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Design Resource
Kandanghi Saree - Chettinad
Traditional Wear Worn by the Women in India
by
Prof. Bibhudutta Baral, Divyadarshan C. S., Lija M. G. and Smitha S.
Introduction
Saree is a traditional wear worn by the women in India from centuries. Their attire was simple but was worn with many variations in style of drape, depending on the region and occasion. The richness of colors, the exquisite weaving skills of diverse communities and the styles of draping has made the nine-yard piece of cloth the epitome of womanhood in India. The Cotton saree weavers migrated from Salem region to Chettinad area in Tamilnadu long years ago. Chettiar community hails from the Chola Kingdom (Kaveripoompattinam), who was considered as Nagarathas (Advisor). The saree pattern was made as per the choice of Chettiar community, later called as Kandanghi (Cotton) saree. Earlier days the weight of the Kandanghi saree was heavy and made of pure cotton. The width of the saree is only 91cm as compared to the regular saree width of approx. 120cm. Where the saree is draped over the wearer it reaches only till the calves there by the anklets worn by women could be seen. Nowadays the saree is woven to the standard width of 120 cms. Raw cotton is processed to yarn through various machines and methods in Coimbatore. Usually cotton threads of 60’s Ne (count of yarn) and 80’s Ne are used for producing these sarees.
Colors include madder, golden yellow, deep green and black. Aesthetics includes Narrow borders with an intermixture of ground colour are done by single shuttle, while broader borders in contrasting colour are woven in the three shuttle technique. The variation in pattern is achieved by tie and dyeing of the warp so that the center of each square in the checked pattern has a small dash. Frame loom and Pit loom are two types of looms used in for the production of these sarees.
