Indian patola fit for SEA royalty

ACM has a finely woven, silk shoulder cloth that was painstakingly made in Gujarat, West India about 200 years ago probably for the Southeast Asian (SEA) market. Because of the fragile nature of the fabric, it is dimly lit, giving it a beautiful sheen. This cloth is called patolu (singular and plural is patola). Although this technique originated in India, it is now popularly known the world over by a Malay word - double ikat (meaning to 'tie or bind'). Patola was sort after in SEA where it was mostly worn by the elite and sometimes restricted to the royality, for example, in the courts of Southeast Sumatra, Indonesia. This was one of the textiles that I included in my tour on Indian trade textiles called ‘Dyes that bind’.

Patolu shoulder cloth, Gurajat. 19^th CE. ACM, Singapore

Even today, Patola or double ikat is highly sort after with only 3 countries producing these precious cloths - India, Indonesia and Japan. The skill and patience required to make patola is enormous and can be appreciated once you hear about the labourious process involved.

Step one is the dyeing of the threads and this is where the ikat technique gets its name. Both threads that run horizontally called weft and vertically called warp have to be tied into bundles by a thread to form a desired pattern. These bundles are then dipped into dye and after they dry, the thread tying them together is removed. This results in the dye adhering only to the portion that is not covered by this thread. This process has to be repeated as many times as the colors on the cloth, starting from light to dark colors.

Tying threads to form a pattern on bundles of threads

Step two is the actual weaving of the cloth. The complete pattern becomes apparent only when the weft and warp threads come together and results in a pixilated look around the edges of the pattern. It can take weeks or months to make a patolu and because of this, it’s very expensive and therefore only the elite could afford them.

Patola weaving

A shoulder cloth is a rectangular cloth that is used to cover the head or shoulders. A closer look at the pattern on the one from ACM shows maroon flowers on a background of red. This pattern is one of the most popular patterns in Indonesia and is called the flower basket or eight-rayed flower; one central flower and 8 smaller flowers radiating from it. One suggestion for its popularity is believed to be its close similarity to the Buddhist dharma wheel which symbolizes the Buddhist eight-fold path. 

Closeup of Flower basket pattern

Buddhist dharma wheel with 8 spokes flanked by deers

There were many imitations of this pattern that were made locally in SEA, mainly reproduced by women because here weaving is a woman's job. But it was the original patola from India that were paramount in forging alliances and getting concessions on trade, as the European traders soon realized in the 17th CE.

Patola were not just heirlooms but assumed an important role in local traditions, even magical powers were attributed to them. Balinese Hindus believe patola provide protection against evil spirits and are displayed prominently in religious ceremonies and are often used as altar cloth. It is also believed that if a reproduction of a magical cloth like Patola is made, the copy will retain some of the magical attributes of the original.

Unfortunately, the art of making patola is dying and very few people are now producing them. After centuries of being highly sort after, it seems the days of the patola are now numbered.