Jamdani through colonial rule, Partition and Independence In a pure Jamdani, what you see on the front would be what you see when you flip the fabric across the back.вЂќ The weavers resume their work with their pointed bamboo sticks, and repeat the operations with the lay and shuttle in the manner above described, observing each time to pass the flower threads between a greater or less number of the threads of the warp, in proportion to the size of the design to be formed.вЂќДesigner Paromita Banerjee, who has been working with the weave in her studio in Kolkata for nearly a decade, says, вЂњI consider it to be one of the most labour-intensive crafts that we know of. The shuttle is then passed by one of the weavers through the shed, and the weft having been driven home, it is returned by the other weaver. When lithe threads have been brought between the warp they arc drawn close by a stroke of the lay. They place the pattern, drawn upon paper, below the warp, and range along the track of the woof a number of cut threads equal to the flowers or parts of the design intended to be made and then, with two small fine-pointed bamboo sticks, they draw each of these threads between as many threads of the warp as may be equal to the width of the figure which is to be formed. In Descriptive and Historical Account of the Cotton Manufacture of Dacca in Bengal (John Mortimer, 1851), the process of weaving Jamdani is described: вЂњIn manufacturing figured (jamdani) fabrics, two weavers sit at the loom. Vidya Balan in tiger-motif Jamdani by Ghuri by Debjani. It is also believed that during this period, the development of the jamdani motifs occurred due to Persian influence along with the removal of human figures from the designs,вЂќ says Islam. It reached its apex during the Mughal rule (16th-18th centuries). There is no clear date of its origin, though there is mention of this term (muslin) in a variety of sources, including KautilyaвЂ™s Arthashashtra (3rd century BC) and the Gupta period (4th вЂ“ 6th century AD). Extremely high count yarn (above 250) was used for its weaving on the looms of Bengal. It was woven from phuti karpas, a particular variety of cotton grown on the banks of the river Meghna in Bangladesh. вЂњMuslin, the legendary вЂwoven airвЂ™ of Bengal, had five principle varieties, of which the jamdani (вЂvase of flowersвЂ™ in Farsi) was one of them the most expensive and intricate one. It was the advent of Mughals that raised an already flourishing trade into an art form and gave the Jamdani its name. The weaving techniques were passed down generations through an oral tradition of instructions woven into songs, making each weaving cluster exclusive repositories of craft techniques. вЂњThough weaving was done by Muslims, most of the spinning was done by Hindu women,вЂќ says Bangladeshi textile revivalist Saiful Islam, who has been working to revive muslin in the country for nearly a decade. Sonargaon, in particular, located at the confluence of three rivers - Meghna, Brahmaputra and Sitalakhya - was well-known for producing some of the finest cotton in the world, including the muslin once synonymous with the Jamdani, along its fertile estuarine banks. In its truest form, Jamdani denotes muslin, a fine cotton fabric, with geometric or floral motifs woven on handlooms by artisans traditionally based in villages such as Rupganj, Narayanganj, and Sonargaon around BangladeshвЂ™s capital Dhaka. And, what could be more befitting than a Jamdani sari that speaks of our heritage?вЂќ says the actor. As the first actor to officially represent Bangladesh on the red carpet at Cannes, I wanted to be true to myself and to my roots. вЂњI love the sari and I feel completely at ease in it. After all, while India holds the Geographical Indication (GI) tag for the Uppada Jamdani, Bangladesh has the GI tag for the Jamdani. Designed by Bangladeshi fashion conglomerate Aarong, the 100-thread count sari threw open discussions on the attractive possibilities of the Jamdani at a global stage and also the old debate on who the Jamdani really belongs to - India or Bangladesh.

I feel the warp overtaking me