Charkha

Weaving of “Tant Saree” (traditional dress of Indian women) is famous and an age old crafting of West Bengal, India. The craftsmen deftly weave the cotton to thread which is woven to “Tant Saree”. Two shuttles are used for this purpose. “Tant Saree” is a traditional Indian “Saree” and usually used by Bengali women. It is traditionally made by the weavers from all over West Bengal , India.

 

To convert raw cotton to thread “Charka” is essential. “Charkha” is a small hand driven tool that is used in rural India to make cotton thread for weaving of “Tant Saree”.

 

Until recently in India, women could not inherit real property. History says, she was trained to be the perfect bride and must excel in domestic tasks to provide for her family such as cooking, cleaning and spinning. In rural India, rules were set up so that so that a man could not marry a girl from his own village, so when a girl got married, she had to leave her village. In order to compensate the girl for her share of the land, she was given a dowry when she married that would allow her to complete her duties as a wife, including large sums of cash, household items and a “Charkha”.

 

Women spin as part of their daily routine and often get together in groups to spin and socialize. Cotton and silk both are traditional fibers spun on the “Charkha”. They weave cloth or rugs from their spun yarn.

Usually the main task of weaving of “Tant Saree” is done by men, but the thread preparation is done by women. It’s a vintage art of India (Bengal province) on which still now a large number of people depend to earn their breads.

 

(The above shot is dedicated to someone who is the inspiration behind my photography)

 

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