The Tale of Handwoven Chanderi

kavita bisht
2020-11-25T12:32:11+05:30

Chanderi in Madhya Pradesh is the place from where chanderi silk, cotton and silk cotton got its name from. Something that is loves and must-have for almost all women. Handwoven chanderi fabrics are what you call elegance personified...
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Chanderi in Madhya Pradesh is the place from where chanderi silk, cotton and silk cotton got its name from. Something that is loves and must-have for almost all women. Handwoven chanderi fabrics are what you call elegance personified. The shiny glossy texture of this rich and lightweight fabric is what makes it stand out among the other fabrics and hence making it one of the favorite fabric of all the time. Whenever there is a festival feeling in the air, people run to their wardrobe which is filled with some of the latest designs in chanderi fabric. Why would anyone go for anything else when we have such beautiful handloom weaves.

Handwoven chanderi can be rightly described as classic timeless piece of art and if you happen to be a fan of chanderi fabric then you might as well enjoy reading more about these unknown facts about this beautiful handwoven fabric.

Roots since the Vedic Times

According to the references found in the Indian Mythology, handwoven chanderi fabric was first introduced by Lord Krishna’s cousin Shishupal in the Vedic Period but though the historical records show that this fabric has only been used in proper way since the 11th century. The Muslim Koshti weavers, in 1350 who practiced this craft extensively migrated from Jhansi to Chanderi and since started the flourishment of this fabric but chanderi was established as the hub from 17th century. In order to flourish this craft, the Mughals having build a karkhana was one of the reasons for it became this famous.

The woven air

Because of chanderi fabric’s sheer texture and transparency, it is usually referred to as woven air. Thanks to the extra fine and high-quality yarns used in the process of weaving, because of which the from the process of degumming thus preventing breakage during weaving. Originally, chanderi fabric was woven using handspun yarn of cotton that has as fine as 300 counts, which made this fabric equally famous as the Muslins of Dhaka. From a special root called Kolikanda, this beautiful fabric’s fine count cotton is extracted from.

Famous Chanderis

The three most popular fabrics used to weave a chanderi salwars, saree, anarkali and lehenga are chanderi cotton, pure silk and silk cotton.

The signature Motifs & Buttis

With the help of needles the buttis on chanderi fabric is woven and the count of these needles depends on the shape and size of the buttis. The sustainability of handmade buttis is longer than the power looms buttis. The motifs and buttis seen on the chanderi fabrics were inspired from the Banarasi motifs especially the gold coin or Ashrafi, phul-patti, akhrot, phul-buta, eent, paan, suraj butti, churi, meena butti, keri, bundi, kalgi and ghoongra among others. On chanderi weaves motifs which are exclusive are the mehndi wale hath, jangla, nalferma, chatai, dandidar. These mostly comes in vibrant colours like navy blue, black, red and fuchsia.

The beauty in the handwoven chanderi does not stop here. The charm of this magical handwoven fabric is inspiring us and many other designers all over the globe to play with it infinitely to create more and more designs. In the coming years, we would love to see the magic of chanderi fabric.