The Specialist Weavers of Assam

Dyed yarn hanging out to dry. The yellow colour is from turmeric, the pink is from lac.

While Assamese textiles were traditionally woven with natural dyed yarn, very few weavers now use the old methods. Most have switched to chemical colours.

A typical Mishing design and colour palette from Anuradha Pegu’s fabrics.

Detail of textile with Mishing design.

Traditional designs such as the animal and figure motifs are drawn from the life of the community.

A women’s chadar or shawl, yarn dyed in raw turmeric.

The black accent is from iron. The gold in the design is natural undyed Muga silk.

The traditional wedding attire of an Assamese bride is white and gold. In this bridal piece, Anuradha has used natural undyed Muga silk for the gold motif: the main motif uses hand reeled yarn, while the inside detail is of hand spun yarn.

A lac dyed, pink version of the same design.

Traditional weaving had a slow and gentle pace, in keeping with the self-consumption of hand woven textiles.

The wooden spindle is still in use for making yarn such as hand-spun Eri silk.

However, the hand made bamboo reed in the picture is seldom used in commercial production. Most weavers making fabrics for the commercial market have shifted to industrially made steel versions.

While Assamese silks now use yarn from all over the country, Anuradha chooses to use local materials. Eri and Muga are the two better known Assamese silks.

Another local variety is Pat or Nooni, the local mulberry silk, as in this piece.

Muga, the wild silk of Assam has a natural golden colour. The worm is very delicate, and susceptible to external conditions like weather. Narmohan has a network of small silk rearers who cultivate the silk worm in the optimal conditions to produce a rich golden hue.

Eri silk, also unique to Assam and its neighbouring hilly areas, is another yarn he uses. A specialist in natural dyeing, he dyes Eri in a range of natural colours.

Ghicha, a coarse yarn made from silk waste, produces a textured fabric that has a traditional market in remote areas of north eastern India. Narmohan has also established a new high-end market for this fabric in Europe.

Different yarn counts and fabric construction yield fabrics with different textures and hand feel.

Golden Muga silk in twill weave with a soft drape.

The same Muga silk used for a gossamer fabric.

Handwoven silk stoles from Narmohan’s collection which have an appeal in both the Indian and western market. The colours are all from natural substances.

From Left, Top row: dark grey – myrobalan + iron (2 dippings), dark green – turmeric + indigo; dark blue – indigo (2 dippings); natural - tea. Second row: yellow – turmeric; purple – indigo + sappan wood; grey – myrobalan + iron; red – sappan wood; Bottom row: blue – indigo; light green – onion skin; natural – tea.

Read more about the Sualkuchi weaving traditions here:

- Sualkuchi: Commercial Weaving Enclave of Assam
- Indigenous Silks of Assam