Dhadki~Kutch

Introduction:

Usage:

‘Dhadkis’ are primarily used as quilts to help endure the harsh desert cold. They also have ceremonial importance and are given as dowry. They are sometimes used to cover a stack of quilts, in which case they are called ‘Ochad’. In the mornings, the quilts are spread out under the shade on which the women sit, chat and work on their embroideries. These are also used as spreads when the communities migrate with the cattle and they need to rest while their herds graze. These elaborate patchwork quilts are the pride of the household and serve as a symbol of family’s social standing.
Often in the drought prone region of Kutch freckled with small villages that mostly rely on cattle breeding and farming for livelihood, income generation remains unsteady as Kutch suffers the consequences of climate change, and many of the women have begun to rely on Dhadki making and Embroidery for income. 

Significance:

In Kutch, it gets quite chilly in the nights, even during summers. Therefore, the quilt is a year long essential. It is a much valued possession, displayed prominently beyond the entrance to their ‘Bhungas’. These embroidered quilts are piled high on the wooden cots and display the skill of the women. Embroidery is prized for its beauty and commercial value, but quilts symbolize a family’s social position and wealth.
Old clothing is often used to make these quilts, to enable them to be softer. In this manner, old cloth is put to use and there is little wastage. However, for the quilts made for dowry, old cloth is not recycled. 

A simple system of measurement is used to calculate the dimensions of the Dhadki. One ‘Nari’ is the length of the forearm, from the elbow to the tip of the fingers. As an average estimate, a Dhadki is 5 Naris long and 3.5 Naris wide.

Myths & Legends:

History:

The craft of Dhadki making is being practiced since the onset of civilization, meeting the need for soft sleeping surfaces and shelter from cold. It flourished in different parts of world via means of nomadic and semi nomadic clans. The western sub-continent has always been an intermediate camp for traders pouring in from Middle East and Northern frontiers. The dry and colorless terrain of Kutch too has helped in evolution of design ethos of native communities.

Design:

In the design of the body, there is generally a top layer and one or more bottom layers with cotton padding in between. The back of the quilt is made of a single piece of cloth, or a couple of pieces joined together to gain the required dimensions. The preferred color is dark green, black or any other dark shade.
The face of the quilt is intricately decorated by the women. The most popular method is appliqué, but it is difficult and time consuming to embroider large areas. The women of ‘Muthwa‘ clan combine techniques to achieve a stunning effect.
In its layout, a quilt has two main parts – ‘the border’ and the ‘central field’. The border is generally a series of bands, either plain, printed or with works such as appliqué or ‘Katab’. In the quilts for daily use, the central field is made of printed fabric only. In the Dhadkis for dowry, it is beautifully ornamented with appliqué and/or ‘Katab’ work in various geometric or floral patterns. Another technique is where the entire length of fabric is created by sewing together coloured pieces of cloth of different shapes.

The different communities of Kutch have their characteristic designs that are used to make quilts. A few prominent ones are as follows:

Muthwa Dhadkis: The Dhadkis of the ‘Muthwas’ are the only ones which include a large portion of embroidery. They are characterized by a thick border of ‘Pattis’ or bands of at least seven colours – orange, blue, green, red, pink, white and black as these colors are sacred to the Muslims. These are adorned with a very fine but simple running stitch. Due to the wide border, the central field is smaller than the quilts of other communities. Tiny mirrors and motifs are scattered evenly to give it a fuller look.
Completely embroidered ‘Dhadkis’ are not used much due to the immense amount of time and skill required. Most of the old ones have been sold to antique dealers and private collectors for money during adverse situations. In the absence of embroidery, the Muthwas use printed fabric to bring about a similar effect. There is also a blend of appliqué work done with small squares or triangular pieces of cloth. This quilt is called the ‘Chitkiwali Dhadki’.
The border is followed by rows of square, triangular and diamond ‘Chitkis’. After 2-3 rows of printed ‘Pattis’, there is a row of patchwork. This is followed by 4-5 lines of very neat and small ‘Kungris’. It is sometimes ornamented with a row of little compact three dimensional dots called ‘Bido’ on the top.

Jat Dhadkis: The Jats use quilting to make dhadkis, thick mattresses, kothries and pillows. There are generally four bands of solid color at the borders. Graphical square areas are created by appliquéing five different coloured square ‘Chitkis’, in blocks placed at regular, wide intervals. This may be followed by a band or two of square chitkis or a band of rectangles sewn together or even a row of kungris.
The central field is large owing to a narrow border. It is made of a single piece of cloth which is intricately printed or by piecing together a few large patches. The field is divided into squares. The size of the squares varies. A narrow strip of square chitkis divides the central area into the segments. A simple running stitch forming very close concentric rectangles holds all the layers of fabric and cotton together. The density of these stitches depends on the embroiderer and the importance of the occasion for which it is stitched.

Darbar Dhadkis: The edges were done in five straight lines followed by a kungri. The remaining area was divided into several diamond shapes. These were again filled with a variety of patterns like spirals, waves, concentric circles and squares. Little star motifs called the chamkudi were also scattered among the diamond shapes. This type is called the manjiwali dhadki. In the newer designs, the aspect of reversibility was highlighted by the use of a different coloured fabric on the other side.
The tree of life depiction, referred to as the jhaad ka paan, is a popular one. It is surrounded with peacocks, parrots, elephants (with or without the king riding on it), camels, cows etc. Very little of black is used in the dhadki since it is believed to be a sacred color.
In the ‘Bandhawad’ technique, the triangles are appliqué with the sides folded outwards with tacking done on the edges. These are generally appliqué with sides folded inwards.

Sodha Dhadkis: The tree of life motif is a prominent symbol in the dhadkis of this community too. It also has appliqué flowers and geometric motifs along with that of animals. These are encased in a wide border of three 4 inch wide border bands in green, golden yellow and magenta. A kungri row in contrasting color edges each band.

Meghwal Dhadkis: As a rule, when a single person makes a whole Dhadki, she works in the format of a series of rectangles. Whereas, when it is a group activity, the layout of the Dhadki may be different. Katab work is very popular among the Meghwals. Their color palette is the same as that of the other ethnic groups. A distinctive feature is their preference for solid color cloth forming the main body. Whenever printed cloth is used, it is done so as small Chitkis.

There are several types of borders for the Dhadkis.
– A series of 3-5 Pattis of solid colors usually with white as the outermost color. This is followed by red, green, yellow, black or blue.
– A series of 3-4 colored Pattis, a row of square or diamond shaped Chitkis sandwiched between two or more colored strips.
– An edge of a single colored Patti followed by a Katab border.

The ground can be a single piece of cloth with applique and Katab work done on it. The Katab work is overall and intricate for work done for dowries. The central field may be constructed of small squares or triangular pieces of cloth. The visual pattern is formed only due to the placement of colours in case of the square Chitkis. Several creative variations are seen in quilts with triangular Chitkis. The triangles can be arranged as regularly progressing diagonals. The flow can be broken by reversing every alternate triangle and thus creating bigger triangles. The distinctive 8-pointed star called kathipor can be made by playing with colours and orientation of the pieces.
The front, back and intermediate layers are held by the ‘Sadho Seba’ stitch. A decorative variation called the ‘Khudi Seba’ is also used often.

Challenges:

The number of quilts given in dowry has greatly increased over the years and this has caused deterioration in the quality of work. Cotton has given way to poly-fill (fluffy polyester fibers) which has greatly affected the feel, weight and texture, which is characteristic of the Dhadkis. Printed designs are also fast substituting the finely appliquéd and embroidered patterns.

Introduction Process:

A craft solely pursued by the women folk of the Kutch region of Gujarat, these quilted beauties are often a status symbol for the household. The women employ every possible durable material like printed fabric patches, embroideries, laces along with their vivid imagination, to make these quilts or ‘Dhadkis’, the most exquisite.

Raw Materials:

Cotton fabric, old clothes and fabrics, raw cotton and cotton yarn.

Tools & Tech:

The women stitch together different layer with the help of a needle and cotton yarn. Depending on the thickness of the Dhadki, women use different kinds of needles. 

Rituals:

As per the customs of Node community of Kutch and Jamnagar, the body of the departed is either wrapped in Ajrakh or Jodhdi or Dhadki indicating a symbol of death in case of male, married women and children

process:

A woman of the household begins making a Dhadki with whatever fabric she can find in her house. She collects old clothes, raw cotton and fabric pieces. The tasks commences with stitching of fabric pieces to form upper and lower layer of the Dhadki. Then the upper and lower layers are laid together with cotton filler and discarded clothes placed as intermediate layers. Thereon, the artisan does a temporary basting to hold the arrangement in place. Then the artisan begins stitching the outer edge and moves on to doing the final stitching for the whole construction. Close running stitches are done in the form of concentric rectangles to give a stronger binding.

The border is embellished with strips of colored cloth and row of Chitki or Kungri are attached to the border. To make the Dhadki more vibrant, patches of different colored clothes are placed around the central region and stitches to form a unique composition, a form of appliqué or Katab work. There is usually no fixed composition in mind of the women; the ornamentation is done as they proceed with the making of Dhadki. Women also use the threads of different colors to enhance the beauty of Dhadki. These are often seen as the pride of the household. Darbar Dhadkis, which were made 35 years ago were reversible and the entire base cloth had fine patterns made solely in running stitches. Red, blue, green and yellow cotton threads were used. After this, close running stitches were done in the form of concentric rectangles to give a stronger binding.

Waste:

Cluster Name: Hodka-Kutch

Introduction:

History:

The village was set up by 'Halepotra' clan from Sindh around 300 years ago. They were cattle herders, who in search of pastures ended up in Hodka. There on, communities of artisans, craftsmen from north have settled in Hodka.

Geography:

The nearest Airport is Bhuj (65 km). Kandla (150 km) also has daily flights from Mumbai. There are daily trains from and to Mumbai and Delhi via Ahmedabad as well from Bhuj. Gandhidham, (145 kms) has weekly trains connecting it to several parts of the country including Pune, Bangalore, Trivandrum, and more. Ahmedabad is well connected by air and train with the rest of the country. Bhuj is about 350 kms from there. There are comfortable overnight sleeper buses from Ahmedabad to Bhuj and back daily.

Environment:

Hodka village is on the northern boundary of Banni, along the Rann, is a land-locked patch of mangrove forest, which presents a unique phenomenon of ecological adaptability. This mangrove patch is nearly 50 km from the present coast line, probably formed several hundred years ago before the sea coast receded due to geological transformations. It still survives without any direct contact with sea water. Locally known as 'Shravan Khavadia' (after the famous mythological character Shravan), the local community regards this area as sacred. In fact this mangrove patch is thriving thanks to the combination of the micro-environmental conditions provided by the saline Rann and the protection that it is given due to its mythological significance. There are more such land-locked mangrove patches in the same stretch westwards, closer to Lakhpat.

Infrastructure:

Hodka village holds 687 households; the village has adequate supply of water and electricity. It has become major tourist attraction because of various indigenous crafts forms and scenic beauty of Banni grasslands. Hodka village tourism committee has established a village resort in Hodka named 'Sham-e-Sarhad' meaning sunset at border.

Architecture:

Mud, or, to be more colloquial, Maati, is the essential material to which every Kachchhi in Banni relates to. Centuries of experience have given the people of Banni mastery over maati and their Bhunga (circular hut) demonstrates a deep understanding of the ecological, social and aesthetic features of architecture.
The thick maati (Mud) walls, which keep the interior cool during the hot Kachchhi summers and warm in the cold desert winters, terminate in conical roofs made of thatch. The roof protects the walls which are adorned beautifully with colorful geometric and floral patterns also created from hand shaped maati.
Women use earth colors to paint the different motifs and create mud-mirror work designs (LippanKaam ) to decorate the exterior and interior walls of the Bhunga.
The traditional Bhunga is an engineering wonder. This sturdy structure has been known to withstand severe winds and seismic activity because of its circular design and tough mud plaster.

Culture:

People:

The Halepotras - belonging to the bigger group called Maldharis, or cattle breeders - believe their ancestors originated from Saudi Arabia and reached Kachchh via Iran, Baghdad and Sindh in search of pastures for their cattle.
The Meghwals- also known as Marwada Meghwals- believe their ancestors came from Marwar, Rajasthan. They are traditionally leather craftsmen and settled in Banni which was rich in livestock. Today there are 8 nokhs (sub castes) of the Meghwal community residing in Hodka.

Famous For:

Hodka village is famous for the beauty of its terrain. There is a village resort Sham-e-sarhad managed by village community. Hodka crafts are also quite famous for their leather products, embroidery and ceramic works.

Gallery

Craftsmen

List of craftsmen.

Documentation by:

Team Gaatha

Process Reference:

• http://books.google.co.in/books?id=IWrTs5yt1DkC&pg=PA1036&lpg=PA1036&dq=Dhadki+gujarat&source=bl&ots=-L7gBKicSm&sig=ZLz4OLqzUnLOhXuxaYHVWe8lJcw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=miV3U4KsLo28uASG0oKIBg&redir_esc=y#v=snippet&q=dhadki&f=false
• http://www.consiliencejournal.org/index.php/consilience/article/viewFile/132/72

Cluster Reference: