Chanderi: A Fabric Resurrects a City

“If you do not know where you come from, then you don’t know where you are, and if you don’t know where you are, then you don’t know where you’re going. And if you don’t know where you’re going, you’re probably going wrong.” – Terry Pratchett, I Shall Wear Midnight

Heritage – both built and unbuilt – is not only a mechanism of understanding the historiography of places and documentation systems as policy but also a medium to connect our existing and future generations with our earlier generations and their socio-cultural practices. It is perhaps the only tool that is able to strongly establish such a contact and thus has a unique place in the minds and mental imagery of human beings.

The tangible built heritage in terms of architectural monuments, various heritage and cultural districts and in some cases complete city precincts, illustrates aspects and traits of historical evolution of architecture and urbanism to the people and through them communicates the socio-cultural, political and economic values as traditional knowledge to the present communities. This transmission of knowledge from the past to the present to the future is critical for the successful preservation of heritage in our cities.

The social and cultural heritage of communities resides in the permanence of the urban fabric of cities and also in the intangible aspects of cuisine, traditional crafts, attire, language, festivals and community daily living practices. These intangible aspects of heritage, though not visible as its built heritage, are intrinsic components of the cultural ethos of a place and hence require preservation before they are eroded by the pressures of globalisation and placelessness in our cities. The cultural landscape of a particular area has the unique local identifiable qualities which demand attention. Over time, the city evolves through its place, people and landscape and generates its own place identity.

Chanderi is one such historical urban landscape, which exhibits intrinsic qualities of cultural heritage both through its built character and traditional craftwork. It is located in the Ashoknagar district of Madhya Pradesh roughly 240 kms (150 miles) from Bhopal, which is the capital of the state. Chanderi is a town of fabric and looms. Chanderi sarees are famous all over India and are a major economic generator for the town.

Chanderi was an important town on the ancient trade route from Malwa to Delhi and exhibits historical monuments of medieval times. The major monuments belong to the Khilji Dynasty of the Malwa rulers of the 15th Century. Handloom production of the fabric also dates back to medieval times. Chanderi is predominantly a town of weavers in terms of its social structure and livelihood patterns of the communities.

Chanderi Saree, the traditional craft: Rise and fall of the fabric

The famous Chanderi sarees came to be known as Asavali. Chanderi sarees have dierent types of floral patterns, matching borders with zari work and pallavs (the top end of sarees with more warp and weft).

During the 17th century, the town was established as an important weaving centre; the cotton of these fabrics was very fine and delicate and the colours used in the fabrics were of silk and had zari borders. In the 18th century, there was sizeable production of fine, gold-bordered cotton muslins from Chanderi. Since the 19th century, cotton safas and sarees and pallavs with golden borders found prominence in their textiles. However, though delicate fabrics of cotton continued to be spun in the latter part of the 20th century, the weavers also used silk in the warp. The dyed silk with a slight mix of fine-spun cotton enabled the weavers to retain the transparency and finish of the traditional Chanderi texture. In the past few years, silk has predominantly replaced the cotton weft in the fabric production.

Since Independence, over the years there has been a decline in the number of weavers and their handloom clusters as most of them started to look for alternative livelihood patterns due to a drop in the demand for the fabric and sarees. Also, the supply pattern of sarees to the consumer was an informal one, where the weavers were at a disadvantage as the merchants were making major profits through the sale of the fabric.

It is only in the last two decades that the traditional craft has been revived through a number of strategies which were economic, social and spatial in nature. The weaver community at Chanderi is a heterogenous mix of various communities dominated by the Muslim Julaha community and weavers belonging to the Scheduled Caste and other backward communities; most of these weaving communities originate from minority and lower sections of society, who over generations having learnt the skill and craft but have unfortunately not been able to benefit enough from it either socially or economically.

The weavers still follow the traditional system of weaving at their homes. They use the older technology of preparing a taana and then open the fabric bundles to create taana rolls through two loop-like iron hooks plugged in the ground. 

The handlooms in their homes are wooden pit looms, which have the traditional system of weaving. The weaver sits on the wall of this pit with his legs inside the pit. The looms are permanently installed in these pits and rarely moved. As most of them are in the homes of the weavers themselves, they enjoy better ventilation, lighting and space to move around. Since the artisans own the looms, they bear the expenses of maintenance and repairs of the looms. The dobby eventually evolved into a miniature Jacquard mechanism that started to provide more intricate designs on the borders of the sarees. Before the fabrics are woven in the traditional Chanderi weave, dying of the silk fabric happens and this process also takes place in the same clusters as the weaving clusters.

Chanderi: Monument History

Ibn Batuta, the great traveller, around the 14th century, describes the town as a sprawling city full of bazaars bustling with people and goods. Chanderi had the historic locational advantage of being in close proximity of the trade routes in Central India, closer to ancient ports of Gujarat, to Malwa and near to the base camp of the Sultans of Delhi. Consequently, Chanderi became an important military outpost, prized by rulers in power. A large number of monuments are scattered around the main town of Chanderi and on its periphery.

Chanderi Fort is located at the edge of the existing town on a hillock locally known as Chandragiri. This broad fort atop the hill commands a majestic view of the surroundings. The fort, initially established by the Prathiharas, saw several transformations through the Khilji, Mughal and Bundela reigns. The entrance gateway, which still remains, is colloquially known as ‘Khooni Darwaza’ or Blood Soaked Gate. During the rule of Sultan of Malwa at Chanderi, prisoners were supposed to have been thrown down the gate. The fort complex also consists of a Johar Smarak and the samadhi of Baiju Bawra who belonged to Chanderi and was a reputed Dhrupad singer associated with the court of Raja Man Singh of Gwalior.

Badal Mahal Gate – This is the most visited monument in the town, built by Sultan Mahmud Shah Khilji in 1450. It was envisioned as a welcome gate for the people visiting the palace. In the backdrop of the fort lies the gateway among landscaped gardens resulting in a very picturesque setting.

Jama Masjid – Located just a few hundred metres from Badal Mahal Gate, Jama Masjid is a magnificent building comprising of three domes. The foundation of this mosque was laid in 1251 by Ghyasuddin Balban to commemorate the conquest of Chanderi. This structure was used to read the Friday oration or khutba and special orations on Muslim festivals. Another interesting feature, which is seen in other monuments of Chanderi as well, is the serpentine struts used to support chajjas (eaves) on the northern and southern sides. Though they are employed to support chajjas, their use is purely ornamental.

Lakshman Temple and Parmeshwar Tal – As per legend, Parmeshwar Tal is the tank where the Pratihara king Kirti Pal took his bath. At one bank of this tank stands Lakshman Temple, which has an interesting legend behind it. It is said that once a group of pilgrims stopped near Parmeshwar Tal to rest after a day-long journey. They were carrying an idol of Lakshman, which they placed under a Peepal tree. When they woke up in the morning and tried to lift the idol, it did not budge. This resulted in the formation of the Lakshman temple by the Bundela kings.

Koshak Mahal – This simple yet elegant building is situated a little away from the main town, about 4 km on Isagarh Road. This imposing structure is nestled inside a landscaped garden. As per Tareekh-e-Firishta, a book by Mughal chronicler Mohammad Qasim Firishta, it was built in 1445 CE by the Sultan of Malwa, Mehmud Shah Khilji, to commemorate his victory over Sultan Mehmud Sharki of Jaunpur in a battle at Kalpi.

This square building with a diameter of 150 feet, has big arched entrances, one in the middle of either side. The external simple and plain façade is broken with protruding balconies at regular intervals. Two arched passages crossing each other at right angles divide the inside into four quadrants that are accommodated with halls.

Kati Ghati – This gateway is fully cut out of rock. It is located on the southern edge of Chanderi and forms a link between Bundelkhand and Malwa. Built 230 feet above the ground, it is 10 metres high and 25 metres wide.

Raja Rani Mahal – These two palaces stand side-by-side. Raja Mahal is an imposing seven-storey building while Rani Mahal is a two-storey structure. Both the buildings are constructed in different styles therefore both must have been constructed in different periods. Rani Mahal appears to have been built earlier than Raja Mahal, which was probably constructed during the Khilji period in the 15th century CE.

The intangible revives the tangible

Even though, as explained, the city exhibited immense intangible and tangible cultural heritage for a place to be frequented by tourists and have a flourishing economy, two decades earlier, the town saw a relative decline in the sale of the fabric and the monuments also lost their relevance and meaning in the fabric of the town.

In the last two decades, there have been a number of interventions through the Government, NGOs and private organisations to develop production and an ecosystem for the weavers of the town. There has been support from the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), an alliance with Fab India, where the handloom and handicraft retailer set up a community-owned company with the Chanderi weavers to sell their products. Government initiatives at the state and central levels have helped set up a Handloom Park where relative mass production has begun.

Between 2009-2015, Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), started working on the market linkage project in partnership with Media Lab Asia (MLA) and the support of the Government of India’s Ministry of Information Communication Technology (ICT). DEF was primarily working to reduce the informational separation through the use of ICT. It initiated a project named Chanderiyaan, which is essentially the Chanderi weavers’ ICT resource centre.

The benefit of these interventions have been that the spatial separation between the services, weavers and the consumers has been reduced. 
 

There has also been commodification of the Chanderi fabric, which has resulted in its protection under the Geographical Indication of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999, and they cannot be copied because of their exclusive design and the special silk yarn that goes into their making. 

There has also been the benefit of temporal separation where the time consumed in production of the fabric and its products and getting to consumers has reduced. ICT has helped greatly in commodification of the craft to the national and international audience. These interventions also to some degree reduced the social exclusion and helped in getting the community clusters together again working towards the craft and taking it a step further by improvising on it depending on the market demand.

This has had a parasitic effect on the built heritage of the town. In the past decade, the Archaeological Survey of India has made valiant efforts to restore many of the important monuments, which has resulted in a newfound interest in the heritage of the town and increased tourist footfall. Today, there is sizeable tourism based on its built heritage as well. INTACH has helped in conservation of a few of the weaver clusters since they represent a critical link between the tangible and intangible cultural heritage. It is crucial because these typology of settlements with their open space structure act as an enabling factor for the continuation of their traditional lifestyle, the complete family being involved in the craft as opposed to only the male working at the handloom park or such organized locations, and creative inspirations from culture, religion, myth which sustain their precious craft and design of the fabric and the saree.
 

The town recently gained popularity because it became a set-piece of heritage in cinema. A number of Bollywood movies namely Stree (making the town an important part of an urban legend in the movie), Sui Dhaaga (made on the theme of weavers), Kalank (the town used as heritage set-piece) have been shot here. 

These movies have also become mascots of the town in getting the story of the fabric and city to all corners of the world. Thus, now when you visit the town, there is a spring in the step, hope and ambition in the weavers of the town and also a burden that they need to carry forward the craft so that Chanderi – the town and the fabric – become even more synonymous and interchangeable than ever before.

Chanderi is a good case example where a craft and its eventual rejuvenation has resurrected the town and now is taking its built heritage seriously enough to protect the craft. This can be imbibed greatly for our other Indian craft based towns and economies.