Special Honour

Ikat’s journey

An ikat is a piece of cloth woven from fibres that have been dyed prior to weaving. It is an ancient form of the silk fabric. It has been woven throughout Central Asia and other parts of the world wherever textiles are woven. It evolved in different cultures and has even migrated to different regions.

The term ‘ikat’ seems to have originated from the Malay- Indonesian expression ‘mangikat’, meaning ‘to bind, tie a knot or wind around’, whereby a motif or a pattern (generally geometrical in nature) is dyed into the threads of a cloth before weaving it. The ikat or resist dyeing generally, “involves the sequence of tying and dyeing sections of bundled yarn to a predetermined color scheme prior to weaving. Thus, this dye penetrates into the exposed sections, while the tied sections of the yarn remain un-dyed. The patterns on the yarn get expressed in the woven fabric”(Ota, 2002) .

Process of making and preserving Sâncî Paat

For the preparation of the paper, the bark of a local tree called Sâncî gosh is used. After the bark is removed, it is dipped overnight in water and taken out the next day to dry. Wetting and drying are done at night because it is believed that if it is dried during the day it gets crumpled and the texture of the end product will not be smooth. After drying for one night, the bark pieces are kept horizontally and screwed in tightly under a paper press, which is a device of just two slabs of wood with a gap in between. The bark pieces remain like this for two to three days. After that, the pieces are dipped in water for about seven days. These are then dried again. The surface of the bark is then painted with the help of an organic dye locally called “hengool”. These papers are not used for another 15 days. The edges of the paper pieces are painted with another organic dye known as “haital”. The pieces of bark are kept like this for two to three days. In the process, the material turns grey or pale yellow and becomes resistant to insects. These sheets of bark after being suitably prepared are cut to a uniform size. The writing on these strips is done with a sharp pointed implement. Pigment is then rubbed into the finely incised lines to make them visible. The "barks" are drilled with holes and bound on cords in the centre of the leaf, traditionally often ornamented and threaded with a string or nâdî. The Sâncî Paat leaves have a tendency to split at the edges, but are otherwise tough and durable. These barks are usually kept in piles. The upper and lower covers are usually thick leaves of the same bark, with the outer layer still on, around which are wound the ends of the string.