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The Calico Museum of
Textiles stands out for its uniqueness and antiquity of exhibits.
The treasures it houses are the finest of fabrics-woven, spun,
painted and printed in India over the past five centuries. A visit
to this unique Museum is an enriching experience.
Incredible!
That’s the adjective one of the foreigners used for the Calico
Museum of Textiles. “Simply amazing,” remarked a European
research scholar. The list of adjectives could go on and on, for
such is the collection of textiles preserved in the cool and serene
environs of the 90-year-old Sarabhai House at Ahmedabad.
Founded
in 1949, the Calico Museum of Textiles, stands out among specialized
museums, basically for the uniqueness and antiquity of the exhibits
on display. The care and imagination in the selection, lay-out and
display of material could exlipse any textile museum.
Originally,
the Museum was housed in the Calico Mills, which is in the heart of
the textile city of Ahmedabad. With the swelling collection of
exhibits and the spectre of pollution looming perennially over the
industrial area, the Museum was shifted lock, stock and barrel, to
the safer and verdant confines of the palatial Sarabhai House.
Tall
trees, gardens, fountains, courtyards, ceramic mosaic terraces and
marble floors lend a divine touch to the majestic Museum. The carved
wooden facades, thick pillars and beams and havily wood-worked roofs
give one the impression of an ancient haveli. The facades, doors
etc. were, in fact, brought from deserted or crumbling havelis of
Gujarat and Rajasthan and reconstructed in the perfected from.
The
museum’s treasures consist of the finest of fabrics, woven,
spun, painted and printed in India over the past five centuries.
These marvels of the hand and the heart, collected from all parts of
the country, charm the visitor through a variety of kalamkaris,
pichhwais, patolas, bandhnis, silks, floorspreads, tent canopies and
precious brocades.
The
Museum also has icons and busts made of bronze, sandstone and marble
especially in the Jaina Gallery. The Museum has two galleries, one
for the religious textiles and another for historical and other
textiles. These galleries have further been split into smaller
galleries focusing on specific nature of textiles.
To
give you an insight into the exhibits of the Museum, the authorities
have a lady guide, who rattles out precise information about each
exhibit. The guide, fluent in English, Gujarati and Hindi, takes
the visitors, in groups, on a conducted tour o the Museum. But if
you want more information on the exhibits, pick the catalogues which
are placed in each room and which contain minute details of the
displayed items.
The
tour begins from the Religious Textiles gallery, which displays
textiles of the Vallabha Sampradaya, a Krishna sect founded in late
15th century, most wodely known for its sanctuary at
Nathadwara in Rajasthan .
The
gallery opens with a small shrine simulating those found in temples
and homes of wealthy devotees. On entering, the visitor is
transported into a devotional aura with the jingling of traditional
aarti sounds. The nine steps to the Shrine signify
Navadha Bhakti. About 90 pichhwais, divided into three groups, are
on display in this gallery.
The
first group of pichhwais relates to festivals and the pieces
exhibited are those used during the festivals of Nandamahotsava,
Sarada Purnima, Govardhana, Dharana, Gopastami Ramanavami and so
on. The Nandamahotsave pichhwai, painted on cotton, dates back to
the 19th century. It depicts the great celebration held
by Lord Krishna’s roster father, Nanda, on the day after
Janmashtami.
The
second group of pichhwais consists of pieces that are not associated
with any particular festival, but have seasonal themes. They can be
hung at any time during the appropriate season when special festival
pichhwai is not in use. In this group fall three pichhwais-the
grisma (summer) pichhwai, which can be hung from March
to June; the varsa (monsoon) pichhwai, which can be
used from July to October; and the sarada (winter)
pichhwai, which is used from November to February.
Mordant
and resist-dyed, the varsa pichhwai depicts gopis waiting for Krishna
under a kadamba tree on the banks of Yamuna. The other theme in the
varsa pichhwai is Morakuti, named after a small village in Vraja, the
legendary home of Radha, where Krishna danced like a peacock to
capfootprints (paduka), the Tree of Enlightenment
(bodhi vraksha), the Wheel of Religion (dharma
chakra), and a stupa. Image worship was introduced around
3rd century B.C. Early images of Tirthankaras were
usually in sandstone and perhaps in wood, as well as in precious and
semi-precious stones and some metals. Hence, some of the icons
displayed at the Jaina Gallery are the bronze Parsvantha of 1235
A.D., Tirthankara Digambara of 12th century A.D. in
sandstone, and the seven-century-old Dvitirthi (two Tirthankaras) in
bronze.
The
earliest Jaina texts were passed on orally from generation to
generation. The early manuscripts were on palm leaf but the use of
paper, which started in the 12th century became popular
from the 14th century. Some ofht eimportant texts seen in
the Jaina Gallery are the Kalpasutra, which is in three parts. The
first part, entitled Jinacharita (the lives of the Jias) usually has
the largest number of illustrations in the manuscript. The second is
Samachari (rules for monks), which has fewer illustrations. The
third is Sthaviravali (the succession of pontiffs), which is less
abundantly illustrated.
Manuscripts
with illustrations of the scenes from the Samgrahani Sutra and patas,
depicting the Jain concept of the universe and evolution of the soul
the displayed in the Gallery.
Samgrahani
Sutra manuscripts are six-paper folios illustrating Jaina
cosmological concepts and stoeis. Pata is an embroidered wall
hanging which is used as an object of worship or for ceremonial
purposes.
The
Adhai Dvipi Pata, dating back to 1505 A.D., displayed at the Gallery
is perhaps the earliest piece of this type. Jnana Baji Pata, a
knowledge game of the ‘snakes and ladders’ variety, is a
teaching aid, representing symbolically the effect of karma in the
progress of the sould towards liberation.
Also
on display are the Tirtha Patas, which range in style from the highly
stylized figures painted in rich colours of the 15th
century to the more localized folk styles of the 18th and
19th centuries.
Also
on display are the Tirtha Patas, which range in style from the highly
stylized figures painted in rich colours of the 15th
century of the more localized folk styles of the 18th and
19th centuries.
In
stark contrast to the religious textiles are the historical and trade
texment of a 17th century Mughal carpet that must have
come from one of the workships which Akbar had established in India
to continue the tradition of the Persian craft. On either side of
the pathway are displayed a variety of fabrics, woven patterns,
painted, printed, embroidered and appliquéd decorations.
Around a corner, a Mughal warrior in helmet and chain mail, with a
sword and rhinoceroshide shield lends a genuine touch to the Mughal
splendour.
The
earliest pieces of Indian trade textiles displayed in the Museum date
back to the 15th century. Some of the pieces show the
influence of Hindu or Islamic designs. The commonest and most
typical of the Indian cottons found during excavations at Fostat in
Egypt are those that are resist-dyed with indigo. The orgins of the
fragments of Indian fabrics discovered a Fostat could be traced to
Tujarat. Another fragment found at Fostat was of block-printed and
mordant-cyed cotton, of the 17th century.
Patolu
(singular) and patola (plural) are the terms used normally in Gujarat
for silk weaving with designs in double ikat, that is, for fabrics
where the warp and the weftr threads are coloured in sections by
tie-dyeing before weaving, and are then woven to from intricate
multi-coloured designs. Most probably, patolas were exported from
India even before the Europeans arrived. The main buyer was
Indonesia, where patola fabrics became an important component of
local custom and ceremony. Among the patola treasures of the Museum
are the 19th century Sadi, a silk patolu tie-dyed in the
warp and the weft, a patolu shawl, bed-covers, scarves and trousers.
The
Calico Museum of Textiles is different. Unlike other museums which
follow the conventional method of displaying the pieces in glass
cases, the Calico Museum authorities have covered the exhibits with a
transparent plastic film. The film is scientifically tested to make
sure that it is inert chemically. This has been done to ensure that
the plastic films do not damage the dyes and the material which they
want to protect.
The
Museum authorities have made all possible efforts to create a ‘museum
climate’ in and around the treasure house of ancient textiles.
For instance, the museum pieces are protected from dust, air
pollution and fluctuations in temperatures by the trees around the
museum complex. Within the museum, the relative humidity of the
galleries does not change too much or too sunddenly. The wooden
structure, with relatively thick walls, shaded from the sun
contribute to conservation requirements. The restricted visiting
hours and a strict control over visitor traffic ensure a reasonably
safe ‘museum climate’.
Moreover,
the darkness between visiting hours and a subdued lighting
(approximately 50 lux level) protect the textiles from fading.
All
in all, the Calico Museum of Textiles is not just a trove of ancient
textiles, it is a different world altogether. A visit to the Calico
Museum would transport any visitor to the 15th and 16th
centuries, bringing alive the India of the centuries gone by, through
the carved wooden facades, motifis, frescoes, icons of sandstone and
bronze, brocaded fabrics, tie-dyed and block-printed textiles.
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