The rare and precious Tangaliya from Gujarat has an interesting background. Its a love story indeed. a girl and a boy fell in love and decided to marry. They were ostracized from both the tribes and started weaving cloth for survival, giving rise to the weave .
Savitha Suri
Tangaliya a dotted woven textile of Surendranagar district, Saurashtra is found only in Gujarat, is usually worn as a wrap around skirt by the women of the Bharwad shephered community.
Tangaliya weaving is a time consuming process, requiring immense patience and skill. The weaver weaves these sarees on pit loom in plain weave.
Each Dana is made by wrapping a piece of yarn around a bunch of warp yarns (5-6) with their thumb and index finger. Each Dana is made in this manner one at a time and made into a pattern. A Saree with minimum work takes about 15-20 days to make.
There are very few Tangaliya weavers belonging to the dangasiya tribe settled in villages in Surendranagar district of Gujarat.
It is said that the story of Tangaliya weave goes back 700yrs when a girl and a boy of two different tribes fell in love and decided to marry. They were ostracised from both the tribes and started weaving cloth for survival, giving rise to the Tangaliya weave .
It is known that the boy was from Bhadwad community and the girl from the Wankar (weaver) community.
Since then, the descendants of this couple have been weaving Tangaliya fabric for the tribal community in wool.
Tangalia designs are now used for making Sarees, Shawls, Dupattas, Dress materials and products of Home décor & accessories such as bedsheets, pillow covers etc.
Savitha Suri is a textile enthusiast and works in documenting textile history & traditions. She lives and works from Mumbai.
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