What Is Bandhani?

Who makes and wears bandhani?

Bandhani is made by tying and dyeing families in Gujarat and Rajasthan; in Kachchh (Kutch), most of them are Khatri. Impart says it is made for everyday use as well as for ceremonies and rituals. In Khatri families, Khamir, a craft organisation based in Kachchh, says men usually dye the cloth and run the business, while women do most of the tying. Khamir adds that all Khatri women learn to tie before they marry, and that women from other communities now also earn by tying at home.

Impart, the online encyclopaedia of the Art & Photography Foundation, says the craft was first practised by the Khatri community in Sindh, now in Pakistan. It lists Mandvi, Bhuj, Jamnagar, Porbandar and Rajkot in Gujarat, and Udaipur, Jaipur, Ajmer and Bikaner in Rajasthan, as major centres. Khatri descendants who moved to Jamnagar, Rajkot and Jaipur are known as Halai Khatris.

What does bandhani mean to the communities that wear it?

Bandhani marks auspicious moments and social identity: Khamir says that “in every community, bandhani is considered auspicious”. Specific uses include:

• Brides. In Gujarat, the gharcholu is a wedding sari worn by Hindu and Jain merchant communities and presented to the bride by her mother-in-law, according to the CSMVS museum in Mumbai. Sources differ on its cloth: Impart describes it as silk, while CSMVS says it is woven in very fine silk or cotton. Khamir notes that a bride receiving marriage blessings may use a bandhani roomal.
• New mothers. In Rajasthan, mothers of newborns wear a yellow veil called piliyo, with red dots if the child is a boy.
• Community dress. Bishnoi women typically wear a red odhni patterned with black circles. In Rajasthan, colours signal community, social position, occupation and marital status.
• Elders. In Rajasthan, men’s tie-dyed multicoloured bandhani and leheriya turbans are reserved for elderly or respected members of the community, while block-printed versions are more often worn by younger people.

Where does bandhani come from?

Nobody knows when bandhani was first made: Khamir says plainly that it is “impossible to say”. A 5,000-year age is sometimes claimed, but neither Khamir nor Impart gives evidence for it. Impart notes that scholars place the first South Asian evidence in a sixth-century cave painting, and Khamir cites the Harshacharita (which it dates to 606–648 AD) for a princess’s bridal odhni.

Khamir records that the English East India Company began ordering tie-dyed silk handkerchiefs, known as “bandannas”, from Bengal in the late 1720s. In Kachchh, it links the craft to Khengarji I (1548–1585), who founded Bhuj, Mandvi, Anjar and Rapar and invited settlers from Sindh, many of them bandhani workers.

How is bandhani made?

Bandhani is made by binding many tiny points of woven cloth with thread, then dyeing the cloth so that every bound point keeps its original colour. It is a form of tie-dye. Like batik and shibori, it is a resist technique; unlike ikat, the resist goes on finished cloth rather than on yarn. Khamir describes the steps:

1. Prepare. White cloth, usually cotton, silk, wool or malmal (fine muslin), is washed, folded into layers and lightly stitched at the edges.
2. Mark. A design pricked into paper is rubbed through with dye and water. Traditionally, wooden blocks dipped in geru (red oxide) did this job, a form of block printing.
3. Tie. The tier (bandhanara) lifts each marked point with a pointed fingernail or metal ring and binds it with one continuous cotton thread.
4. Dye. The cloth goes into the lightest colour first, usually yellow, for about 5–7 minutes. It is re-tied as needed and dyed again for each further colour.
5. Dry and open. The cloth dries with the ties still on. Later, two ends are pulled crosswise (“hitching”) so the ties loosen and the pattern appears.

Because the cloth is tied while folded, Impart notes, the pattern is mirrored and repeated across each folded section.

How is bandhani measured?

Bandhani is measured in dots: tiers in Kachchh count their work in kadis, units of four dots, and are paid by the number of kadis and the type of cloth. Khamir reports that a highly skilled tier can tie up to 2,000 dots a day, while part-time tiers average 400–500. A single piece may carry a few ties or many thousands, taking days or months.

How do you tell hand-tied bandhani from a printed copy?

Hand-tied bandhani carries evidence of the ties, so look for that first. Impart says the skill and time hand-tying takes have opened a gap between demand and supply, and printed imitations have grown to fill it.

• Feel for the ties. Khamir says the cloth is dried and sold with the ties still in place so that buyers can confirm it is genuine. A piece covered in small, hard, thread-bound knots has been tied.
• Count the dots. Compare dot size and spacing across the piece. Impart says many small, closely spaced dots are preferred to fewer, widely spaced or irregular ones.
• Look for the fold. Patterns tied on folded cloth repeat as mirror images across the folds. Open the piece fully and look for that reflection.
• Check the ground cloth. Finer cloth allows more intricate designs and costs more, Khamir notes. A tag that says “bandhani” does not by itself tell you the piece was hand-tied.
• Know the two registered names. As of 2026, India’s Geographical Indications Registry lists Jamnagari Bandhani (application 221, registered, certificate dated 10 November 2016) and Kutch Bandhani (application 756, registered, certificate dated 30 March 2024). The Kutch application was filed by the Kachchhi Khatri Bandhani Hastkala Association.

Are bandhani dyes natural?

Bandhani was originally dyed with natural colours, but synthetic dyes are now often used. Khamir lists the old sources as wood for red and pink, turmeric for yellow, pomegranate peel for dark yellow, indigo for blue, onion skins for orange and mehendi for gold. It gives the reason for the change: synthetic dyes are permanent, quick to set and easier to use.

How do you wear or buy bandhani respectfully?

Bandhani is sold and worn widely, including in saris and shawls, but some pieces carry specific meanings, so know what you are buying. A gharcholu is given to a bride at her wedding, a piliyo marks the birth of a child, and tie-dyed bandhani and leheriya turbans in Rajasthan mark seniority; none of these is everyday fashion wear for people outside those communities. Buy from Khatri and other tying and dyeing families in Kachchh, Jamnagar and Rajasthan, ask who tied and dyed the cloth, and prefer pieces that arrive with the ties still on.