Patola – Ajay Patola Art

Patola is a hand woven saree, made from mulberry silk on handloom in Gujarat, India. The name Patola is derived from the Sanskrit word “Pattakulla” which means finely dyed fabric.

The history of Patan patola is a very fortunate one, originating in the Ajanta caves. The paintings discovered in these caves have a similarity with the tie and dye patterns for which the patola are famous.

The patola is an ancient art more than 700 years, and history starts with a king named Kumar Pal, a follower of Jainism. He needed to be clean and dressed in fresh cloths before saying prayers at the temple. He insists wearing only Patola when visiting temples. Initially, his Patola supply came from Jalna, a city in neighboring Maharashtra state. Once Kumar Pal learned how the king in Jalna used Patola as bed sheets before selling or gifting them to other aristocrats in the region.

The King Kumar Pal, conquered parts of Maharashtra and shifted the base of the weavers living in Jalna, in south Maharashtra, to Patan, in the northern part of Gujarat because it is Gujarat’s capital at that time known as “Anahilwad Patan”. The King Kumar Pal popularized Patan patola by donning them for all festivities and significant occasions. He also promoted the use of these outfits among his noble gentry.

During the world war-Ⅱ, the raw material i.e. silk had to be imported from the countries like Brazil, China, Japan and Korea, the war had an adverse impact on the production and there was acute shortage of raw material. There was a significant decline in the production.

As a result of this weavers started doing other works to earn. The Patola weaving comes to the edge of extinction. Many migrated and settled in nearby area of Surendranagar, Gujarat and continued to weave the Single Ikat Patola saree which costs less than that of the double ikat saree. Today Patola sarees are famous all over the world.

The people of Bali, Java and Sumatra in Indonesia have also regarded patola as holy signs of prosperity. These patola are mentioned in historic Jain texts too. Placing a patola fabric somewhere in a room, especially under the pillows, is believed to summon good luck.

The traditional designs in a patola are based on traditional motifs called “Bhat”. These designs include “Narikunj”, “Paanbhat”, “Chowkadi”, “Chhabdi”, “Navratana”, “Paanchphul”, “Laheriya”, etc. Some geometrical designs also used like flowers, animals, birds, human figure, etc.

A unique feature that distinguishes hand dyed Patola saree from other textiles is that the saree even after heavy wear and tear will never fade in color or design. Woven so well that the front and back are indistinguishable from each other, and a colorful feast for the eyes.

Based on the tying and dying process there are two types of patola sarees: Double Ikat Patola saree and Single Ikat Patola saree.

Double Ikat Saree

The double ikat silk saree is manufactured by tying and dyeing both the warp & weft i.e. both the warp and weft had a design pattern which is than matched with each other during weaving process. It can take up to six months to make a saree due to the long process of dying each warp and weft separately before weaving them together so it is very expensive, once worn only by those belonging to royal families. These sarees are popular among those who can afford the high prices. It may cost anywhere between 1 lac to 7 lac Rupees.

Single Ikat Saree

Whereas in single ikat silk patola saree the tying and dyeing done only on a horizontal thread i.e.the weft instead of both warp and weft, thus called as single ikat saree. It is not much more expensive like Double Ikat saree.