THE TREASURES OF RAJASTHANI TEXTILES
IN TEXTILES OF RAJASTHAN: AT THE JAIPUR COURT, DR VANDANA BHANDARI FOCUSES ON LOCALLY MADE TEXTILES, WITH WOODBLOCK PRINTING, COTTON EMBROIDERY, GOTA, ZARDOZI, ETC.
With its beautiful illustrations and well-informed text, Textiles of Rajasthan: At the Jaipur Court provides a glimpse of the extraordinary range and quality of textiles that were once used at the Jaipur court, Rajasthan. The book, according to Dr Vandana Bhandari, a noted expert in the field of textiles, attempts to talk about the collections at the Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum’ to a wider audience. It focuses on textiles that were made locally, using techniques like woodblock printing, cotton embroidery, gota and zardozi.
Textiles of Rajasthan was the result of the museum’s invitation to Dr Vandana to write it, she tells us. “In Rajasthan, royal and temple patronage encouraged mastercraftspeople to create the finest panorama of textiles and costumes,” states Dr Vandana, who has authored several other books in the field. “The Jaipur court even has records of karkhanas, or ateliers, producing different textiles starting from the 18th century. So, when I was approached to write on these textiles, which hold immense cultural and historical significance —also something I had already previously studied — I felt the need to make my share of contribution in the preservation of this Rajasthani heritage.”
FEATURING THE CULTURAL HERITAGE
All the collections presented in the book have played significant roles in preserving the rich cultural heritage of Rajasthan. “Among them, I’d like to mention the sections of bandhni work and hand-blockprinted textiles. One could easily say these are the two most popular styles of Rajasthani designs on textiles,” says Vandana, Professor and Project Coordinator, USTTAD National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT; Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India), which has a collaborative approach for sustaining livelihoods and craft heritage.
What piqued Vandana’s interest in particular were the details of design on these vintage clothes and garments, and the exquisite techniques used to create them. “Today, many motifs can be ideated, created and made copies of in multifarious ways with the help of modern technology. But back then, every motif, every print had to be done by hand, which is why end products were considered so unique and valuable,” says Vandana, who’s been working on the subject of textiles for a long time now. “It’s indeed fascinating to take a pause and observe and revere the skills of the artisans of the yesteryears.”
THE GRIND THAT WENT INTO THE ART
Besides having published four more books in the field, Dr Vandana had already conducted a huge chunk of research on the subject for her doctoral studies, which also involved studying the evolution of the said crafts from ancient times to now — a substantial body of literature by any measure.
“Most of the study was by visually examining the objects. I had to visit the museum multiple times, though all the photographs had to be taken in a limited period because the arrangement of all the exhibits for photography used to take up most of the time we had. Also, as it’s a museum, open for visitors to witness history, my team and I had to work as fast as we could to photograph the desired exhibits,” recollects Dr Vandana. “However, when looking at the results of my labour on this book’s printed pages, it feels like it was all worth it.” Yes, she has a favourite chapter in the book. “It has to be the first chapter; it speaks of the symbolism between techniques of textile designing and society/culture/history. It also discusses the reasons behind the production of certain textiles, many of which are no longer in production today because the reasons behind their creation no longer exist, and socio-culturally they have become redundant,” says the professor and author.