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Involving an eccentric process,
the Telia Rumal is a distinctive
textile that has multiple uses and
many takers.
Paramparik Karigar | Telia Rumal
A Unique Textile
T
he eye-catching red, black and white patterned Telia
Rumal, often bearing motifs set in a grid, has a unique
place in Indian textiles. It is woven by the complex
double-ikat weaving technique with yarns that have been
soaked in oil to process them before resist-dyeing! The Telia
Rumal derives its name from the words
telia
that means
oiled; this word alludes to the unique process of soaking and
kneading the yarn, used for weaving the cloth, in oil. The word
rumal refers to a square or rectangular cloth.
Traditionally, Telia Rumals have been the cloth offered at the
dargah of Ajmer Sharif in Rajasthan with some devotees
offering fifty or even hundred cloths. Telia Rumals were worn
as a veil by princesses at the erstwhile court of the Nizams
of Hyderabad; as a turban cloth by Arabs in the Middle East;
and continue to be worn as a lungi by fishermen in coastal
Andhra Pradesh. The rumals were exported in large numbers
to Myanmar, West Asia and East Africa in the 19th and early
20th centuries.
Gajam Govardhana
