An effort to revive the Gujarat’s dying art of Patku Weaving

The traditional handloom cloth is now often replaced by power loom fabric. One such craft of Patku weaving is on the verge of extinction.

Jyoti Navalani, PhD scholar, Department of Clothing and Textiles from the Faculty of Family and Community Sciences at the Maharaja Sayajirao University in Vadodara, is trying to revive Gujarat’s dying Patku weaving art. This type of handloom fabric is made using the weft Ikat technique. It was once worn by the tribal group of Chaudharis living in the districts of South Gujarat especially Mandvi, Vyara, Walod and Bardoli of Surat. It gradually disappeared with the changing times. As the power loom took over the traditional handicrafts, the tribal people also turned to modern wear.

Jyoti started working on this project in the year 2018 with reference to the book “Simple Weft Ikat from South Gujarat” and visited the places of Mandvi near Surat where the Chaudhari tribes reside. She observed that rapid cultural changes in the Chaudhari tribe led them to shift to modern clothing, as well as the advent of power loom textiles, which affected the indigenous textile craft of the Khatri weavers in that region. Navalani under the guidance of Reena Bhatia is trying to devise strategies to re-market and revive the pride of this craft for future generations so that they can take pride in this cultural heritage.

Patku weaving craft needs revival. Today, the craft is on the verge of extinction but the traditional tribal cloths worn by the Chowdhuris are made on power looms. Also, there is a change in technique that makes it susceptible to surviving in its original state. Jyoti said that hand-woven fabric Patkus are rarely available to women of the Chaudhari tribe today. It has been completely replaced by power loom fabric available in the domestic market. “But I got this rare piece of cloth from Textile Art Museum of Clothing and Textile Department,” says Navalani.

The tribal cloth made by Patku weaving is a coarse cloth with dark stripes of white and blue in a rusty red colour background. A single weft is made using the Ikat technique; there are two varieties known as Kabra salla and Rahi salla. Approximately the length and width of this is 260cm x 78cm rectangular cloth. Due to the rising cost of the raw materials used in production and the laborious process, these textiles gradually became unaffordable to the local tribes. Also, demand declined in conjunction with it.

Further, during field visits it was found to be an essential dress of the tribal community during funeral and wedding ceremonies. This is the reason enough to add hope to its revival. Therefore, an appeal is made that anyone who has any information about this heritage and craft should inform the Department of Clothing and Textiles of Maharaja Sayajirao University. They will always be grateful for an informant’s contribution to this research and unique initiative.