Rabari Embroidaries

                                      Embroidered  Rabari  Art Work including all the stitches 

 Aarekhani being done using mud and water mixture by Devalben

 Aarekhani being done using a pen 

                                                      Creating outline for aablo(mirror)

Chain stitch (saankdi)

 

  Embroidery being done to highlight the aablo (mirror)

Sitaben embroidering a border 

 Devalben shaping the aablo (mirror) using the edges of earthen pot 

 Different shapes of aabhlo (mirror)

 Motif done in Bakhiyo(running stitch) outline 

Vaano stitch being used as a filler 

It is mesmerizing to look at the rabari traditional embroidery pieces. It is a beautiful art  that caresses all the colors in its arms. The embroideries are inspired from natural surroundings  as Rabaris travel. Motifs are inspired from cactus, parrots, peacock, hens, cows etc also, household things like dolls, butter churner etc.

Embroideries are done mainly on torans(door hangings),orchas(blankets), kanjaris(women tops), kedias(men tops), ghaghra borders(women skirt borders)and bags. At first arenkhani(drawings) are done on these with the help of mud and water. Stitches such as bakhiyo(running stitch) and sankdi(chain stitch) are used as boundaries for each motif. Other stitches like kaanto, vaano, baavadiyo, hardi,tunyari and 40 other kinds are used as fillers in the motifs. Raging usage of abhlo (mirrors) further beautifies the embroiderer. Rabari embroideries are the only ones which has mirrors in every shapes and sizes. For all the motifs the typical deri wari sankdi is used as a highlighter which is believed to be inspired from cactus. There is riot of colors in every embroidered piece. But there are restriction in what  colors to be used where. For example, only bright colours like yellow, orange, red and white are used as highlighters also colours like blue and green are never used as high lighters and only done in mirrors. The amalgamation of everything gives birth to breathtaking embroidery pieces.

'Rabaris' The Black ones- The Free Spirited

                    Photography by Pallavi Sawhney 

The word 'Rabari' means 'the path breakers'. they originated when hundreds of rajputs migrated to desert in protection of the jaisalmer state against the mughals.Since, then they were left out of rajput community and were called Rabari. They are beleived to be brave, warriors, smart and extremly loyal.

Rabari's mainly earn their living by raising cattels, camels and goats. They are hardcore nomads and keep moving through out their life. Although, in the current scenario the rabaris have become semi nomadic due to awarness of getting education. Their women and children have started to settle down in parts of kutch and rajasthan in order to give the children good education.The rabari women are well built and beautiful. they are strong headed and shrewd and take good care of money matters and house alone. The men are also tall and well built but spend most of the lives moving from one place to another in order to find pastoral land for their cattles. By nature the rabaris are fee living and can not be commanded. They adore living life on their terms and are satisfied with whatever they have.

'Rabaris' The Black ones

 

          

Meeting the Rabari women for the first time was the most beautiful experience.  These beautiful women adorned in all black are strong and powerful. they know what they want and definately what they dont want. they are truly free spirited and carefree. Out of all the tribes in kutch only rabari women adorn themselves in black and other very dark tones of clothing and thus stand out. they truly are offbeat. therefore, we like to call them the black ones.....as deep as black....as strong as black.....

'Rabaris' The Black ones- The Big Start

All excited and keen, we entered shrujan with hopes of experiencing the beautiful world of kutch embroideries. soon we both were grouped together to work with rabari tribe. work given was dream come true. going to the village were these forever moving tribe take a long nap and living with them everyday till they are there.our task seemed extra special to us as the rabaris had not only stopped  wearing their handcrafted clothing but also stopped embroidering 20 years ago , therefore, our task was to revive the beautiful art by influencing them to work for shrujan. Our journey began 5 days after.......

- Mansi Kejriwal and Pallavi Sawhney 

The Embroidered Tales of Marwada Harijans -The People

                                                                                                                     Photography By Suveni Berry 

The Embroidered Tales of Marwada Harijans- The Bead Work and other Accessories

 Beadwork by the Harijans includes neck chokers and bracelets, sometimes with the initials of the artisan stitched into the pattern. Bead items required during marriage celebrations like 'Akhiyan', the face cover for brides, 'Indoni', and 'Mangal Sutra' are prepared by using plastic beads. 

Married woman wear an elaborate gold nose ring called "Velado". It is a sign of marriage and worn only on special occasions.

Woman from the village wearing 'Velado'

Children wear silver earrings in upper ear

Children wear three bead drop earrings in upper ear. Women wear beadwork chokers on the neck, silver Varlo, silver chain with 'Tajvi', 'Chuda' and 'Bangari' and 'Silver Kadi' from Bhuj. Unmarried girls wear a 'Haar' (necklace)

Haar (necklace) worn by the village girls

Oldest style of necklace worn during the weddings in the village

Coloured Silk threads used to make Phumka 

Phumka and beads used together to make 'Chutla' (A hair accessory)

The Embroidered Tales of Marwada Harijans - The Art of Embroidery

Lakhmaben doing Aarekhani( base drawing of an embroidery motif)

In the Banni region of Kutch, The Marwada Harijans use various types of embroidery techniques and patterns conveniently classified as- Kharekh, Kambhiri, Soof, Pakko , Mukko, Naeran,  Bawadiyo , Chopad ,Ashrafi , Tunn ,Phooladi , khudi Teba and Chugg.

The first step to any embroidery is the base drawing that goes on the fabric, and is known as Aarekhani.

Once the aarekhani is done, the next step is to embroider the boundary of the motif which is followed by the filling stitch.

Creating the boundary of the Motif over the Aarekhani.

Filling in the outline 

For the embroidery, exquisite silk threads are used only in colours that are used traditionally which includes Neelu/ Savo( green) , Gulabi/ Piyado (pink), peedau/ Haidro (orange), safed (white) , Mawo ( Blue) , kaado (black) , Ratto ( Red), Mor peechi ( Turquoise).

Once the filling has been done, the next step is to highlight the embroidery using the white silk thread.

Motif on the right after being highlighted using white thread.

The Embroidered Tales of Marwada Harijans- An Introduction

One among the three groups of tribes being researched upon, is The Marwada Harijans.

The name 'Hairjans' , meaning 'God's people' was given by Mahatma Gandhi to the Meghawals. Originally from Rajasthan, The Marwada Harijans now live all over Kutch,Gujarat.The women from the villages do exquisite embroideries using aabla(mirror) and applique work.Leather embroideries is also one of their specialties.

One such little village, housing Marwada Harijans, is 'RudraMata', situated around 15 kms from Bhuj with a population of nearly 600 people.

The research continues in an effort to document the different stitches, motifs and techniques used by the village women and in the process getting to know their lifestyle, the place and most importantly, the art of embroidery.

We would like to thank Lakhmaben and her huband Dama Bhai for being a wonderful host to us during the period of research and helping us at every step of the documentation process and bearing with us when we had problems understanding the local language.

-Mehandee Dureja and Suveni Berry