Vidarbha: Part 10

 A lot goes into making of the tussar sarees even before a weaver comes into the picture !

It is common knowledge that Tussar or Kosa silk is produced in several parts of India. There are tropical tussars that are generated in Kharsawa district of Jharkhand,Chhattisgarh , Bihar( Bhagalpur),Madhya Pradesh ,Gopalpur district in Odisha, Vidarbha region of Maharashtra and Malda district in West Bengal. And there is the temperate kind from Northeastern India ( Assam, Manipur and Meghalaya). Nearly 40% of India’s tussar comes from Jharkhand.

The forests of these regions are densely populated with trees like the Sal, Arjun and Saja on which the insects of species like Antheraea Mylitta, Antheraca Proylei, Antherea Pernyi and Antheraca Yamamai feed. Hence it is also known as wild silk. I happened to see these trees during my recent visit to Kanha national park. I did not get a chance however to get off the vehicle to look for the insects/ larvae. Tribal people in these areas are involved in sericulture. It provides them a source of livelihood. 

There is a central silk board(CSB)  in India as well as a central sericulture research and training institute (CSR-TI). These two bodies play a crucial role in making the raw material available for weavers.

There is incredible research that has gone into this particular field of manufacturing silk yarn. The CSB collaborated with Japan International Cooperation Agency( JICA) starting in 1991 to develop high quality raw silk. While the project focused on cultivated cocoons the results were extrapolated to wild varieties.The project involved CSR-TI ‘s work to produce elite bivoltine hybrid cocoons as well as other research bodies’ development of advanced reeling technologies. 

Superior quality cocoons combined with improved reeling technology translates into higher quality silk and higher productivity due to reduced wastage during the process. 

The entire journey of production of these superior quality cocoons backed by solid research and thereafter their processing is mind boggling if looked at closely. 

The precise temperatures and durations in the process of hot air drying of the cocoons to the subsequent steps of their storage, sorting, mixing, cooking, brushing, reeling and silk finishing requires standardization and precision at every step. Major factors in this entire process are the quality of the raw material (cocoons), reeling machinery and process parameters and human skill that is required in manual as well as mechanical steps in the production cycle.The result of this much invested process is that India has become the major producer of international superior quality raw silk. Both productivity and quality have significantly improved due to the project. 

I remember when I was growing up my mother absolutely detested tussar sarees. She claimed that they tear easily in the folds. Now looking back I suspect there must be a grain of truth to that observation. The filament length, strength and reelability of the raw silk indeed has improved extensively in the last 3 decades owing to research and development.

All my tussar sarees are relatively recent acquisitions , say within the past ten years. Even in this short duration I have seen a trend where tussar prices have caught up and sometimes exceed the price of mulberry silk. There is also a wide range of quality within tussar itself. The finer tussar sarees are soft yet strong material, very comfortable, do not crumple easily and have a beautiful sheen to them. Inferior quality tussar is much coarse and also frequently made attractive  with chemical dyes. 

As mentioned earlier, the Government of India through its various bodies that come under the Directorate of Sericulture controls the production processes starting from development of the cocoons to their processing till the making of the yarn.

Each state has adopted these advanced technologies into their local silk making. In Maharashtra the local Bhandara ( Vidarbha) reel tussar serves as the raw material. It is much sought after due to the high lustre, durability, strength, minimal wastages and high silk percentage. It is used in the warp and the weft of the karvati Kinar sarees.

The Maharashtra State Handloom Corporation ( MSHC) supplies the materials to the skilled weavers. These weavers earn wages from MSHC. Until the Karvati Kinar earned a GI tag in 2017 the weavers were in much worse situation. Although things have improved in comparison, yet there is much to be done to ensure that the skilled hands can sustain their future. The starting price of a tussar karvati kinar saree is about 7000 rupees, yet less than a fifth of it falls into the hands of the weaver. 

Saree is a Vidarbha tussar Karvati Kinar with maroon borders and checks on the body. Upper border is narrow compared with the lower.