Militant Majha’s tender imprint on textiles
Divya A.

THE Majha region o Punjab may have hogged headlines in the past for being the hotbed of militancy but these days it’s making waves in the world of fashion for its rich textile designs. Once a breeding ground of militancy, it now nurtures and promotes the tender artistic tradition of the area.

Majha’s designs, which are reflective of robust and vibrant culture of the region, have carved a niche for themselves in the riot of trends that hit the glittery fashion world. The fabled land of five rivers, Punjab, as a whole is a veritable treasure trove of traditional designs and costumes.

Located in the vicinity of Lahore (Pakistan), Majha’s designs carry the distinct imprint of influences from Pakistani Punjab.

The Majha region has, in fact, remained closely intertwined with the cultural life of Lahore and its peripheral pockets. If Amritsar was a trade centre in the pre-Partition times, it was Lahore which defined the cultural and fashion trends in the days of yore and its influence on this regions last to this day.

Even today the designs and styles of the salwar-kameez are inspired a great deal by the fashion trends in Lahore, especially those visible in Pakistani TV serials.

Certain variants of the traditional designs have created ripples in the contemporary fashion scenario of Amritsar.

Machine work is being practised here since the past few decades. Migrant labourers from states like Bihar and UP, who have settled in Punjab, have had a profound effect on the development of traditional motifs and designs. Traditional embroidery patterns have been kept alive by most of the boutiques in the city. Even today, most of the boutique owners have employed male embroiders to cater to their customers. Daisy Arora, who owns a boutique on Lawrence Road in Amritsar, says, "My customers mostly want typical Punjabi motifs on their clothes. Contrary to the fashion trends outside the state, it is the Amritsari touch that fascinates my customers ."

Several independent machine embroidery shops too are keeping the tradition alive. Ram Lal, owner of a machine embroidery shop in Pawan Nagar says, "Fabrics on which machine embroidery is being done vary from cottons and voiles to tissues and nets, depending upon market trends, quality and cost factors, but the designs are tellingly local".

Kashmiri migrants, who took refuge in Punjab when their state was hit by a famine years ago, too are making a contribution to the local crafts. They settled down in Amritsar, Lahore and Nurpur. Amritsar is best known for kashida work, a term for typical Kashmiri embroidery. The production of the Kashmiri shawl has thus become an organised trade in Amritsar. Today, the area inside the walled city of Amritsar, called Dhab Khatikan, is famous for kashida work. Hordes of these skilled Kashmiri craftsmen have set up shop in this area, and cater to local as well as outside customers. Abdul Qadir, who runs an embroidery shop in the area, says, "Kashida work is done not just on shawls but also on blouses, sarees, dupattas, stoles, ponchoons, suits, dress materials—almost all the articles of domestic and personal use. In the national and international markets, Amritsar has earned fame for its satzni, vata chikan, do ranga and do rookha work.

Besides, Kashmiri work, the region is traditionally well-known for ari work (chain stitch done using a special needle called ari). Ari work is mostly done on shawls. It is an unrefined form of kashida, thus giving rise to kashida lookalikes at cheaper rates. Mostly women and young girls are engaged in this work. They earn as little as Rs 30 to Rs 70 per day. Besides ari work, puff work is also in demand, especially when designers aspire for something different.

Screen-printing is basically an extension of stenciling. The Amritsar and Gurdaspur regions have traditionally been famous for textile processing units where screen-printing is done. "The latest technique that has come up is rotary printing", says Ramesh Dass Gupta, owner of one screen-printing unit at Majitha Road in Amritsar. He further explains, "Designers in India and abroad are using it widely. The process has almost replaced all conventional hand-printing units. Earlier , only hand screen-printing was used, but now it is limited to samples and exclusives only. Rotary gives sharp and bright colour definitions and has also made possible rapid changeovers in designs." The boutique owners in the city are of the view that screen-printing is capable of producing bulk designs, but when it comes to personalised designs, it’s block-printing like that of Ritu’s, which scores.

Traditionally, Amritsar and its suburbs are famous for woollen shawls. But the latest innovation in the shawl market is the stole—a shawl of less width and various designs and colours. The idea took birth around 3 years back in Amritsar, when shawls of less width started being manufactured by the power-loom units located in the semi-urban areas like Batala road and Taran taran road. "The best thing about stoles is that they are equally suited to ethnic wear as well as western wear", says Rima Sahni, a boutique owner. She further adds, "Young girls coming to my boutique prefer locally styled stoles as an accompaniment with their dresses instead of conventional dupattas." Her husband, Praveen Sahni, who owns a power loom unit on Batala road, says, "The demand for Amritsar-made stoles is picking up rapidly with each passing day, not only in India but also in the international market. While women in Europe use stoles as accessories with western wear, the Muslim women in Gulf countries are widely using stoles for covering their heads.

Turning the wheel Traditional designs are still ‘in’ but gradually there has been a shift in styles, shades and designs. Demand for traditional designs of this region has been consistently increasing. But only those motifs and embroidery styles that have adapted themselves to the changing trends have stayed in the fashion business.

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