Bomkai
Butidar Bomkai / Sonepur Sari
“A Kotpad handloom sari, woven on a three-shuttle pit loom by the tribal weavers of the Mirgan community in Kotpad village, Koraput district, Odisha.”
Despite its rough and coarse texture, the sari is gentle on the skin and naturally dyed in the reddish tinge from the roots of the Indian madder, ‘aul’.
The body and pallu (end-piece) are adorned with tribal motifs, meticulously hand-counted and handpicked by the weaver using the extra weft technique.
The “phoda kumbha border,” a distinctive element of Odisha handlooms and a variation of the traditional temple border, adorns the sari, adding to its cultural and aesthetic appeal.
Gateway; sacred geometry of the south. Identified across the border and pallu of this object.
Open motif entrySacred bead; protection and meditation. Identified across the framing border of this object.
Open motif entrySeveral of India's painted-textile traditions descend directly from ritual wall and floor art: Madhubani from the Mithila murals of Bihar, Warli from the Adivasi wall paintings of Maharashtra, Sohrai from the harvest art of eastern India. Applied to silk and cotton with natural pigments and bamboo or twig pens, they carry a graphic, narrative density unlike any woven design.