Indian Tradition : Natural Dye and Handloom

India is a country full of rich culture and tradition over thousand decades. From a small art form like earthen pottery to a very big art form like metal and rock sculpture, Indian art has marked its own signature. Just like various art forms, India also have some significant , natural and traditional ways of productions. Natural dye is one of them.
On the time, when India was under the British, the farmers were forced to make production of Indigo. On that time, Indigo was a very precious tree, since it was the key resource of dye. In undivided Bengal, it was harvested in the wide land of Bardhhaman, Birbhum, Bankura and Purulia. The farmers were unable to make production of other crops, because of the British. In against of this forceful harvestation, a movement was formed, named "Neel Bidroho", lead by tribal leader Titumir.
After the independence, the production of natural dye, and the weaving with handloom becomes one of the key ways of earning of many Indian people. The production of indigo was stopped after independence in West Bengal, but around 2012, it was started again. Since India is a third world country, number of poor people is much higher than the number of rich. That is why, weaving becomes a very successful way of earning.
To write this article, I have a conversation with the co-founder of "Boyon Textile", Mr. Sanjib Mondal. It is an entrepreneurship, situated in Shantiniketan, Birbhum. They are working with natural dye. While describing their business procedure, he said that they make the dye from one hundred percent natural product, and with that dye, they colour the cotton yarn. That coloured yarns along with a design made by them are given to the weavers. After that by handloom, a well fashioned dress is created. He also said that, with business, his main moto is to promote rich Indian heritage of weaving, made with the handloom. To make this successful, they have contacted over 8 weaver of the surrounding 3 villages.
Colour is a natural resource, and we can get it from various trees. India is a tropical country, hence it is enriched with trees. Common Indian trees like Neem (Indian lilac), Joba (Hibiscus), Ganda (Marigold), Neel (Indigo), Khair (Senegalia Catechu), Haritaki (Terminalia Chebula), Kanthal (Jackfruit), Sindoor (Annotto), Eucalyptus etc are the key and common resources of natural dye. We can get the colour from sometimes the fruit, sometimes the flower, sometimes the bark of the tree, and sometimes the whole tree.
The production process of different natural dye is different. The common ingredient of production is sunlight and hot water. While making the dye from hibiscus tree or marigold tree, at first, the flowers are being taken from the tree and they are dried in the sunlight, for atleast 2 days. After that, they are vapoured in the hot water. Sanjib said that they uses common alam (fitkiri), after production of dye, so that the colour will be fixed to the yarn forever. They also uses the astringent juice of banana tree or ferras powder, in place of common alam.
I have asked him that does the climate matters in the production of the natural dye. In answer, he said that only in the case of Indigo colour production, the climate matters. Here the sunlight is very necessary . This dye could not be produced in case of cloudy weather. The production process of indigo dye is one of the most complex and also very time-consuming. Hence the price for the products, created with indigo dye is much higher than the other dyes.
Natural dye is a precious gift of the nature, hence it is one hundred percent safe to use, and totally nontoxic. They are safe to the skins, and also the colour will be vibrant, and very eye-soothing.
According to Boyon Textile, they are getting huge responses. They are expanding their categories of products with the time. They have a good number of international clients too. Sanjib and his colleague, Sk. Elias research everyday with the colour psychology, colour production technics, light and washing fastness of the colours, and the more economical ways of productions. As their moto is to grow and help to grow the marginal class of the society, hence they will only use the handlooms for their productions. As these decisions help the weaver families to grow, and to meet their basic economical needs with succession, I personally support their effort from the core.
Reference : Conversation with Mr. Sanjib Mondal, co-founder of "Boyon Textile"
Video edited by : Barsha Bhowmick
Video reference : "Boyon Textile"