Double-sided Eri silk woven on back strap loom of Nagaland and throw shuttle loom of Assam.

Dāni is kind, warm and generous. She nurtures all those who wish to nurture others. She acts like the wish-fulfilling tree, becoming, only to give. She is abundant inside and so she is abundant outside. Her abundance is felt, not just seen. That is Dāni. Innately radiating with generosity.

Dāni is the size of a loi, a large shawl, an embracing one, the one to hide into, the comforting one. She will carry you through all the tears and sniffles, tough and dull days, solemn and sombre. She will listen to you if you tell her what is hurting you. You will also hear from her the kindest wisdom, where she will teach you to practice wise-selfishness. That is her beauty, the nurturing one.

The panelled part of the shawl is woven with hand-spun Indigo, Turmeric and Cow dung myrobalan dyed Eri silk yarn carried from Kamrup district, Assam, to the remote regions of Nagaland. 

During the pandemic lockdown, this project of weaving hand-spun Eri Silk on back strap looms was conceived as a livelihood opportunity while also creating a training module to weave a texture of yarn new to the local weavers. Weaving on the back strap loom lends a unique slub texture to Eri silk. To achieve that texture, hand-spun Eri had to be laced with rice starch and then warped onto back strap looms. We played with loose and tight weave styles to explore possibilities. The diversity of textures it brought out was a technical breakthrough for us.

Lac and indigo-dyed handspun Eri Silk is woven on a throw shuttle loom in the rural settings of Assam.

Same yarn, diverse colours, diverse textures. Dāni represents a camaraderie of natural dyes, each hue a new composition from gifts of nature.

Dāni’s central panels of back strap loom are hand stitched using traditional joineries of spear motif, a typical feature of back strap loom textiles used to extend the width. 

She is a one-of-a-kind textile designed to highlight a unique coming together of various techniques and creativity of handcraft. This design will not be recreated.

Param did the beadwork 

Gurmail, the tailor

Narmohan Dada, master Eri silk pioneer

Mumma, Madhu, stitching supervision

midtoan.com, the photographer

Designed by Ritika