For centuries handlooms have been weaving dreams and spinning stories.
AN OVERVIEW OF THE HISTORY, ART & CRAFT OF FABRIC MAKING AT BHAGALPUR
Indigenous. Process. Handicraft
The traditions of spinning and weaving to make cloth, are of great interest and importance, on account of the vast amount of invention and ingenuity, both of a mechanical and an artistic kind, that has been undertaken in this craft, over the ages.
Weaving is the art of intersecting threads to make cloth. The methods for making yarn from raw materials and their preparation for weaving are an intrinsic part of the process.
Fiber. Twisted. Fabric.
A textile yarn is a strand of natural or synthetic fibre. A fiber is a small short piece of hair and a filament is a an individual fibre of extreme length. In textile yarn, fibers or filaments are wound together, in order to make threads.
The properties of the yarn employed greatly influence the appearance, texture, and performance of the completed fabrics. Bhagalpur fabrics are made from 2 categories of yarn - spun and filament.
Antiquity. Art. Value.
Weaving has a rich historical legacy in India. The people of the Indus Valley Civilisation practiced the art and everyone who settled in the region, from the Vedic Aryans, to the Buddhists and the Mughals were patrons of the craft.
There are many accounts, of the unrivalled skill of weavers from the Indian subcontinent and of the supply of these hugely cherished fabrics across the globe.
In 1810, the Scottish Physician Francis Buchanan, in his book on Bhagalpur, estimated that there were 3275 looms at work here.
Ancient. City. Ganga.
Bhagalpur which is famous for its historical heritage, is extremely well located and commands an extensive river front on the banks of the Ganga. The area first finds mentions as the kingdom of Anga in Vedic literature. Early Buddhist literature, alludes to its capital Champa as an important city of the time.
During the 7th century Chinese travellers Hieun-tsang and Fa-Hien visited monasteries at Champa. Today, Champanagar is a part of the present day district. The excavated remains of the celebrated Vikramshila University, which flourished during the 9th to 13th century, are nearby.