The word ‘Khandua’ in the Odia language, means the garment that is worn on the lower half of the body. Khandua, is also known as Maniabandi or Kataki, and it is a traditional “bandha” or Ikat saree that is mainly produced by the weavers of Odisha. Khandua sarees are considered special sarees as Lord Jagannath is decorated using this fabric.
The Khandua sarees are an entirely handmade speciality, made in the eastern clusters of Odisha. The cloth has written texts of Gita Govinda on them. There is a special variety of Khandua that is 12ft long with 2 Kani, that is offered to Lord Jagannath to wear as Khandua with many stanzas and illustrations from the texts of Gita Govinda. The main centre for the weaving of Kandua sarees is situated at Muapatna. The Khandua saree is mostly woven using wooden looms in the traditional style of handprints weaving and the entire village of Nuapatna is responsible for the weaving of these culturally rich and traditional sarees. About 10,000 skilled and expert weavers are present at Nuapatna along with approximately 5000 plus looms.
There is a town, located just 3 km away from Nuapatna, called Maniabandha that also has a significant population of weavers and looms that aid in the weaving and production of the Khandua sarees. The Khandua saree is considered a good sign by the women of Odisha and hence, they are mostly worn during wedding rituals, as they are connected to Lord Jagannath and hence, considered pious and religious.
What are the history and origin of Khandua Sarees?
The origin of the Khandua saree can be traced back to the 12th Century AD and it is mostly related to various rituals at Lord Jagannath Temple in Puri, Odisha. The Khandua sarees were traditionally designed using red, yellow, maroon, and cream colours, and contained texts from the Gita Govinda. Gita Govinda which means, the song of Govinda is a work composed by Indian poet Jayadeva in the 12th century. It explains the pure and innocent bondings between Krishna and the Gopis, in particular Radha.
During the reign of Gajapatis on Odisha, sarees were weaved and then transported to the Jagannath Temple. The king of Badakhemundi (Nilakantha Deva) at that time, Paramananda Patanaika, was offered a Khandua saree that was made using just one piece of Khandua silk known as Caukandika.
All the famous dancers of Odisha who represented the nation both locally and globally have been known to wear these sarees during their performances.
What is a Khandua saree?
Khandua saree is a style of saree that is made mostly using high-quality natural fibres, mostly silk but sometimes cotton that is exclusively produced in the Nuapatna town of Odisha. The main attraction of this saree is that it is mostly made from traditional silk yarn and then the skilled weavers transform the soft and lustre silk into magnificent fabrics and sarees.
The quality of the silk yarns used to weave the Khandua saree is first tested under strict guidelines and then checked for the presence of any sort of impurities.
The Khandua saree is famous for its ‘temple borders. The most traditional and common motifs that can be found all over the body of the Khandua saree are a star, temple, conch, rudraksha, fish, chakra, lotus, swan, peacock, parrot, deer, elephant, horse, lion etc. All the motifs and designs present in the saree are inspired by nature. It is the best of single ikat; one of warp and weft is tied and dyed prior to weaving. It gives excellent rectilinear ikat patterns in the finished weave.
As the material used for the weaving of Khandua sarees are high-quality natural fibres like cotton and silk, the weight of these sarees is very less and they are very comfortable to wear.
Khandua is traditionally available in red or orange colour. The red colour is prepared naturally extracting the colour from the Shorea Robusta, commonly known as the Sal tree. The designs and motif mostly have an auspicious elephant that represents Buddha surrounded by a trailing vine with peacocks in it, a large flower having many petals, a unique animal called Nabagunjara, a Deula Kumbha. The elephant in Khandua ikat from Nuapatana usually varies from elephant motives in ikat from Sambalpuri sari as well as ikat from other parts of Orissa. As compared to the other Ikat sarees from Odisha, the Khadua sarees have plain borders instead of borders with motifs.
What is the process of weaving Khandua Sarees?
Khandua saree is mostly woven with wooden weaving machines in the conventional style of hand weaving and the entire town of Nuapatna is engaged in this style of weaving.
The craftsmanship required for the weaving of the Khandua sarees is intricate, detail-oriented, traditional, lengthy and meticulous. Khandua sarees are generally woven with mulberry silk yarn but sometimes in a blend of cotton or tussar yarn.
The basic raw material required for the weaving of Khandua saree is cotton or pure silk yarn according to requirement and the chemical dyes to make the ikat designs or the motifs. The raw silk yarn obtained from the market is first degummed by boiling with water with a proportionate mixture of soap powder and soda ash. Degumming is the process of removing the gum that is initially present in the yarn. The creation of the design is basically a two-step dyeing process, where one forms the colour of the saree and the other is used to colour the motifs that are intended to be printed on the saree, thus, creating the multicolour pattern.
Once the yarn has been dried, it is attached to a wooden frame. Bindings in the form of cotton threads or rubber bands are carefully placed and are first soaked in the dye for the first fold of dyeing.
After the process of drying is completed, the bindings are then cut away and new bindings are put in place for all the spots that are not intended to receive colour in the second round of dyeing, and then they are immersed again till the final intended multi-coloured design of the saree is created.
The weaving process is then carried out with the aid of the traditional spinning wheel, which is known as chakra. Finally, the woven sarees are starched and tied to wooden rolls and laid out in the sun to dry in order to add sturdiness and lustre. The Khandua saree has a mild coloured body with a contrasting coloured border and pallu. All this intricate and complex weaving work is done gracefully at the corners of the Nuapatna.
The Khandua sarees are woven with pure love and passion for the craft as well as the culture and heritage of the region and hence, it speaks highly of the art and the artist. The weaving of the saree is a complex and elaborate process that takes about ten hours to weave just a single saree. The Khandua sarees are very flexible according to the time that they can be worn in and they can be styled up and down according to the occasion or event. They can be worn to an office and also to a wedding or a festival.
The price of a Khandua saree ranges from INR 3500 to INR 15000 and more depending on the quality of the fabric, the patterns and motifs and the customized designs, if needed.
The Khandua sarees are a prized possession of the nation and hence, can be found on all the major saree centres in all the cities across the nation and can also be found on all the popular e-commerce websites such as Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Meesho, PeachMode, Mirraw etc.