Celebrating humble gamchha and its emerging heritage

Handloom is used to weave the cloth by shedding, picking and beating

In a unique exhibition, currently on at the National Crafts Museum in New Delhi, the spotlight is on the humble gamchha, or traditional Indian hand towel. The exhibition, celebrating the rich diversity and history of the handwoven cotton cloth, has been curated by Jaya Jaitly, the founder of Dastkari Haat Samiti. The exhibition showcases around 250 forms of gamchhas from 14 states and Southeast Asia.

To celebrate India’s handwoven cotton towel, gamchha, the National Crafts Museum in New Delhi is currently hosting a vibrant exhibition, Gamchha: From ordinary to the extraordinary. Slated from March 1-10, the exhibition highlights the cultural, historical and artistic importance of the cotton towel, which is also a symbol of simplicity and utility within India.

The organisers say that their main reason for organising the exhibition was to put the spotlight on the gamchha as it is often taken for granted. Despite the cotton towel holding a special place in Indian households, it is often overlooked in favour of other textiles like Banarasi silk or Kanjeevaram saree.

“Gamchha (cotton towel) has always fascinated me because when we go into rural areas and into working class communities, each of them will be wearing colourful cotton towels. And as much as their work is ugly around them and full of drudgery, dust and mud, this cotton towel somehow stands out as a flag that tries to cheer them up,” Jaya Jaitly, Founder, Dastkari Haat Samiti, and a noted social worker, tells Media India Group.

Jaitly adds that it is her interest towards social justice and artistic crafts that helped her curate this exhibition idea.

“In elitist societies and the middle class, we have gotten to the state where we want 10 different knives to cut 10 different types of vegetables. Here they use one cloth for 25 different uses. So, it shows how we reuse and recycle and minimise expenditure,” Jaitly adds.

Here, in Indian men’s daily clothing frequently includes the single-coloured, stripped, or checked cloth. In Bengal and Odisha, it is referred to as gamchha, whereas in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, it is called gamchha or angochhi. It is referred to as paigudda or kamavaram in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, haigal meli in Karnataka, and thundu in Tamil Nadu. The gamchha is replaced in Kerala by the white thorthu towel.

The exhibition is not just a mere display but also incorporates art installations, design interventions and live demonstration by a weaver to explore how this piece of cloth is made.

“I have been weaving since 10 years and it is not a very difficult process. Weaving is a three process craft work,Veit shedding, picking and beating. In shedding we separate the warp threads to create space for the weft thread to pass through. Picking is another process in which we interlace the weft thread between the warped threads and in the end, we push the newly woven weft thread up against the top of the warp threads,” says Gopinath, a weaver from Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh.

The exhibition showcases over 250 forms of handloom cotton cloth from 14 Indian states and Southeast Asia, illustrating its regional diversity and cultural symbolism.

“In Vietnam, people wear similar cotton cloth called Czechs. It is a statement fabric, but it is also mostly a protective and utility fabric. I feel that South Asia has very strongly carried on the tradition of the wrapped fabric, whether it is the sari or the lungi or the sarong, all the dupatta in many ways. So, there is Vietnam, Ireland and Indonesia that are still weaving lovely scarves,” says Jaitly.

At the exhibition, many vendors from across India have come to sell their products, essentially the gamchhas and its derivatives. “We have been making items such as jewellery and bags using handloom cotton cloth for more than 11 years now. In 2019, we did a big art installation made of the cloth in West Bengal for a Durga Puja Pandal,” says Kalpana, Founder, RangilaDhaga.

“It is difficult to count the number of visitors, but there are many international visitors from Columbia and Australia. Visitors from different age groups have been coming to enjoy the exhibition. Many schools are organising field trips for students to make them learn about traditional handloom cloth of India. Visitors love our diaries made of gamchha, so we are planning to make more of them and put our gamchha collection on our online platform so that it can reach other people also,” says Jaitly.

Jaitley told Media India Group that they started with 10 stalls but then it came down to just nine. “For nine stalls we have a sale of about INR 200,000 per day,” Jaitly adds.

The National Crafts Museum serves as an idol backdrop for the exhibition as it is a home to many artistic and traditional artworks, installations and galleries.