All this month I am writing about the gorgeousness of Indian textiles, a quick but captivating dive into the saree specifically, a garment worn by Indians for five millennia. Come with me into the elegant, complex and utterly fascinating world of fibre and yarn, of skills and techniques of dyeing and printing and embroidery, traditions unchanged for centuries. Of sumptuous finished fabrics that not only make a fashion statement, but also constitute our cultural heritage and political identity.
G is for Ganga Jamuna
Ganga Jamuna is not a type of saree per se, it is a classic border design which features two disparate, often high contrast colours for the top and bottom borders. 'Ganga Jamuna' refers to the two great rivers of course, the Ganges and its largest tributary the Yamuna - the lifelines of India. These two rivers rise in the North and flow through a total of 11 Indian states/provinces then drain into the Bay of Bengal in the East through Bangladesh (a part of India till 1947).
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| Classic Ganga Jamuna borders in a red n green combo. |
Incidentally 'Ganga Jamuna' in the Indian context is a metaphor for the syncretism that exists in the blend of two separate Hindu-Muslim subcultures, as in 'Ganga Jamuni tehzeeb' (culture). Separate, contrasting, equidistant throughout but complementary to each other and woven together.
It is also interesting to note that the body of the saree is referred to as 'jomi' and the borders as 'paaR' in Bengali, which are the exact same words for land/field/earth and riverbank respectively. In other words, the saree here becomes a symbol of the river and its banks, of India itself. Poetic but also eminently true, no?
There's also a colour called 'Ganga-jal' meaning 'Ganga waters', usually used on the body or 'jomi' of the saree - a shade of sandy beige. Everywhere, geography shapes our roti-kapda-makaan (bread-garment-building) and also language. We end up wearing our culture, aware of it or not.
Okay, back to borders. Initially the saree must have been a simple piece of plain fabric without any differentiated borders. However, evidence from the Mauryan period (321-185 BCE) indicated that sarees had developed ornate borders by then, which was further bolstered by all round advances in technological and cultural spheres in the Gupta Empire (320-550 CE), the classical Golden Age of Ancient India. In short, saree borders go back at least two millennia.
And no wonder, because it makes eminent sense to have borders on a saree. The bottom edge is in constant contact with the feet/shoes/ground, while the top part is tucked or knotted around the waist, therefore both require extra strength fabric. Originally, the borders would have been purely functional, i.e. added for reasons of durability, later becaming a design element. By the 10th century, distinct regional textile traditions in both weaving and draping had been established. Read more here and here.
During medieval times, especially in the Mughal era, new techniques of embroidery and gold/silver thread work was introduced. The Mughals were great patrons of art and culture and promoted many new design innovations in textiles. Gold and silver were woven into borders, newer floral motifs were introduced through cultural exchange between Persia and India. Handloom weaves became the epitome of luxury.
It is not quite clear where or when the Ganga Jumana border originated. The term 'Ganga Jamuni' itself originated in Awadh in the 18th/19th century - to refer to the syncretic culture that developed under the Awadhi/Mughal rulers in the area bounded by the two sacred rivers - known as Doab, where major textile hubs like Varanasi (Benarasi weaving) and Lucknow (Chikankari shadow work embroidery) are located.
It seems logical that the Ganga Jamuna border design could have originated somewhere within this setting also. Or perhaps the design element existed many centuries prior, but the name was adopted after the Awadhi term was coined?
What is intriguing is that the Ganga Jamuna border is now popularly woven in traditional regional handloom centres where neither the Ganga nor the Jamuna flow, such as Vidarbha in the West. And in places never part of the Mughal empire, where other major rivers also held to be sacred, like Kaveri and Thamirabarani, exist. Such as Kanchipuram, famous for its silk sarees since the 7th century. How has this come about?
All one can say that the Ganga Jamuna border is a timeless classic.
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Did you know that? - In Bengal, because the handloom cotton borders were woven to be so much more durable than the body they outlasted the saree and were kept and reused to edge seating mats called madur and asana. Also used as general purpose rope and ribbon. The threads pulled from the deconstructed border were used by ladies to embroider various household articles like pillow covers.
Thank you for reading. And happy A-Zing to you if you are participating in the challenge.
