PRESENTED BY :NIDHI KUMARI T.

D :- IV

 The

population of Orissa consists mainly of Oriya-speaking people, although Munda and Dravidian languages are also spoken. Orissa's economy is predominantly agricultural with most of the population engaged in raising rice . Other agricultural products are pulses (legumes), cotton, tobacco, sugarcane, and turmeric. Among the livestock raised are buffalo and other cattle, sheep, and goats .

 Fish

is largely exported . Industries include the production of pig iron and steel, the manufacture of textiles, cement, paper, glass, aluminum, flour, and soap, and the processing of sugar and oil. Hand-loom weaving and the making of baskets, wooden articles, hats, nets, and silver filigree (ornamental work) are carried on .

 Orissa

has a rich tradition in handloms and its products, especially "Ikat" or tie and dye fabrics, known as "bandhas" in Orissa are recognized all over the country and abroad for their highly artistic designs, colour combinations and durability. The art of weaving in the state is highly evolved and its fabrics bear testimony to the unique and artistic ability and tradition of the weavers of this state .

Orissa is a state of rich cultural heritage, which is reflected in its costumes also. Orissa famous across the world for its handlooms. Orissa has the tradition of creating unique sarees from handlooms; sarees which can easily pass of as great pieces of art. Traditionally the women of Orissa dress in sarees of blue, red and magenta and other deep colours, with ikat (known as bandha in Orissa) patterning .

 Orissa

sarees have a close association with Lord Jagannath, the presiding deity of the Jagannath Temple in Puri. Orissa sarees have extensive usage of black, white, red and yellow colour, which are the colours found on the Jagannath's idol. The motifs found in these sarees such as lotus, conch, wheel, etc. share a close similarity with the idol of Jagannath.

 The

handloom sarees of Orissa can be broadly classified into four groups. They are ikat, bomkai, bandha and pasapalli. The typical varieties of Orissa sarees are Khanduas, Saktapada, Bomkai, Taraballi and Bichitrapuri, to name a few made both in cotton and silk. Bomkai and Habaspuri sarees and also cotton sarees produced in Berhampur and Jagatsingpur Districts.

 The

village of Bomkai lends its name to the bomkai sari. Bomkai saris combine bandha (another term for ikat) and supplementary thread work called kapta jala which refers to the dobby mechanism (jala). saree is named after the village where it was discovered in the early 1980s. Bomkai is a recent adaptation from tribal sarees and is named after a tribal village in southern Orissa.

The traditional figured saree from the southern Orissan coastal plains is the Bomkai saree. It has an embroidery-like work on the border and pallau. Bomkai Sarees are widely known for its eye catching designs and look.

It was originally made for the local maharaja, aristocracy and Brahmins of the Chikiti tahsilm of the Ganjam district. These sarees originally were always dyed in bright colours, usually with black, red or white grounds. Sometimes multicoloured supplementaryweft and -warp endpieces and borders were also created. Bomkai saree is made of one of the easy to wear fabrics with traditional designs and patterns.

 The

sarees are brilliantly created with angular discontinuous supplementary-weft patterns woven in the endpiece in contrasting colours. The patterns have such names as rukha (pestle, stick), dombaru (small hourglassshaped drum), kanthi phoola (small flower) and kalera (bitter gourd), peacock and fish. Fish symbolizes prosperity and good health.

 Bomkai

saree with peacock.

 The

artisan of the coastal areas of Orissa have been making Bomkai sarees since the commencement period of the fabric.

 Typically,

a dense large pallu with bright color is a signature of these types of sarees.

 Orissa

Bomkai saris feature threadwork ornament borders and pallu, some combine small touches of ikat work. The sarees in this collection were all picked for their traditional tribal look, as well as their understated and elegant color pallette.

It is famous for its weaving because of the production without using any extra machinery like Jacquard and Dobby. In the Bomkai patterns, both the warp and the weft are coloured in different combinations. On the borders, warp alone is processed. For Palavas and Anchal of sarees, weft is processed. And overall saree designs, both the warp and weft are processed.

 Bomkai

is a traditional extra weft technique from Orissa woven on a pit loom.

 Both

cotton and silk fabric are used in making Bomkai sarees. For regular wear, cotton bomkai is favoured. Bomkai patterns are hand woven from gold or silver colored silk threads. They embellish the borders and pallu (falling edge) of a saree. In the earlier days, the weavers here not just made use of cotton yarn but Tassar silk, wool and lotus stalks were also used.

 Bomkai

sarees with elegant designs, enchanting colors for the exclusive women . Bomkai saree have small fishes woven onto the border . Bomkai sarees feature threadwork ornament borders and pallu . The Bomkai pattern is created by Jala technique on the fabric. A combination of ikat and Bomkai is very unique .

 Bomkai

sarees with their traditional tribal look, as well as their understated and elegant color pallette . A broad band of supplementary-warp patterning called the `mitkta panji`, forming a latticework of small diamond shapes is the common design found in the sarees. Bomkai patterns also known as 'Bandha.

 The

patterns have draw their names like rukha, dombaru, kanthi phoola, kalera, peacock as well as fish.

 The

motifs are freely composed commonly including: karela(bitter gourd), The atasi flower, The kanthi phul (small flower), Macchi (fly), rui macchi (carp-fish), koincha(tortoise), Padma (lotus), Mayura (peacock), and charai (bird).

 The

four main colors used in the sarees at Orissa are white, black, yellow and red. Orissa sarees are also available in other colors like cream, maroon, and brown and rust.

 Tools

:- Pit loom, Dye vats, Thread to tie the warp yarns, Scissors. Materials: Cotton or Silk, Dyes.

 The

warp is measured out and the areas of the warp designated for bandha (also called ikat )dying are tied in bundles that resist the dye. Once dyed, the threads are removed from the dyebath and dried. Bomkai,bandha dyeing is used to create large areas of contrasting colors,not small motifs.

 Myrobalan

for black, Turmeric for yellow, Lac for dark red or maroon, Girmati (ochre treated with ghee) for light red, And acacia skin for chrome orange.

 Two

shafts are needed to weave a plain weave fabric: as a treadle beneath the loom pulls down one harness, the other harness rises, to create a wide shed through which the weaver passes the shuttle containing the weft. By pressing the other treadle, the alternate threads are raised, and byre turning the weft to where it started, interlacing with the warp to form a stable fabric.

 The

warp threads passing through the dobby are used to create motifs in the body while smaller motifs are worked using the extra weft technique. The body of the sari is accented with a single buttah (motif) of a bird on a tree. Popular motifs on the supplementary weft and warp bordersare dalimba (pomegranate corns) and saara (seeds) topped with a row of kumbha (templespires).

 Nuapatna,
Sambalpur

, Bargarh and Sonepur , And Boudh districts .

The orissa bomkai sari have undergone vast changes as weavers try to adapt the designs to popular taste. Vegetable dyes have been replaced by chemical dyes, though the former is still available, but the prices are significantly higher. New shades and patterns have also been added.

 KHANDUA

the word derived from Khandua (piece) is the popular product of Nuapatana Handloom Cluster in the District of Cuttack mainly produced on Silk. The Khandua is the pious & ethnic fabric of Orissa, specially used for deities of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra & Subhadra since 16th century. The saree with enchanted elephant and lotus designs set side by side on IKAT (Bandha) with harmony of traditional colours.

 Red
Maroon And

Yellow yellow is the original representation of Khandua.

The Body has the traditional lion and elephant motifs. central band having lotus and creeper designs in the body. floral motifs in border and ancha. Now a days a number of diversified motifs in various flowers and geometrical designs are brought up on sarees in bright and enchanting color.

 Sarees

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