The gamchha generally is a handkerchief, scarf, towel, sheet, garment, and even a blanket. The multipurpose chequered cloth synonymous with India’s working class is significantly noticeable in the heat and humid areas of East and Southeast Bangladesh, Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala the place it is used to wipe sweat or worn on the head to scale back the impact of warmth.
The multipurpose chequered cloth is synonymous with India’s working class
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
The utilitarian nature of the textile has been documented by means of the multimedia exhibition Gamchha: The Extraordinary in the Ordinary by Dastkari Haat Samiti (DHS). The checkered cotton cloth – an omnipresent image for the poorest in society —is additionally a marker of id and resilience.
This is not the first time DHS has engaged with the fabric. In 2015, the organisation had commissioned ladies weavers in Phulia, West Bengal, to create 100 gamchha saris. “This cloth is tied to an auto or cycle rickshaw, or labourers wrap it around their heads. It can be also used as a baby hammock,” says Jaya Jaitly, president, Dastkari Haat Samiti. “I like to refer to the gamchha as the ‘Swiss Army knife of the fabric kingdom’ because of its many uses.”
“During COVID-19, when migrant labourers were going back to their villages, everyone noticed them wearing the gamchha. Otherwise it has been a neglected fabric,” she says. “It’s time for the gamchha to step into the spotlight.”
Beyond its conventional type, the gamchha is getting a up to date makeover by designers
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
This prompted the DHS group to kickstart the mission, they usually went round the nation searching for numerous gamchhas for this exhibition. While they discovered 400 variants, the exhibition has 230 items mounted on cane and bamboo buildings crafted by National awardee and grasp craftsman, Vivekanand Bagchi.
Its many iterations
While most gamchhas have checks, others are striped or in a single color with a easy border and can be utilized both for each day functions or ceremonial use. In Tamil Nadu, the cloth goes by the title thundu and is obtainable in shades of pink, orange, gray and mustard, with smaller checks. On the different hand, the gamocha from Odisha has glimpses of ikkat.
In Karnataka, if somebody aside from a labourer wears the gamchha, regionally often called haigal meli, they’re teased. “They are asked not to pretend to be hard workers. It is a question of class difference,” highlights Jaitly. Kerala’s white thorthu towel assumes the position of the gamchha. It has the chutty (little motif) that exhibits the finish of one thorthu and the starting of one other, she factors out.
An set up at the exhibition
| Photo Credit:
Geetika Sachedv
In the Northeast, the gamphan of Mizoram, the innaphi of Manipur, risa of Tripura, shamla, khamti and ziro of Arunachal Pradesh are used to determine their wearers belonging to a selected tribe or having a selected standing in the group. The pink and white gamosa of Assam, performs a central position in rituals and festivals like Bihu.
As installations
The exhibition designed by Suparna Bhalla of Abaxial Design additionally interprets the gamchha by means of inventive installations. Gamchhas in the Sky by origami artist Ankon Mitra interprets the ‘working man’s towel’ by means of his signature folds on paper, suspended on a ceiling.
Another set up by Avishek Mandal, founder of attire model Rias Jaipur, traces the journey of the gamchha over time. It has suspended shuttles that symbolise the act of weaving, whereas the warp threads replicate the passage of time. The presence of a transistor taking part in outdated Bengali melodies is a reminder of its irreplaceable worth in the life of a gamchha weaver.
The checkered cotton cloth–an omnipresent image for the poorest in society–is additionally a marker of id and resilience
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Beyond its conventional type, the gamchha is getting a up to date makeover with the introduction of attire, equipment and jewelry. Over the years, vogue manufacturers like Kolkata-based 145 East, Bihart and péro by Aneeth Arora have launched collections to honour the cloth.
Are design interventions like these serving to in democratising the gamccha? “It should not lose its purpose. I don’t want the gamchha to become like expensive jeans torn at the knee.,” says Jaitly. “They have to respect the labourer, order fabric from the weaver and then make a garment.”
The exhibition will run till March 10, from 11am to 8pm at National Crafts Museum, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
Published – March 03, 2025 04:25 pm IST
