KOTPAD COLOURS
The beauty of the red natural dye Ala is seen in Kotpad textiles traditionally woven in Kotpad town, Koraput district, Odisha state, India.
“There are about one hundred thousand weavers in the state of Odisha. Of these just about 50 weavers are from Kotpad town, Koraput district, located in south-western Odisha. Their work stands out for the beauty of the red colour of the cotton cloth that has been woven there for centuries. Kotpad handloom fabric received the Geographical Indication of India tag in 2005”, says Surendra Kumar Patra.
Patra is an award-winning, ikat master weaver hailing from a weaver family from Nuapatna village, Cuttack district, Odisha, a coastal state in eastern India. He worked at the Weavers Service Centre that is under the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, and is located in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. His work brought him in touch with textile artisans from different parts of India. He retired as Deputy Director, Weavers Service Centre at Bhubaneswar. 
Among the textile artisans he has worked with are weavers from Kotpad, and he has marvelled at the effort they put in to obtain yarns of a beautiful rich, deep red from Ala, a natural dye. He believes that apart from the beauty of this colour, the fabrics are safer to wear as they are woven with yarns that are dyed with a natural dye that is skin-friendly, unlike yarns dyed with unsafe synthetic dyes.
“After 1993, awareness of using safe dyes and avoiding cariogenic synthetic dyes was created. Subsequently there was focus on the revival of natural dyes and dyeing in different parts of India. The traditional process of dyeing with Ala is eco-friendly as only natural ingredients are used. Ala is a wonderful natural dye and has immense potential for use in dyeing yarns and fabrics. The fabrics woven with yarns dyed with Ala are truly unique for their beautiful colour, being skin-friendly, for being soft to the touch and being extremely comfortable to wear on account of the processing the yarns go through”.
Natural Red
The red colour of Kotpad weaves is obtained from the root-bark of the Ala tree (botanical name Morinda citrifolia) that is native to the area. “The natural occurrence of this indigenous ingredient, the skill of the dyer-weaver in extracting colour from the root-bark, and the skill of the weavers in weaving cloth with motifs specific to their culture has made Kotpad weaves stand out”, says Patra.
The Ala tree is relatively short, growing to a height of about ten feet. The root-bark yields a red dye while the root yields a yellow dye. The colouring matter occurs to the maximum extent when the trees are 3-4 years old, after which there are only traces of the dye. Red, brown and chocolate shades are obtained on pre or post mordanted cotton yarns when dyed with Ala; it is possible to dye the yarn without the mordanting process in the case of protein fibres like silk. “Dyeing the yarns to obtain a deep red colour is a tedious process and takes about three weeks. Yet, once the colour is obtained, it is fast to washing and sunlight, and will not bleed” says Patra. 
Colour from Root Bark
Patra explains that the bark of the root is usually collected just after the rainy season. “The root-bark is obtained by digging the earth to the required depth to reach the roots. The bark is scraped from the root, and then the earth is replaced so that the tree is not affected. The bark is made into small pieces, dried and powdered. The dyeing process is carried out after the rainy season as the high humidity of the rainy season affects the powder”.
The colours obtained from Ala powder range from reddish-yellow to red and dark brown. “The tint obtained depends on the age of the roots of the Ala tree and the proportion of the root bark to the woody part of the root. The root-bark gives the best reds. The dye in the woody part of the root is yellow and hence when the wood preponderates over the bark, the resulting dye is reddish-yellow”.
Dyeing: A Labour and Time Intensive Process
The dyeing process involves soaking the yarns in water, squeezing the yarns and then drying them. The yarns are then treated with castor oil, and the dyer ensures the yarn has soaked the oil. After this a paste of cowdung and water is prepared and the oil-treated yarn is soaked in this slurry. It is then dried in the sun.
Subsequently the yarns are soaked in alkaline water obtained by mixing ash (by burning leaves or wood) and then dried. This process is repeated over several days till the yarns are off-white in colour. The Ala root-bark powder is mixed in water and boiled. The yarns are immersed in this simmering dye-bath and then removed and sun-dried. This process is repeated two-three times till the yarns take on a deep red colour. As about three weeks are required for the process, thus, the cost of production (of dyeing with Ala) is higher than dyeing with synthetic dyes.
Reason for the Red
Patra says, “Many scholars have said that the cowdung process gives natural bleaching of cotton. I feel there is some material in cowdung that sets off a bio-reaction leading to the development of the red colour. Cowdung primarily has cellulose and lignin. I feel it is lignin that binds the colour in Ala powder to the yarns/cloth to create the red colour”.
“The exact mechanism of Ala dyeing has not yet been established by researchers because dye chemists have not given attention to this dyeing process. This is because the volume of production is very low. Researchers have yet to find out the exact mechanism so that an easier and less time-consuming process of dyeing can be carried out.”
Cotton and Silk Dyeing
Patra explains that natural fibres that have protein-such as silk-do not require the time and labour-intensive process (with castor oil, cowdung and alkaline solution as outlined above) for dyeing. Silk is dyed directly by immersing in a solution of Ala powder to obtain a red colour. Typically coarse cotton yarns are dyed (by the outlined process) as they have the strength to take the impact of the process that is fairly vigorous.
“Ala does not have affinity to cotton, so cotton yarn has to be treated with cowdung and castor oil before it is soaked in a solution of Ala powder. Ala has affinity to silk as it is a protein fibre. Silk can be dyed directly with Ala powder. However, silk yarn does not get the depth of colour that cotton yarn obtains by the process. The shade obtained is yellowish-brown instead of dark red. If black colour is required, then ferrous sulphate is added to the Ala powder solution”.
Kotpad Fabrics
Kotpad weavers weave cloth on a hand loom. The textiles woven are saris, shawls and stoles. “Traditionally, Kotpad textiles have been woven for the local community that is members of the Mirigan (Panika) and Muria communities. Kotpad textiles are worn by/gifted to the bride and groom during wedding rituals. They are worn during other rituals”. However, now, weavers also weave for the urban market; they either participate in exhibitions themselves or collaborate with designers and others to have their weaves retailed in cities. The textiles have been appreciated by customers in urban markets and international buyers also.
Kotpad textiles typically are of an off-white field with borders and end-panel(s) of red, red and brown. There are some that have a red field with off-white borders with a brown stripe/ brown stripes; or dark brown/black with off white stripes. Within this woven fabric are motifs woven with supplementary weft yarn of a contrasting colour. Thus the white field has patterns/ motifs in brown or black; the red field has patterns/motifs in white; the black field has patterns/motifs in white.
“The motifs features on Kotpad weaves are simple and drawn from life around the weavers”. The traditional motifs are of people carrying out daily activities, animals, birds, dagger, palanquin and temple. Saris and shawls for ritual/ceremonial purpose have a greater number of motifs.” 
“Generally fabrics of coarse count yarns are seen in this area. These fabrics are suitable for scarves. Product diversification is needed especially as furnishing fabric (with this dyed yarn) will find greater market. With the help of Shri Gobardhan Panika, Padmashree Awardee, for Kotpad fabric, I have tried to produce sarees with 2/100s cotton yarn for urban test and it was a success. The sari was appreciated. I have also helped to produce Bomkai saris with 1/120s yarn, Ala dyed under Tantavi project implemented by the Development Commissioner for Handlooms and the response was very good”.
“As natural dyes are seeing a revival across the world, Ala offers dyers a wonderful resource to create beautiful and fast colours. Plantation of Ala trees - which is the base material of Ala dyeing- is paramount. With further efforts, one hopes the awareness and practise of Ala dyeing will be created and carried out so that the striking, natural, fast and safe red colour can be used and appreciated widely. It is admirable that weavers and their families, in Kotpad, are carrying forward this centuries-old tradition”.
Text courtesy of Brinda Gill
Images courtesy of Surendra Kumar Patra
Find out more about Kotpad Weaving by watching this documentary: https://youtu.be/nwYxKHrU5ME