New Delhi: A casual dinner table conversation in Delhi between the High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India, M Riaz Hamidullah, and renowned Indian architect and Padma Shri awardee Sunita Kohli eventually culminated in an exhibition of Jamdani saris in the Indian capital.
The event was organised at the National Crafts Museum, offering Indian audiences an exclusive glimpse into the intricate artistry of Bangladesh’s most celebrated weave. The four-day exhibition, featuring a collection of exquisite Jamdani saris woven by master artisans from Bangladesh, also showcased 150-year-old vintage pieces. The exhibition was inaugurated by Hamidullah on 19 September.
“Jamdani is not just cloth. It is poetry in thread. It is air and light, woven on a loom. Each motif is added by hand—painstakingly and with meditation. That is the beauty of Jamdani,” Kohli said.
Jamdani was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013.
At the exhibition, guests were allowed to touch several pieces on display. They discussed the beauty of the designs, the hard work involved, and the price tags on the saris. And the Jamdani weave was on display not just on the walls, but also through the guests, many of whom had shown up wearing beautiful Jamdani saris.
“If you love sarees, you’ll always desire to have at least one Jamdani in your wardrobe—otherwise, the collection will always feel incomplete,” said 63-year-old Haneet, gently touching a white Jamdani saree that had caught her attention the moment she entered.
Heritage of Bangladesh
The event drew artists, filmmakers, textile connoisseurs, and guests from various backgrounds, like Indian filmmaker and fashion designer Muzaffar Ali, author and historian Swapna Liddle, and businesswoman Abha Dalmia. A live weaving demonstration made visible the labour and love behind every sari—discussions about prices soon faded in comparison to those about the craftsmanship.
At the entrance of the hall, two National Award-winning Jamdani weavers, Mohammad Jamal Hossain and Mohammad Sajeeb, sat at their looms. The uncle-nephew duo, who flew in from Bangladesh, has over two decades of experience. Representing the fourth generation of a Jamdani-weaving family, they demonstrated the intricate process live, sharing that each sari takes between two to six months to complete, depending on the complexity of the design.
“Some Jamdanis actually take longer to weave than it takes to construct a building,” said Kohli. “And the difference is, the building stands on earth. But the Jamdani floats in the air.”
The process begins with the simplest cotton yarn and transforms into something ethereal. “It is historic, yet always contemporary,” Kohli added.
The weavers know over 2,000 traditional designs and are committed to passing on their knowledge to younger generations.
“It takes at least two years to properly learn the art of Jamdani weaving,” said Hossain, emphasising that patience is the most essential skill. Every motif in the sari is added by hand, thread by thread, like embroidery on air.
“People can copy it, but it will never reflect the origin. True Jamdani can only be made in Bangladesh,” he said in Bangla, referring to the machine-made imitations made elsewhere in the world.
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Preserving the Jamdani
Part of the inauguration event was the launch of a book, Traditional Jamdani, by Chandra Shekhar Shaha, where Indian filmmaker and fashion designer Muzaffar Ali showed his interest in making a film on Jamdani.
“Jamdani is really a cinematic delight, the way it lets the light come in, the way its shadows light your face. It does wonderful things in the way it moves when you walk,” Ali said.
Author Shaha, a researcher and one of the pathfinders in modern crafting and textile design in Bangladesh, said that the artwork which represents his country is being neglected by the new generation. Its status as a symbol of power and wealth in society is on the decline.
“The new generation wants to gain a lot without spending too much time and effort, which is exactly what Jamdani requires,” said Shaha.
However, a new group of preservers has emerged in the field over the past few decades.
“For women, weaving Jamdani in Bangladesh was a taboo, and now it is the women who are saving our heritage,” added Shaha. “They make time in between their household chores and design Jamdani, which is another form of its revival.”
Jamdani weaving has always been a male-dominated craft in Bangladesh, as it requires long working hours and controlling the loom, which demands physical strength. The skill was traditionally passed down from one generation to another—typically from father to son, making it a male preserve. But over the last two decades, women have started coming forward to learn the craft.
In the fast-moving, globalised world, what Jamdani weavers make in two to six months, machines are making in hours—but can that ever truly replace the original? The question lingered in the air as the event came to an end.
“In the age of AI and machines and lights, this is a craft which cannot be made by machine. No technology can imitate it,” said Chandrashekhar Bheda, Indian craft and textile revivalist. “The event will make more people discover the timeless beauty of Jamdani.”
The exhibition ends on 23 September.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)