COSTUME

AND TEXTILES OF

BIHAR AND JHARKHAND

BIHAR & JHARKHANDBihar is a state in East India. It is the 13th largest state of India, with an area

of 94,163 km2. The third largest state of India by population, it is also

contiguous with Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern

part of West Bengal to the east, with Jharkhand to the south. The Bihar plain

is split by the river Ganges which flows from west to east.

Jharkhand is a state in eastern India

carved out of the southern part of

Bihar on 15 November 2000. The

state shares its border with the states

of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh

and Chhattisgarh to the west, Odisha

to the south, and West Bengal to the

east. It has an area of 79,710 km2.

The city of Ranchi is its capital while

the industrial city of Jamshedpur is

the most populous city of the state.

CULTURE

The culture of Bihar, an eastern state of India, includes various unique forms of literature, cuisine, performing and visual

Craft

The artisans of Bihar have proven adept at creating articles using local

materials. Baskets, cups, and saucers, made from bamboo strips or cane reed

and painted in vivid colors, are commonly found in Bihari homes. A special

container called a "pauti," woven out of sikki grass in the north, is a sentimental

gift that accompanies a bride when she leaves her home after her wedding. The

weavers of Bihar have been practicing their trade for centuries. Among their

products in common use are cotton dhurries and curtains. They are produced

by artisans in central Bihar, particularly in the Patna and Biharsharif areas.

These colorful sheets often feature motifs of Buddhist artifacts, and pictures of

birds, animals, and/or flowers.

Bhagalpur is well known for its sericulture, manufacture of silk yarn, and silk-

weaving. Silk produced here is called tussah or tussar silk.

ChhathChhath, also called "Dala Chhath," is an ancient and major festival in Bihar. It is celebrated twice a year: once in the summ

FESTIVALS

Shravani MelaDeoghar. It is held every year in the Hindu month of Shravan. Pilgrims, known as Kanwarias, wear saffron-coloured clothes and collect water from a sacred GhaT at Sultanganj. They walk the 108 km stretch barefoot to the town of Deoghar to bathe a sacred

Pitri Paksha MelaThis is a 15-day fair held on the bank of River Falgu at Gaya during Pitru Paksha

every year. Pilgrims from all parts of India visit Gaya, offering pinda to honor their

ancestors. According to estimates from the Bihar Tourism Department, about

500,000 to 750,000 pilgrims arrive in Gaya each year during the Pitri Paksha Mela

Other local festivals celebrated with fervor in Bihar include:

Teej and Chitragupta Puja

Bihula-Bishari Puja (celebrated in the Anga region of Bihar)

The Sonepur cattle fair, a month-long event starting approximately half a month after

Deepwali. Considered the largest cattle fair in Asia, it is held at the junction of the

Ganges and Gandak Rivers, in the town of Sonepur. However, new laws governing

the sale of animals and prohibiting the trafficking in exotic birds and beasts have

adversely impacted the fair's success.

COSTUME & TEXTILE

Bihar, the land that has inculcated traditional

old values to the core, is noted for its hand

woven textiles in the field of costume.

Particularly, the rustic crowd of Bihar adheres

to the traditional pattern of dresses and

jewellery. Though most of the population of

the state still remains in rural areas the

costumes worn by them are still traditional.

The clothes for the people of different

religions are a bit divergent. The senior male

citizens of Bihar, irrespective of Hindu or

Muslim, favour tradition, when it comes to

costumes. If a Hindu elderly person prefers

Dhoti, a Muslim person might dress himself in

Lungi or Pyjama. As an upper garment, men

usually go for Kurta, and shirts.

MENthe men resort to attractive apparels for

ceremonies, festivals and social gatherings.

Kurtas, Churidar, Pyjamas and Sherwani are

the ideal costumes, chosen for such special

occasions, where accurate attitude owes a

lot to an impressive dressing style. The

Muslims, Sikhs, and Christian males are

habituated in luxuriating in the fragrance of

perfumes and "attar" on an every day basis.

It is interesting to note that men of Bihar

inhabit a penchant for ornaments. They

decorate themselves with bala or bali

(bangles) in Shahabads, Kanausi in Patna

and Gaya. Again Gowalas (the milkmen)

flaunt themselves in Kundals (earrings).

However, malas or bead necklaces are on

the rise these days, than, the other

ornaments.

WOMENThe costume of the women folk of Bihar is chosen

carefully in keeping with tradition. As per tradition,

married women, smear the hair- parting zone with

powder of Sindoor or vermillion. Tikli, a forehead-

adorning little ornament is added to the hair-partitioning

area. On the forehead, a Bihari married woman, be she

an urban or a rural one, usually applies bindi. A lot of

Bihari women,

love applying Kajal i.e. eye-pencil, or antimony eye-

make-up called Surma, to improve the appeal of their

eyes. They also indulge in flattering their senses with

soothing aromatic oils that leave them perfumed, and

refreshed, in the mind and body. Tattoo-paintings are

broadly prevalent among Bihari women. They give

detailed attention to their hands, and beautify them with

Mehendi-designs (a kind of tattooing, done with colors

fetched from herbal product like, amla or shikakai).

ORNAMENTS AND ACCESSORIES

Ornaments with elaborate designs and extravagant look, such as Chandrahar, Tilri,

Panchlari, Satlari, and Sikri are the common accessories, accompanying a woman in

Bihar. Indeed, the plethora of accessories, replicate upon the craze for jewellery and

ornaments. Women's passions for jewellery are not restricted to necklaces only. They

buy and wear myriad ornaments for arms, wrists and fingers. The most popular are

bangles, rings, for hands and the anklets (worn around ankles). Beauty-consciousness

is an inherent characteristic of feminine nature. And in this respect, even the tribal

women of Bihar, are not lagging behind. Even the men participate in these regular

grooming-sessions. Tribal people, inclusive of both men and women, wrap a thin strip of

cloth round the waist. By rule, they maintain two pieces, of cloth, one for home-use and

the other for going out. Their men are accustomed to wearing Dhotis, whereas women

attire themselves in sarees.

Drawing tattoo on the forehead, arms and legs is very much in vogue among tribal

population. This is especially in harmony with their belief in magic. To sum up, simplicity

is the mantra which provides an aura of elegance to the costume of this tribal elegance

of Bihar. The costumes of Bihar, thus exhibit the richness, refinement and immeasurable

worth of a heritage that remains ever-glorious, even in the face of changing times.

SUJANI EMBROIDERY OF BIHAR

• Sujani is most popular form of conventional

art and craft prevailing in Bihar.

• It is a traditional quilt made in the rural

areas

of that state.

• Created with the simplest of stitches, with

readily available fabrics and at times with

well-worn pieces of clothes.

• The Sujani works are generally crafted by

women in their free time at home.

• Today, the presence of various Craft

Councils, NGOs, designers, the craft has

traveled beyond the region of its birth to

urban markets in India and abroad.

• Traditionally, at the time of child birth,

patches of different colored cloth from

old saris and dhotis were sewn together

with a simple running stitch to make a

quilt called Sujani.

• Three or four sections of saris or dhotis

were laid on top of each other and

quilted with the thread that was

unpicked from the used garments.

• The stitch filling of the motifs was done

with a simple running stitch and the

outline of the motif was usually done

with a chain stitch in dark color.

• The quilt design depicts the mother’s

intentions and dreams for her new born.

CONCEPT OF SUJANI

THEME OF THE CRAFT

• Women stitch their experience, sorrows

and their realities on the Sujani,

transforming

dull quilt into a testimony of their lives.

• Each Sujani tells a tale – the trauma of

being a woman in a man’s world, domestic

violence, female infanticide, effects of

alcoholism and gambling on a family and

similar issues.

• Social concerns like evils of dowry,

education of girls, lessons in health care

and

AIDS are also depicted. Thus, each Sujani

becomes testament of personal trials or of

social change.

MOTIFS

SYMBOLISM

• This Sujani technique of sewing together layered pieces of old cloth is

deeply rooted in two ancient beliefs.

• First, cloth bound together by Sujani served a ritual function – it invoked

the presence of a deity, Chitiriya Ma, the Lady of the Tatters and stitching

together these disparate pieces symbolically embodied the holistic Indian

concept that all parts belong to the whole and must return to it.

• The second purpose of stitching pieces of old cloth together was to wrap

the newborn;

• to allow it to be enveloped in a soft embrace, resembling that of its mother.

• In fact, the word Sujani itself reflects this principle – ‘su’ means easy and

facilitating, while ‘jani’ means birth.

• Sun and cloud motifs signifying life-giving forces, fertility symbols, sacred

animals, fantastic winged creatures for protection against destructive

forces, and other motifs to attract blessings from the gods.

• Different coloured threads were also symbolically used, such as red,

signifying blood, a life force, and yellow for the sun.

PROCESS

The tracing sheet having

the design on it.

Dipping the rough cloth in

kerosene and neel solution.

Then, wiping it on the tracing

sheet which is placed on the

fabric.

Placing the tracing

sheet on the fabric.

Wiping with solution. The

liquid flows through the

perforated tracing sheet.

Tracing done

Artisan traced the design on

the fabricTraced Pattern

ABOUT THE EMBROIDERY

Chain stitch :

This stitch appears like a chain

on the face of the fabric. It is

worked from top down. It is

used for heavy outlines. Filling

of motifs can be done as well.

But here, in Sujani, filling is

done by running stitch.

Running stitch :

The stitch is worked through by

passing a needle in and out of

the fabric. Running stitches

may be of varying length, but

typically more thread is visible

on the top of the sewing than

on the underside

BHAGALPURI SILK SAREES

Bhagalpur is a small town situated on the banks of the

river Ganga. The speciality of this town is the special

silk fabric known as tusser silk or Bhagalpuri silk. The

silk produced in this town is exported globally.

Bhagalpur is also known as the silk city.

Bhagalpuri silk sarees are loved by women of all age

groups in India and other parts of the world. You may

be wondering why Bhagalpuri silk is always under the

spotlight.

Approximately 200 years ago, Bhagalpur was filled with

a lot of skilled craftsmen who specialised in weaving a

special kind of silk which was later introduced as

Bhagalpuri silk.

The dying technique of a Bhagalpuri silk saree is

what sets them apart from the regular art silk

sarees available in India. The popularity of

Bhagalpuri is not just confined within our country.

As per a popular online shopping portal,

Bhagalpuri Silk is talked about in some countries

of Europe, Japan, US, UK and France.

Bhagalpur boasts of over 35000 weavers with

25000 looms and has a total business of 100

crores per annum. Around 1 lac people are

involved in the process of separating silk from the

cocoons.

Renowned fashion designers from India are also

incorporating the usage of Bhagalpuri silk in their

latest collection.

THANK YOU