Sarees made by the oldest form of creating patterns on a plain piece of cloth.
Bandhani work is a type of dyeing practiced mainly in the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat, India. Sometimes it is also referred to as Bandhani art or Bandhani art work. The term “bandhani” derives its name from a Hindi word Bandhan which means tying up.
The main colours used in Bandhani are natural. In fact all colours in bandhani are dark, no light color is used, and the background is mostly in black / red cloth.
Bandhni was introduced in Jamnagar when the city was founded 400years ago. This city has now become one of the principal centers of bandhni, creating new pattern and experimenting with modern colors.
The Bandhani work has been exclusively carried out by the Khatri Community of Kutchh.
Fabric: Simple bandhani sarees are basically in cottons and are ideal for the Indian summers. There are also silk or chiffon bandhani sarees with sequins or zari work.
The Process: Bandhani is a handwork, which invo lves tying and dying of cloth. To create the Bandhani designs, the Bandhej process involves tightly tying a string or "dori" around certain areas of the fabric and then dipping it in to a dye. After a short while, the fabric is taken out of the dye and the string is removed. On opening the fabric, you will see that the areas covered by the string have retained their original color while the rest of the fabric has been dyed.
Bandhani work, after the processing is over, results into a variety of symbols including, dots, squares, waves and strips. The tying of cloth with thread and then dying it is the simplest and perhaps the oldest form of creating patterns on a plain piece of cloth.
Colours and Design: The dominant colors in Bandhani sarees are bright like yellow, red, green and pink. Maroon is also popular. But with changing times, as Bandhani has become a part of fashion, various pastel colors and shades are being used. Single colour sarees with white spots are also common. There are bandhani sarees with contrast colours, with zori borders. The various tye and dye designs on bandhani sarees are Bandhej, Lehriya, Batik, Mothra, Ekdali, Shikari, Cheent.