Jharkhand and bihar

Jharkhand and bihar

1. COSTUME AND TEXTILES OF BIHAR AND JHARKHAND

2. BIHAR & JHARKHAND Bihar is a state in East India. It is the 13th largest state of India, with an area of 94,163 km2. The third largest state of India by population, it is also contiguous with Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Bengal to the east, with Jharkhand to the south. The Bihar plain is split by the river Ganges which flows from west to east. Jharkhand is a state in eastern India carved out of the southern part of Bihar on 15 November 2000. The state shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Odisha to the south, and West Bengal to the east. It has an area of 79,710 km2. The city of Ranchi is its capital while the industrial city of Jamshedpur is the most populous city of the state.

3. CULTURE The culture of Bihar, an eastern state of India, includes various unique forms of literature, cuisine, performing and visual arts, and festivals. Craft The artisans of Bihar have proven adept at creating articles using local materials. Baskets, cups, and saucers, made from bamboo strips or cane reed and painted in vivid colors, are commonly found in Bihari homes. A special container called a "pauti," woven out of sikki grass in the north, is a sentimental gift that accompanies a bride when she leaves her home after her wedding. The weavers of Bihar have been practicing their trade for centuries. Among their products in common use are cotton dhurries and curtains. They are produced by artisans in central Bihar, particularly in the Patna and Biharsharif areas. These colorful sheets often feature motifs of Buddhist artifacts, and pictures of birds, animals, and/or flowers. Bhagalpur is well known for its sericulture, manufacture of silk yarn, and silk-weaving. Silk produced here is called tussah or tussar silk.

4. Chhath Chhath, also called "Dala Chhath," is an ancient and major festival in Bihar. It is celebrated twice a year: once in the summers, called the Chaiti Chhath, and once around a week after Deepawali, called the Kartik Chhath. The latter is more popular because winters are the usual festive season in North India, and fasting without water for over 24 hours, as required for worshippers during Chhath, is easier to do in the Indian winters. FESTIVALS Shravani Mela Shravani Mela is an important month-long ritual observance, held along a 108-kilometre route linking the towns of Sultanganj and Deoghar. It is held every year in the Hindu month of Shravan. Pilgrims, known as Kanwarias, wear saffron-coloured clothes and collect water from a sacred GhaT at Sultanganj. They walk the 108 km stretch barefoot to the town of Deoghar to bathe a sacred Shiva-Linga. The observance draws thousands of people from all over India to the town of Deoghar.

5. Pitri Paksha Mela This is a 15-day fair held on the bank of River Falgu at Gaya during Pitru Paksha every year. Pilgrims from all parts of India visit Gaya, offering pinda to honor their ancestors. According to estimates from the Bihar Tourism Department, about 500,000 to 750,000 pilgrims arrive in Gaya each year during the Pitri Paksha Mela Other local festivals celebrated with fervor in Bihar include: Teej and Chitragupta Puja Bihula-Bishari Puja (celebrated in the Anga region of Bihar) The Sonepur cattle fair, a month-long event starting approximately half a month after Deepwali. Considered the largest cattle fair in Asia, it is held at the junction of the Ganges and Gandak Rivers, in the town of Sonepur. However, new laws governing the sale of animals and prohibiting the trafficking in exotic birds and beasts have adversely impacted the fair's success.

6. COSTUME & TEXTILE Bihar, the land that has inculcated traditional old values to the core, is noted for its hand woven textiles in the field of costume. Particularly, the rustic crowd of Bihar adheres to the traditional pattern of dresses and jewellery. Though most of the population of the state still remains in rural areas the costumes worn by them are still traditional. The clothes for the people of different religions are a bit divergent. The senior male citizens of Bihar, irrespective of Hindu or Muslim, favour tradition, when it comes to costumes. If a Hindu elderly person prefers Dhoti, a Muslim person might dress himself in Lungi or Pyjama. As an upper garment, men usually go for Kurta, and shirts.

7. MEN the men resort to attractive apparels for ceremonies, festivals and social gatherings. Kurtas, Churidar, Pyjamas and Sherwani are the ideal costumes, chosen for such special occasions, where accurate attitude owes a lot to an impressive dressing style. The Muslims, Sikhs, and Christian males are habituated in luxuriating in the fragrance of perfumes and "attar" on an every day basis. It is interesting to note that men of Bihar inhabit a penchant for ornaments. They decorate themselves with bala or bali (bangles) in Shahabads, Kanausi in Patna and Gaya. Again Gowalas (the milkmen) flaunt themselves in Kundals (earrings). However, malas or bead necklaces are on the rise these days, than, the other ornaments.

8. WOMEN The costume of the women folk of Bihar is chosen carefully in keeping with tradition. As per tradition, married women, smear the hair- parting zone with powder of Sindoor or vermillion. Tikli, a forehead-adorning little ornament is added to the hair-partitioning area. On the forehead, a Bihari married woman, be she an urban or a rural one, usually applies bindi. A lot of Bihari women, love applying Kajal i.e. eye-pencil, or antimony eye-make-up called Surma, to improve the appeal of their eyes. They also indulge in flattering their senses with soothing aromatic oils that leave them perfumed, and refreshed, in the mind and body. Tattoo-paintings are broadly prevalent among Bihari women. They give detailed attention to their hands, and beautify them with Mehendi-designs (a kind of tattooing, done with colors fetched from herbal product like, amla or shikakai).

9. Ornaments and Accessories Ornaments with elaborate designs and extravagant look, such as Chandrahar, Tilri, Panchlari, Satlari, and Sikri are the common accessories, accompanying a woman in Bihar. Indeed, the plethora of accessories, replicate upon the craze for jewellery and ornaments. Women's passions for jewellery are not restricted to necklaces only. They buy and wear myriad ornaments for arms, wrists and fingers. The most popular are bangles, rings, for hands and the anklets (worn around ankles). Beauty-consciousness is an inherent characteristic of feminine nature. And in this respect, even the tribal women of Bihar, are not lagging behind. Even the men participate in these regular grooming-sessions. Tribal people, inclusive of both men and women, wrap a thin strip of cloth round the waist. By rule, they maintain two pieces, of cloth, one for home-use and the other for going out. Their men are accustomed to wearing Dhotis, whereas women attire themselves in sarees. Drawing tattoo on the forehead, arms and legs is very much in vogue among tribal population. This is especially in harmony with their belief in magic. To sum up, simplicity is the mantra which provides an aura of elegance to the costume of this tribal elegance of Bihar. The costumes of Bihar, thus exhibit the richness, refinement and immeasurable worth of a heritage that remains ever-glorious, even in the face of changing times.

10. SUJANI EMBROIDERY OF BIHAR • Sujani is most popular form of conventional art and craft prevailing in Bihar. • It is a traditional quilt made in the rural areas of that state. • Created with the simplest of stitches, with readily available fabrics and at times with well-worn pieces of clothes. • The Sujani works are generally crafted by women in their free time at home. • Today, the presence of various Craft Councils, NGOs, designers, the craft has traveled beyond the region of its birth to urban markets in India and abroad.

11. • Traditionally, at the time of child birth, patches of different colored cloth from old saris and dhotis were sewn together with a simple running stitch to make a quilt called Sujani. • Three or four sections of saris or dhotis were laid on top of each other and quilted with the thread that was unpicked from the used garments. • The stitch filling of the motifs was done with a simple running stitch and the outline of the motif was usually done with a chain stitch in dark color. • The quilt design depicts the mother’s intentions and dreams for her new born. CONCEPT OF SUJANI

12. THEME OF THE CRAFT • Women stitch their experience, sorrows and their realities on the Sujani, transforming dull quilt into a testimony of their lives. • Each Sujani tells a tale – the trauma of being a woman in a man’s world, domestic violence, female infanticide, effects of alcoholism and gambling on a family and similar issues. • Social concerns like evils of dowry, education of girls, lessons in health care and AIDS are also depicted. Thus, each Sujani becomes testament of personal trials or of social change.

13. MOTIFS

14. SYMBOLISM • This Sujani technique of sewing together layered pieces of old cloth is deeply rooted in two ancient beliefs. • First, cloth bound together by Sujani served a ritual function – it invoked the presence of a deity, Chitiriya Ma, the Lady of the Tatters and stitching together these disparate pieces symbolically embodied the holistic Indian concept that all parts belong to the whole and must return to it. • The second purpose of stitching pieces of old cloth together was to wrap the newborn; • to allow it to be enveloped in a soft embrace, resembling that of its mother. • In fact, the word Sujani itself reflects this principle – ‘su’ means easy and facilitating, while ‘jani’ means birth. • Sun and cloud motifs signifying life-giving forces, fertility symbols, sacred animals, fantastic winged creatures for protection against destructive forces, and other motifs to attract blessings from the gods. • Different coloured threads were also symbolically used, such as red, signifying blood, a life force, and yellow for the sun.

15. PROCESS The tracing sheet having the design on it. Dipping the rough cloth in kerosene and neel solution. Then, wiping it on the tracing sheet which is placed on the fabric. Placing the tracing sheet on the fabric. Wiping with solution. The liquid flows through the perforated tracing sheet. Tracing done Artisan traced the design on the fabric Traced Pattern

16. ABOUT THE EMBROIDERY Chain stitch : This stitch appears like a chain on the face of the fabric. It is worked from top down. It is used for heavy outlines. Filling of motifs can be done as well. But here, in Sujani, filling is done by running stitch. Running stitch : The stitch is worked through by passing a needle in and out of the fabric. Running stitches may be of varying length, but typically more thread is visible on the top of the sewing than on the underside

17. BHAGALPURI SILK SAREES Bhagalpur is a small town situated on the banks of the river Ganga. The speciality of this town is the special silk fabric known as tusser silk or Bhagalpuri silk. The silk produced in this town is exported globally. Bhagalpur is also known as the silk city. Bhagalpuri silk sarees are loved by women of all age groups in India and other parts of the world. You may be wondering why Bhagalpuri silk is always under the spotlight. Approximately 200 years ago, Bhagalpur was filled with a lot of skilled craftsmen who specialised in weaving a special kind of silk which was later introduced as Bhagalpuri silk.

18. The dying technique of a Bhagalpuri silk saree is what sets them apart from the regular art silk sarees available in India. The popularity of Bhagalpuri is not just confined within our country. As per a popular online shopping portal, Bhagalpuri Silk is talked about in some countries of Europe, Japan, US, UK and France. Bhagalpur boasts of over 35000 weavers with 25000 looms and has a total business of 100 crores per annum. Around 1 lac people are involved in the process of separating silk from the cocoons. Renowned fashion designers from India are also incorporating the usage of Bhagalpuri silk in their latest collection.

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