The Revival of Heritage Textiles

The revival of Indian heritage textiles is about perseverance, observation, innovation, implications, and implementations with newer technologies and a focus on the construction of a sustainable bridge between the culture of the past and the future in the domain of heritage textile materials.

- By Shantanu Basak, D.B. Shakyawar, S. Debnath, Dr. M. Bhowmick, Debarshi Ghosh

Introduction and Background of Heritage Textiles

From the last thousands of years, India has been a highly productive country for the production of various types of textiles. In one word, in a country like India, textiles were one of the signatures of culture and civilisation. From archaeological evidence of the Indus Valley Civilisation dating back from c.3300 to 1300 BCE to the time of modernisation, the fabric manufacturing process has been passed through an enormous change and modification, i.e., in the fields of spinning, weaving, dyeing and printing.

Literature registered aristocracy and elegance of natural fibre-based textile materials as an indication of social status, and it also revealed the creative contribution of artisans in the making of traditional textile products in terms of garments or accessories. It also elucidates the corroboration of Indian heritage textiles with the economic facets of ancient India. For example, Muslin fabric has a long history of development, and it was the signature of aristocracy, culture and technological development of ancient India. The Indian "Arthashastra" revealed the demand for Muslin cloth in the Middle East region and in central Europe, and also for the requirement of colour-fast dyes for maintaining its softness and quality. The Buddhist bibliography suggests number of Indian garments like linen made "Khoman", cotton "Kappasikam", and silk "Kosseyam".