HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE:

The Bomkai saree, one of the traditional sarees of east India are created by
the adept artisans who excellently define the tradition and culture of India by
the simple work of needle. The traditional figured saree from the southern
Orissan coastal plains is the Bomkai saree. This saree is named after the
village where it was discovered in the early 1980s.

Sonepur is located in the western part of Orissa. Sonepur hand loom woven
sarees and dress material are known for their unique "Bomkai" designs
locally known as "Bandha" design. This Bomkai design on the fabric
(especially on Sarees) is developed by using Jala technique on handloom.

The art of weaving has been existing in this part of Orissa since 600 B.C. The
scriptures in the caves of Khandagiri reveal this. a female figure driving a
chariot drawn by four horses and the Lakshmi in a lotus pool being bathed
with water from pitchers held by two elephants. By late 1980s, this hand
loom cluster had begun specializing in silk weaving especially the Bomkai
design (locally known as Bandha Design) without using any extra shedding
mechanism like Jacquard and Dobby.

The artisan of the locality used to create Bomkai sarees since the
commencement period of the fabric. It was originally made for the local
maharaja, aristocracy and Brahmins of the Chikiti tahsilm of the Ganjam
district.

Technique:

Unlike other centres where jacquard looms have taken weaving by storm,
Orissa still uses the traditional jaalas for weaving Bomkai. Wooden jaalas are
used and are tied the traditional way by jaala bandhaks (weavers).” Jaala
system is the predecessor to the jacquard looms. The design is tied by
specialists called jaala bandhaks keeping in mind the design to be followed in
the pallav and the saree. If it is an intricate design, the procedure is
repeated. Otherwise smaller designs such as bootis and florals are worked
through the extra weft. Sahu adds, “When complicated designs have to be
woven, a second set of jaalas are used where motifs akin to the pallav are
carried on the rest of the saree or in case of salwar kameez’s, the designs of
the dupatta or yolk in the fabric are woven in the entire fabric. Simple
designs such as bootis and small florals are woven in the entire fabric.”

The technique is in itself a furthering of the tie and dye technique. In case of
Bomkai, the yarn is tie dyed but the focus is not on patterns which emerge
out of tying and dyeing. It is used to get the contrast colours in the saree. So
a pallav or border may have a solid dyed block or can be double shaded. The
ornamentation is worked using the extra weft technique or jaala system
which gives the tapestry that kind of look. The borders are woven using what
most weavers refer to as phool bandhaks which flow on the designs on the
border.The double shades of the saree, the border and the pallav are worked
on the basis of colour combinations. Once the dyed yarn is fitted in, the
pattern is worked using extra weft technique. This gives a saree an almost
woven, carpet like effect.The Bomkai design both the warp and weft is dyed
according to the requirement. For border design, warp alone is processed,
while for Palavas and anchal of sarees, weft is processed and overall saree
designs, both the warp and weft are processed.

Recent innovations include the introduction of zari threads in weaving while

earlier the entire design was done in thread work with cotton or silk yarn as
the fabric base. Nowadays, the saris are woven in both cotton and silk with
brilliantly created angular discontinuous supplementary-weft patterns woven
in the end-piece in contrasting colours

Bomkais are woven in cotton, silk and tussar. The cotton used is usually of
higher quality being 100 counts and 120 counts. “Even lower counts of 80 are
woven. These are coarse with a rough finish.

Motifs:
The Bomkai cotton saris have been influenced by tribal art, and are
embroidered with temple spire patterns on the border. East Indian ladies love
to wear Bomkai sarees for their traditional tribal look, as well as their elegant
color pallette.

BORDER'S MOTIFS: Bomkai sarees feature threadwork ornament borders.

The supplementary bands are not woven in progressive order from large to
small, or vice versa, but are woven according to the choice of the weaver. Yet
despite all the work in the endpiece, it is the supplementary-warp patterns of
the borders that give these sarees their names. Some of border motifs are...

Mitkta panji: A broad band of supplementary-warp patterning called the

`mitkta panji`, forming a latticework of small diamond shapes is the most
popular border.

TEMPLE: A row of temple spires which pretty much look like triangles is also
a signature border of bomkai sarees.

KUMBHA: A row of Kumbha spires is favourite border motifs.

Rudraksha: The motifs in the borders include ubiquitous rudraksha or bead
motifs.

Floral: The florals and even plain bootis are also found.

PALLAV MOTIFS: There are Bomkai sarees with elegant designs, enchanting
colors for the exclusive women. Bomkai sarees are made of one of the easy
to wear fabrics with traditional designs and patterns.Bomkai patterns are
hand woven from gold or silver colored silk threads. They embellish pallu
(falling edge) of a saree. The sarees are brilliantly created with angular
discontinuous supplementary-weft patterns woven in the endpiece in
contrasting colours.The patterns adhere to the traditional tribal motif of
Orissa, which includes geometric designs, birds, elephants and flowers. other
patterns have such names as rukha (pestle, stick), dombaru (small hourglass-
shaped drum), kanthi phoola (small flower) and kalera (bitter
gourd),Shankha( holy musical instument) peacock and fish.

FLAURA and FAUNA: The motifs used are Kanthiphula, Atasi flower,Lotus
and Flies, Birds, Peacock, Fish,elephants, ducks etc in geometrical forms.

Peacocks: it represents a symbol of rebirth in the mythology of Hinduism,

Buddhism, and Islam. In Hinduism, the image of the God of thunder, rains,
and war—Indra—is depicted in the form of a peacock. In India, the peacock is
also a symbol of love. Also depicts love.

FISH: Some Bomkai saree have small fishes woven onto the pallav. Fish
symbolizes prosperity and good health.

KANTHI PHOOLA: these are small flowers.

TRIBAL SPLENDOURS: Apart from these motifs Bomkai sarees are famous
for their stikingly beautiful traditional tribal designs which are mostly
geometric in form. Motifs are inspired from the tribal arts of bomkai village
where it originated.These motifs are often placed in rectangular forms in a
row.

Later on, since 1980s the technique was introduced and gradually
developed on finer cotton and silk with a numerous buta / buti design which
nowadays is the main focus point of Orissan Handloom Sarees.

COLOURS:
The speciality of Bomkai is the contrast borders and heavy designs on the
saree pallavs, while the blouses are again in contrast colours.Traditionally the
women of Orissa dress in sarees of blue, red and magenta and other deep
colours.Since Oriya sarees have a close relation with Jagannath culture, the
four basic colours which are commonly found on Jagannath—black, white,
red and yellow—is extensively used in oriya sarees and bomkai is no
exception.

It is the design and colour palette that makes Bomkai stand out. The
vibrancy of colour combination especially contrast colours are rarely seen
elsewhere. Double shaded borders vie with single solid colour borders and
this is the signature of bomkai sarees.Recent innovations include the
introduction of zari threads in weaving which also adds richness to saree.

The contrast colours are beautiful such as yellow interspersed with black
and a green border or peacock blue competing with golden border. The
borders and pallav can be double shaded. It is the sheer contrast and eye
catching colours which stand out such as grey teamed with a brilliant red,
black with glazing golden border and pallav. Even if it has a white field , it
would surely have a bright contrast colour such as red, black , deep blue etc.

TRADITIONAL AND CONTEMPORARY USAGE OF

BOMKAI SAREE:
TRADITIONAL: The cotton adaptation led to its popularity. It is probably the
adaptation from tribal textiles that makes it so vibrant and arresting.For
regular wear, cotton bomkai is favoured. A Bomkai Cotton Saree is also an
excellent choice for any religious function. Bomkai Silk Sarees are generally
worn in formal and semi formal occasions.

CONTEMPORARY:

Since tissue lends a shiny effect to Bomkai, tissue Bomkai is also quite
popular. Tissue, an exclusive preserve of south Kanjeevaram sarees or
Banares is hardly seen in Orissa.

Double border sarees in Bomkai have also been introduced.

The introduction of zari is a novelty as the focus of the work has been on
using thread work as ornamentation, be it in silk or cotton.

It has largely been popular as sarees with little experimentation to explore

Bomkai in other forms of clothing such as salwar kameez’s with riveting
colours, interspersed with rich ornamental motifs.

Bomkai is sold in women’s tops, skirts, stoles, men’s shirts, jackets, achkans
etc.