PUNJAB TEXTILES- BEYOND PHULKARI

ABSTRACT

Our grandmothers tell us tales of a pre-division Punjab that was rife with production of fabrics like jacquard, chenille, and velvet, and home to techniques such as zardozi and gota. Was there then more to the Punjab fashion industry than the beautiful phulkaris, khes, and khadars that line the walls of museums today? Together, these practices were not only exclusive to royalty, but also appeased to trousseaus of young brides preparing for the events ahead. These claims are more than just conjecture to the author as she herself has access to such pieces of clothes from the 1930s to 1940s through familial ties. This paper will attempt to not only explore these claims by way of in-person interviews with the author’s family members with Punjabi roots, but also ask other important questions that explore what made said articles of clothing so precious that they survived an onslaught of sociopolitical and climate changes. To supplement these findings, the author will also seek to understand the erasure of such conversations from mainstream media and memory. How did the weaving of these fabrics feed into garment construction and pattern development? To answer such question, the paper will also acknowledge the role of Punjab as the seat of Mughal and Colonial influences and how that played into the motifs, the patterns and their placements, and their execution up to the division of India.