the busts at Tilak Smarak Mandir,or on the Dagdu Sheth ganpati. No doubt that it is Pune’s identity,but its current place is only in a museum.”