Modi gifts Italian PM a Patan Patola scarf: What is the ancient Gujarat art form

What is Patan Patola

The ancient art of double ikat or Patola woven in pure silk dates back to the 11th century. The Patola fabrics bear an equal intensity of colours and design on both sides. This peculiar quality has its origins in an intricate and difficult technique of dyeing or knot dyeing, known as ‘bandhani’, on the warp and weft separately before weaving.

One of the major practitioners of the dwindling art form is the Salvi family from North Gujarat.

The Salvis

The last surviving family into Patola weaving is the Salvi family in Patan. From the oldest 70-year-old Rohit to the youngest 37-year-old Savan, the entire nine member-family of five men and four women is engaged with this art form.

The Salvi family shared that before World War II, Indonesia was the major buyer of Patolas. Legend has it that King Kumarpal of the Solanki dynasty invited some 700 families of Patola weavers from Jalna (Maharashtra) to settle in Patan in North Gujarat, and the Salvis are among them. The family has also been honoured with several national awards.

Patola is woven on primitive hand-operated harness looms made out of rosewood and bamboo strips. The loom lies on a slant. The other commonly worn Patola is the Rajkot Patola, woven on a flat loom.

The weaving process

The process involves warp and weft silk threads that are tied with cotton thread on portions marked with the proposed design. This tied portion then remains unexposed to colours while dyeing, which is followed by tying, untying, redyeing and dyeing in different shades. Single and primary colours are applied one after another as mixed shades develop by overlapping. This makes the design stand out. The process is labour-intensive, time-consuming, and requires a high order of skill and dexterity, said 44-year-old Rahul Salvi.

“It takes three to four months to prepare a tie-died design on warp and weft threads for one saree of six yards. Two Salvis (weavers) working together weave just around 8 to 9 inch a day. It takes 40 to 50 days to weave a saree, when 4-5 persons are working on it, depending upon the intricacy of the design,” he added.

Traditionally, only pure silk and natural and chemical dyes were used, but since the last century, they have been replaced by fast-to-bleach and easy-to-dye chemical colours. However, in the past 20 years, experiments are being done to redevelop the old, indigenous process.

The product designs, Rahul Salvi said, are based on traditional motifs called “bhat”, which include “narikunj”, “paan”, “phulwadi”, “rasbhat”, flowers, animals birds, human figures, etc.

The Salvi family said that in 1342 AD, the traveller Ibn Batuta had carried patolas as gifts to many kings. They were amply used in the 17th and 18th centuries as precious gift items.

Price

A popular folk song in Gujarat is about a wife asking her husband for a Patan Patola — ‘Chhelaji Re, Mare Hatu Patanthi Patola Mongha Lavjo (Bring me an expensive Patola from Patan)’.

While possessing and wearing a Patola is considered a matter of pride, the fabric has largely remained inaccessible to common people because of its high price.

The base price of a Patola saree in the Patan weave starts from Rs 1.5 lakh up and can go up to Rs 6 lakh. A typical 46-inch dupatta or scarf sells in the range of Rs 80,000, depending on the intricacy of the design.

The Rajkot Patola saree starts at Rs 70,000 and goes up to Rs 1.25 lakh. The main difference here is that while the Rajkot Patola uses chemical dyes, Patan uses vegetable dyes. A Rajkot Patola weighs over 600 grams, while a Patola from Patan would weigh under 500 grams.

Another difference is that the motifs in Patan Patolas are sharp, while the Rajkot ones are hazy.

Ikat weaves are also found in Odisha’s famous Sambalpuri sarees, which, unlike Patola, are woven in cotton yarn too, as is the Pochampally saree from Andhra Pradesh.