A gem of a craft that got revived from this treasure chest of textile art was the Karwath Kathi sari woven out of the finest Vidharbha tussar. Inspired from the gamchha or functional hand cloth spun about a hundred years ago, this coarse fabric was transformed in the nineties into amazing Karwath Kathi saris. Karwath in Marathi refers to the serrated or saw-edged wooden instrument used for cutting. These triangular forms above the border, which are now commonly referred to as temple borders, were woven along with or interlaced with the warp and weft tussar ground, just above the point where the body is interlocked with border. This appears like a neutral alternate border between light tussar base and the contrast base colour of the borders. The gamchha used to be woven with rough cotton yarns of 20s count and then the highly unreeled two different threads of twisted yarn called Dongri tussar was introduced as weft. Over the years, it refined to smoother yarns for royal use as towels, angavastra or stoles, or even tied as a handy head cloth.
With the abundance of tussar yarns in the Vidharbha region, with the design input of zigzag borders, and the combination of silk tussar body with cotton borders, the beautiful Karwath Kathi sari was born.
Launched in the nineties, this reasonably contemporary but traditional designed sari has enjoyed its quiet and dignified place among the multitudes of more popular heritage saris of India. In the plethora of old and new fabrics and fast changing trends, the case of the Karwath Kathi sari is one where good points fail to get noticed, a case where sometimes the discerning piece is lost among the glamour and glitter. Hence, an acquired sartorial taste that has taken its own sweet time for recognition.
Karwath Kathi saris are woven in hand operated pit looms of three ply shuttles. The warp and weft are tussar with serrated horizontal border line at the ends joined with cotton borders, the opposite of Gadwal saris from Andhra Pradesh that are woven with fine count cotton yarns in body with silk zari borders and pallu in contrasting colour. The cotton borders in Karwathi sarees have ornamental lines and motif designs woven aesthetically in silver white extra warp or weft threads in both border and pallu. The Karwathi sari has been a reflection of its local culture, as it was worn during rituals, marriages, and festivals. The design narrative in the borders were the simple eight petalled flower or rudraksh motif enclosed with running lines in conjoined geometrical shapes triangular, round or rectangular. The hand skill, deft fingers, the unevenness of the handloom cloth, its breathable quality and suppleness counterbalanced by the perfect fall of the saree and pallu, its firm selvedge, its durability, all put together has given Karwath Kathi saree an important status in the history of Indian handlooms.
The Karwath Kathi sari has got its geographical indication registration from Vidharbha, Nagpur and Bhandara districts of Maharashtra. Tussar sericulture farms for cocoon breeding and silk extraction are found in and around Vidharbha and Nagpur, in places like Chandrapur, Gondia, Almodi, Andhalgaon, Ambegaon, Pauni and Gadchiroli. Silk farming and breeding is an empowering tribal community activity, whereby the silk yarn and cocoon distribution is controlled by the Maharashtra State Handloom Corporation (MSHC) through tenders and auctions.
The yarn is purchased by both private parties who deal with commercial retail, as well as state government-appointed mahajan, who acts as the head of a guild-like community of weavers. The mahajan possesses several looms and distributes the yarn to the weavers, who weave the sari and give it back to him at a fixed cost. For the hapless handloom weaver, work is labour-intensive and time-consuming. The weather-beaten pit loom weaver, who works all day in the sweltering heat, is bereft of even a table fan, since the breeze could snap the delicate threads while weaving. Hence productivity and income have been low. The average age group of the weaver is over 50. The younger generation is not much interested to continue and preserve this art. Certain mechanical devices to speed up production were introduced later into the loom, mainly inspired by Dobby and Jacquard, by the Handloom Board.
Recent innovation of the ‘catch-cord’ system in the loom device has speeded up and yielded good results. In place of one sari that took seven to eight days to weave in the past, the production is now one sari a day for weavers who have adapted this new technique.
Fun Facts:
- Not just weaving the saree, but the entire cycle ranging from the cocoon breeding to cocoon processing to drawing out tussar threads, is carried out by the local population.
- The border design drives inspiration from the sculptures at the Ramtek Temple, few kilometres from Bhandara. This gives the saree a popular religious flavour too.
- The sarees are not only worn at important household rituals or functions but also worn by the ‘Vidarbha Bride’.
