Bandhani

バンダニ絞り染め / living tradition / Technique / Textile Traditions

A tie-resist tradition of Gujarat, Rajasthan and other regions, binding tiny areas of cloth before dyeing. Pale dots and rings gather into lines, circles and larger fields, sometimes retaining a puckered surface. Regional use and dress context distinguish it from generic tie-dye and printed imitation.

Bandhani — Bandhani dupatta — photo: RubyGoes — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0
Bandhani dupatta — photo: RubyGoes — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0 · CC BY 2.0
Bandhani — Bandhani cloth with metallic woven motifs — photo: Ramkumar Kalyani — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
Bandhani cloth with metallic woven motifs — photo: Ramkumar Kalyani — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 · CC BY-SA 4.0

At a glance

Visual cues

  • Small pale dots or rings repeated on stronger ground colours
  • Dots grouped into rows, circles or diamond forms
  • Possible small folds or relief at tied points
  • Different dot arrangements in the centre and border

Best used for

  • Teaching the relationship between tied points and resulting dyed dots
  • Working with makers to connect small point clusters to a larger cloth composition

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Dictionary entry

Type
Separate labels from the dot pattern and diagram the tying and dyeing stages.
Composition
Test point size and spacing, then build central and border groups from that unit.
Material
Choose cloth suitable for tying and dyeing, documenting untying and the resulting surface.
Caution
Do not present printed dots as tie-resist work. Colour and motif meanings vary by region; avoid fixing the origin to a single ancient date.
Further study
Khamir — Bandhani artisan interviews / Gujarat and Rajasthan regional differences / Tied resist patterns versus printed imitations

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https://indexstyle.org/styles/bandhani
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