Bandhani is considered the most important of the crafts in Kutch in terms of employment. The process is believed to have originated in the area some 5000 years ago and seems to have remained in production ever since. Today most of the bandhani produced in India is made in Kutch or Saurashtra, the neighbouring district. In these two districts, more than 10,000 people are employed in making bandhani (O.D.C.H., 1987).

The process is relatively simple, but is very time-consuming. The cloth, usually thin cotton, silk or wool, is folded several times and a design marked out in the form of dots.

The craftsperson then pulls on a small area of cloth where each dot is placed and winds thread tightly around the protruding cloth to form a knot or bhindi. When dyed the small area beneath the thread resists the dye leaving an un-dyed dot. This is usually carried out in several stages starting with a light colour like yellow, then after tying some more knots a darker colour is used and so on.  

When the cloth has been dipped in dye for the final time and dried, the folds of the cloth are pulled apart in a particular way releasing the knots and revealing their pattern. The result is a usually deep coloured cloth with dots of various colours forming a pattern.

For many years now, synthetic dyes have been used for bandhani. Previously most bandhani cloth was the maroon colour of alizarin derived from madder and black or brown derived from various plants. The last vegetable dyer was Khatri Daud Abdulla who was a National Master Craftsman Award winner in 1973. His sons have not learnt his skills, so much of this knowledge is now lost. Bright colours used to be very expensive and difficult to produce, but with synthetic colours any colour is affordable. Much of what is now produced is highly adventurous in its use of colour using particularly bright reds, oranges and yellows. The woollen shawls however still use mostly dark colours as the main market for these are very traditional communities.

Many of those involved in bandhani are dependant on dealers from Jamnagar and Rajkot (in Saurashtra) and Ahmedabad. Because of the skills in Kutch, the dealers send agents to the towns of Kutch to give cloth, with the designs already marked out, and thread to men and women to carry over the tying process. The workers are paid by the kadi (four knots). In an eight-hour working day, a worker may complete up to 800 kadi on silk or 1200 on cotton. The finest sarees may take up to 12 days to knot.

The dealers have better dying facilities in their own towns so the knotted cloth is taken back and dyed. These workers therefore never see their finished work. Without any union organisation, these workers are in general very low paid and exploited.

In the towns of Bhuj, Anjar and Mandvi, the Muslim Khatri community have many families run businesses that carry out the whole process. Some of these businesses work for dealers, others have their own retail and wholesale outlets. By controlling the whole process they have been less prone to exploitation and some have become relatively well off.

The majority of the market is domestic and bandhani is known throughout India. The main market however is in Gujarat where most women wear bandhani sarees, shawls or odhanis. However with the advent of the cheaper process of silk-screen printing, many of the poorer women now wear printed cloth with a bandhani design.

How to Wear a Saree

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