Ayyampet - Mashru [Kutni] - First Project

The arabic word mashru means ‘permitted by, or subject to, Islamic law’, which in the context of the textile refers to hadith (a religious tradition laid down by the prophet) prohibiting men from wearing pure silk.

However, the use of Mashru was not limited to muslims; it was widely used in India by people of all religious beliefs for both clothing and furnishings, often patterned with stripes in warp ikkat.

Ayyampet in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nady used to weave kutni (The local name) handlooms for the royal family. The earliest saree had tie-dye patterns all over the body.

If one sees the reverse side of the saree/fabric, they can see the cotton surface woven below and silk texture on top [pictured below] It take 12 days to weave a saree that has a plain body with a five inch border. Recent days, they weave sarees with Mashru border.

To understand the whole process of weaving kutni, one must know what harness is. The shaft or harness is the frame of the loom that holds the warp threads. These shafts can be moved up or down by “treadles” to allow the weft to cross through and create the desired pattern. The more the number of harnesses, the more patterns you can create. The number of harnesses can range anywhere between two and sixteen.

Weaving of Mashru/Kutni/Satin Borders

A normal loom has 2-3 harness whereas a Kutni loom has six harness only for the border. The harness should be pulled in a pattern to get the desired outcome. One change in the pattern will create a space between silk and Mashru fabric and the weaver has to repeat the process without making the mistake again

Here’s a picture of the saree woven recently after a collaboration with the cluster. The warp of the saree has mulberry silk yarns and the weft has bamboo yarns. The border is satin with stripes and body has malli moggu (resembling to jasmine buds) motifs woven all over it.