Patan ka Patola

•Patan na patola  is double ikat.

•Located in north Gujrat.

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•Both sides have equal intensity of color and design.

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•Salvi family is one of them who has continued this traditional art and has preserved it even today.

•Before World War II, Indonesia was major buyer of patolas. 

• Paintings in Ajanta caves resemble the tie-dye technique of patola. 

• In the 12th Century AD, King Kumarpal of Solanki dynasty, invited 700 families of patola weavers from Jalna (South Maharashtra) to settle down in Patan in North Gujarat.

Gujarat poet wrote; "Padi patole bhat faatey pan phite nahin" meaning the design laid down in the patola may be torn, but it shall never fade.

Technique

•Warp and weft silk threads are tied separately with cotton thread on the portions already marked out for the proposed design in the fabric.

• This tied portion is meant to remain unexposed to the colour while dyeing.

•United portion which has absorbed one colour, may be tied while dyeing in another colour.

• Tying untying, retying and dyeing in different shades are the main features of this process.

Features

•At least 500-600 g of silk is required to make one patola sari.

•. The silk is bought from Bangalore or is imported from China, Japan, Korea or Brazil.

•The silk costs around Rs 2,000 per kg and the dye cost (per sari) is about Rs 2,500. In the case of vegetable dyes, the cost is likely to be much higher.

•A single Patan patola sari with synthetic dyes would cost a minimum of Rs 90, 000.

•Both the sides of the sari display the same design; if a sari has a geometric design, it can be worn from any of the four corners.

• The process of dyeing the threads takes nearly 75 days.

•Patolas cannot be woven in humid climate. This is because when the humidity is high, the yarn tends to tangle.