By Chirmi Acharya
“I have known this work as far back as I first opened my eyes.” says Tahira Bano a bunkar or a weaver. The weaver families were established in Kaithun near Kota in Rajasthan back in 17th century by a king patron of arts, and since then they have grown in number.
Tahira and her family have been weaving Kota Doria, the magic fabric as they call it for a long time now and four years back she formed an association of 21 ladies who present their work in various exhibitions across the country from Mumbai to Delhi to Hyderabad.
“We only need men to help when there is an exhibit far away, otherwise we are self sufficient”, she said beaming.
Explaining the intricacies of her work, the fabric that is made up of cotton and silk yarn, she said that they do all the work at home. The fabric is woven is such a manner that it produces square patterns. These patterns are called as khats, which are present in basic fabric beside any other type of value addition by any process like weaving, painting, embroidery, dyeing etc. A unique method of peg wrapping and brush sizing continues in Kota Doria. The onion juice and rice paste brushed with lot of care into the yarn make it so strong that no additional finishing process is needed. Weaving is done in pit looms and the fascinating colours of the fabric are the result of rich experiences of traditional dyers. Considering the environmental factors, eco friendly and fast azo-free direct dyes are used these days.
Sarees, bags, kurtis, shirts, skirts are some of the items that Tahira Bano and her association make and sell. Several boutiques and showroom across the nation place orders for the Kota doria work. The fashion designers like Bibi Russell have introduced their work on national and international platform.
The soothing colours and the soft fabric surely entrance everyone and bags praise and applaud. And as Tahira says ‘their work is pride of Rajasthan’, well who wouldn’t agree with this hard worker.
Chirmi Acharya is a Dare Community Editor
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