THE KAPDAGANDA SHAWL
Invoking The Forest God and Earth Goddess
Pankaja Sethi, a textile designer, artist and researcher, has been working with Adivasis, weavers and artisans of the state of Odisha, India, for over ten years. She studied Textile Design and Development at the National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi, and did an MA in Social Anthropology from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. The Karun Thakar Fund awarded Pankaja a Project Grant in support of her project ‘Indigenous Textiles of Odisha’. She shares her thoughts on the Kapdaganda, a sacred shawl that is hand-embroidered by women of the indigenous Dongria Kondh community in Odisha.
Please tell us about the Dongria Kondh
Pankaja Sethi: Kondh is the largest indigenous group of the Indian state of Odisha; they are Adivasis that is First Nations people or the original inhabitants of the land. The Kondh has many communities. Dongria is one community of the Kondh; hence they are referred to as Dongria Kondh.
Image courtesy of Tanuja Sethi. Image above: image courtesy of Tanuja Sethi
The Dongria Kondh lives in the deep dense forests of the Niyamgiri, a hill range, in Rayagada and Kandhamal districts of Odisha. They live in dongor meaning hills, and thus they are called Dongria meaning dweller of the hills/mountains. They speak Kui language. They depend on the forest for existence. They practice slash and burn farming and some of them still practice hunting and gathering. They grow indigenous crops; these are stored in their houses. Some crops and produce are sold in the open-air rural trading market called haat. They build their own houses with mud, stone and bamboo, they make their own arrows and many other tools.
Are they distinguished by their attire?
Pankaja Sethi: Yes, they are distinguished by their attire. The Dongria Kondh men wear a short loin cloth. They carry a bow and arrow and an axe on their shoulder when they go to forest for work. Women wrap a ganda - an unstitched coarse cotton cloth, of short length and narrow width- around the lower part of the body and the torso minus the back.
Men and women both wear heavy metal ornaments and coloured beaded jewellery.Men grow their hair long and knot it with small bun on one side. They decorate their hair with multiple hair clips.Women decorate their hair with multiple clips and several U-shaped clips around the hair bun. A small katuri (sickled shaped tool) is always attached to their hair for multipurpose use. Men wear two nose rings whereas women wear three nose rings. Their ears are full of multiple earrings. Dongria Kondh men and women adorn their body with tattoos.
Image courtesy of Tanuja Sethi
Do the Dongria Kondh have distinct beliefs?
Pankaja Sethi: Dongria Kondh beliefs are different from those of mainstream Hindus.They believe Niyamgiri is the Forest God who created the land, trees, plants, flowers, streams, gods and goddess, and indigenous communities. They believe Niyamgiri lives in trees, forest, leaves, stream, land, hills and everywhere. The Earth Goddess lives in the centre of the village and protects them from evil spirits.
The Dongria Kondh respect nature and live in harmony with the forest. Their reverence for the forest reflects in their visual language, oral traditions and everyday activities. The symbols of hills, of the Forest God and the Earth Goddess are rendered in the form of embroidered motifs on the Kapdaganda that is their traditional shawl. It is of coarse hand-woven cotton cloth and bears intricately embroidered motifs that convey the close relation of the Dongria Kondh with nature, their nature-culture relationship. The embroidery is done by Dongria Kondh women. Kapdaganda is specific to the Dongria Kondh and is a sacred textile.
How is the fabric for the Kapdaganda obtained?
Pankaja Sethi: Traditionally, the ground fabric has been woven, on a pit loom, by Dalit Dom weavers living in Jhigdi village nearby. Dongria Kondh women would buy the fabric and embroider the Kapdaganda.
In earlier days many Dom weavers used to weave cloth for the Dongria Kondh - from loin cloth for men to the plain ganda for everyday wear for women and the thick shawl for embroidering a Kapdaganda. Over time, the number of Dom weavers who weave this cloth has declined. Presently Ram Hiyan is the only Dalit Dom weaver. He says he weaves for the Dongria Kondh to sustain himself and continue the legacy.
The construction of the cloth is similar to basket weave. It is loosely woven with kora that is raw unbleached cotton yarns; two yarns in the warp and two in the weft with red and yellow borders on both sides of selvedge and towards both ends.Nowadays, apart from Dongria Kondh women purchasing the cloth from the weaver, it is also bought by a local development agency and consigned to embroiderers.
Image courtesy of Tanuja Sethi
How is this type of embroidery learnt?
Pankaja Sethi: Young Dongria Kondh girls learn the art of embroidery from their elders while staying in the dhangirisala (youth dormitory). Elders guide them during the initial stage. Dongria Kondh women embroider in a small group or individually after work whilst singing songs in the praise of Niyamgiri. The embroidery is so intricate that it takes a month or more to complete each shawl. Dongria Kondh women embroider the Kapdaganda during their leisure hours after returning from working in the fields. They spent some more time embroidering during the monsoon season as they cannot go to fields due to heavy rainfall.
How is the embroidery worked?
Pankaja Sethi: The embroidery is worked with a long needle called suji and threads called nulu, and is started from one end of the cloth. The embroidery threads, bought from the market, are separated and slowly/gently plied by hand. The women embroider by counting the threads of fabric and embroider uniformly along the weave as a result of which the motifs appear symmetrical on both sides of the fabric. Sometime yarns of the ground fabric are loosened or removed in order to create the design on the ground fabric. The stitches are similar to running stitch, satin stitch and blanket/buttonhole stitch.
Please tell us about the motifs
Pankaja Sethi: The Kapdaganda is a sacred symbolic textile embodied with beliefs and values. Rows of a single motif are embroidered to form patterns on both ends of the shawl. The motifs embroidered on the Kapdaganda represent Niyamgiri- the Forest God; Kudalinga - the Earth Goddess; the belief of the creation of the Dongria Kondh by Niyamgiri; the intangible relation between Dongria Kondh and the land; and their reverence for the Forest God and the Earth Goddess. The Dongria Kondh cannot think of separating themselves from the scared world of Niyamgiri.
The small triangles, in floating stitches with threads of two colours, represent the sacred world of the Niyamgiri hills where Dongria Kondh lives. The larger triangular pattern with a parting in the centre represents Kudalinga, the house of the Earth Goddess; her shrine is in the centre of a village and protects the Kondh from evil spirits. The Kudalinga motif is a symbol of the Goddess and her power. The round motifs between the Kudalinga motifs are Kanka that is the eyes of the Goddess that guard and protect the Dongria Kondh.
Image courtesy of Tanuja Sethi
The slanting lines, rendered in multi-coloured threads, are keri; they represented the cultivated land. The straight line in between each pattern, worked in running stitch, is called hippa or hida it is embroidered like a border, it marks a boundary. There is a row of a slightly curved small triangular motif called kana at either end. Kapdaganda shawls typically have tassels at both ends. Some shawls have tiyan that means flowers; these are similar to pom-poms made of threads. The whole shawl thus narrates the story of Niyamgiri – the land, culture and Gods.
Do the colours hold meaning?
Pankaja Sethi: Probably in earlier days the Dongria Kondh used colours obtained from natural sources to dye thread for embroidery. It is not very clear how they started using particularly these colours. The colours of threads are red, maroon, green and yellow; they reflect their connection with nature. The Forest God and Earth Goddess demand blood sacrifices; red and maroon colours mean blood sacrifice. Yellow is the colour of turmeric that is locally grown and green represents the forest.
Please tell us about the cultural significance of the Kapdaganda
Pankaja Sethi: The Kapdaganda is a sacred textile. The motifs on the Kapdaganda represent the Niyamgiri hills, the story of sacred world of Niyamgiri. It is worn by men and women both during rituals to celebrate and honour the Forest God, and during special occasions. Dongria Kondh women embroider the shawl over months and gift it to their beloved as a positive gesture for future partnership.
Image courtesy of Tanuja Sethi
Would encouraging Dongria Kondh women to embroider the Kapdaganda help in preserving it?
Pankaja Sethi: Across the world it is important to preserve indigenous forms of art and craft practices. Kapdaganda is one of the rare indigenous textiles of India that needs to be preserved and revived as apart of legacy and an art form.The tradition of Kapdaganda embroidery is presently practiced by few Dongria Kondh women. It may die if it is not preserved and sustained by young Dongria Kondh women. Some women embroider for personal use and some now embroidering on order.
The replication of a Kapdaganda - by weavers who reproduce woven motifs of an authentic embroidered Kapdaganda or by artisans other than Dongria Kondh who reproduce embroidered motifs of an authentic Kapdaganda-does not carry the same value and meaning. In this context, the Kapdaganda needs to be protected by a Geographical Indication tag. Documentation work, regarding this, is in process. Obtaining a GI tag for the Kapdaganda will bring recognition to this sacred textile and the Dongria Kondh women who embroider it.
Text by Brinda Gill
Follow Pankaja Sethi: @pankajasethistudio
Pankaja Sethi, a textile designer, artist and researcher, has been working with Adivasis, weavers and artisans of the state of Odisha, India, for over ten years. She studied Textile Design and Development at the National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi, and did an MA in Social Anthropology from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. The Karun Thakar Fund awarded Pankaja a Project Grant in support of her project ‘Indigenous Textiles of Odisha’. She shares her thoughts on the Kapdaganda, a sacred shawl that is hand-embroidered by women of the indigenous Dongria Kondh community in Odisha.
Please tell us about the Dongria Kondh
Pankaja Sethi: Kondh is the largest indigenous group of the Indian state of Odisha; they are Adivasis that is First Nations people or the original inhabitants of the land. The Kondh has many communities. Dongria is one community of the Kondh; hence they are referred to as Dongria Kondh.
Image courtesy of Tanuja Sethi. Image above: image courtesy of Tanuja Sethi
The Dongria Kondh lives in the deep dense forests of the Niyamgiri, a hill range, in Rayagada and Kandhamal districts of Odisha. They live in dongor meaning hills, and thus they are called Dongria meaning dweller of the hills/mountains. They speak Kui language. They depend on the forest for existence. They practice slash and burn farming and some of them still practice hunting and gathering. They grow indigenous crops; these are stored in their houses. Some crops and produce are sold in the open-air rural trading market called haat. They build their own houses with mud, stone and bamboo, they make their own arrows and many other tools.
Are they distinguished by their attire?
Pankaja Sethi: Yes, they are distinguished by their attire. The Dongria Kondh men wear a short loin cloth. They carry a bow and arrow and an axe on their shoulder when they go to forest for work. Women wrap a ganda - an unstitched coarse cotton cloth, of short length and narrow width- around the lower part of the body and the torso minus the back.
Men and women both wear heavy metal ornaments and coloured beaded jewellery.Men grow their hair long and knot it with small bun on one side. They decorate their hair with multiple hair clips.Women decorate their hair with multiple clips and several U-shaped clips around the hair bun. A small katuri (sickled shaped tool) is always attached to their hair for multipurpose use. Men wear two nose rings whereas women wear three nose rings. Their ears are full of multiple earrings. Dongria Kondh men and women adorn their body with tattoos.
Image courtesy of Tanuja Sethi
Do the Dongria Kondh have distinct beliefs?
Pankaja Sethi: Dongria Kondh beliefs are different from those of mainstream Hindus.They believe Niyamgiri is the Forest God who created the land, trees, plants, flowers, streams, gods and goddess, and indigenous communities. They believe Niyamgiri lives in trees, forest, leaves, stream, land, hills and everywhere. The Earth Goddess lives in the centre of the village and protects them from evil spirits.
The Dongria Kondh respect nature and live in harmony with the forest. Their reverence for the forest reflects in their visual language, oral traditions and everyday activities. The symbols of hills, of the Forest God and the Earth Goddess are rendered in the form of embroidered motifs on the Kapdaganda that is their traditional shawl. It is of coarse hand-woven cotton cloth and bears intricately embroidered motifs that convey the close relation of the Dongria Kondh with nature, their nature-culture relationship. The embroidery is done by Dongria Kondh women. Kapdaganda is specific to the Dongria Kondh and is a sacred textile.
How is the fabric for the Kapdaganda obtained?
Pankaja Sethi: Traditionally, the ground fabric has been woven, on a pit loom, by Dalit Dom weavers living in Jhigdi village nearby. Dongria Kondh women would buy the fabric and embroider the Kapdaganda.
In earlier days many Dom weavers used to weave cloth for the Dongria Kondh - from loin cloth for men to the plain ganda for everyday wear for women and the thick shawl for embroidering a Kapdaganda. Over time, the number of Dom weavers who weave this cloth has declined. Presently Ram Hiyan is the only Dalit Dom weaver. He says he weaves for the Dongria Kondh to sustain himself and continue the legacy.
The construction of the cloth is similar to basket weave. It is loosely woven with kora that is raw unbleached cotton yarns; two yarns in the warp and two in the weft with red and yellow borders on both sides of selvedge and towards both ends.Nowadays, apart from Dongria Kondh women purchasing the cloth from the weaver, it is also bought by a local development agency and consigned to embroiderers.
Image courtesy of Tanuja Sethi
How is this type of embroidery learnt?
Pankaja Sethi: Young Dongria Kondh girls learn the art of embroidery from their elders while staying in the dhangirisala (youth dormitory). Elders guide them during the initial stage. Dongria Kondh women embroider in a small group or individually after work whilst singing songs in the praise of Niyamgiri. The embroidery is so intricate that it takes a month or more to complete each shawl. Dongria Kondh women embroider the Kapdaganda during their leisure hours after returning from working in the fields. They spent some more time embroidering during the monsoon season as they cannot go to fields due to heavy rainfall.
How is the embroidery worked?
Pankaja Sethi: The embroidery is worked with a long needle called suji and threads called nulu, and is started from one end of the cloth. The embroidery threads, bought from the market, are separated and slowly/gently plied by hand. The women embroider by counting the threads of fabric and embroider uniformly along the weave as a result of which the motifs appear symmetrical on both sides of the fabric. Sometime yarns of the ground fabric are loosened or removed in order to create the design on the ground fabric. The stitches are similar to running stitch, satin stitch and blanket/buttonhole stitch.
Please tell us about the motifs
Pankaja Sethi: The Kapdaganda is a sacred symbolic textile embodied with beliefs and values. Rows of a single motif are embroidered to form patterns on both ends of the shawl. The motifs embroidered on the Kapdaganda represent Niyamgiri- the Forest God; Kudalinga - the Earth Goddess; the belief of the creation of the Dongria Kondh by Niyamgiri; the intangible relation between Dongria Kondh and the land; and their reverence for the Forest God and the Earth Goddess. The Dongria Kondh cannot think of separating themselves from the scared world of Niyamgiri.
The small triangles, in floating stitches with threads of two colours, represent the sacred world of the Niyamgiri hills where Dongria Kondh lives. The larger triangular pattern with a parting in the centre represents Kudalinga, the house of the Earth Goddess; her shrine is in the centre of a village and protects the Kondh from evil spirits. The Kudalinga motif is a symbol of the Goddess and her power. The round motifs between the Kudalinga motifs are Kanka that is the eyes of the Goddess that guard and protect the Dongria Kondh.
Image courtesy of Tanuja Sethi
The slanting lines, rendered in multi-coloured threads, are keri; they represented the cultivated land. The straight line in between each pattern, worked in running stitch, is called hippa or hida it is embroidered like a border, it marks a boundary. There is a row of a slightly curved small triangular motif called kana at either end. Kapdaganda shawls typically have tassels at both ends. Some shawls have tiyan that means flowers; these are similar to pom-poms made of threads. The whole shawl thus narrates the story of Niyamgiri – the land, culture and Gods.
Do the colours hold meaning?
Pankaja Sethi: Probably in earlier days the Dongria Kondh used colours obtained from natural sources to dye thread for embroidery. It is not very clear how they started using particularly these colours. The colours of threads are red, maroon, green and yellow; they reflect their connection with nature. The Forest God and Earth Goddess demand blood sacrifices; red and maroon colours mean blood sacrifice. Yellow is the colour of turmeric that is locally grown and green represents the forest.
Please tell us about the cultural significance of the Kapdaganda
Pankaja Sethi: The Kapdaganda is a sacred textile. The motifs on the Kapdaganda represent the Niyamgiri hills, the story of sacred world of Niyamgiri. It is worn by men and women both during rituals to celebrate and honour the Forest God, and during special occasions. Dongria Kondh women embroider the shawl over months and gift it to their beloved as a positive gesture for future partnership.
Image courtesy of Tanuja Sethi
Would encouraging Dongria Kondh women to embroider the Kapdaganda help in preserving it?
Pankaja Sethi: Across the world it is important to preserve indigenous forms of art and craft practices. Kapdaganda is one of the rare indigenous textiles of India that needs to be preserved and revived as apart of legacy and an art form.The tradition of Kapdaganda embroidery is presently practiced by few Dongria Kondh women. It may die if it is not preserved and sustained by young Dongria Kondh women. Some women embroider for personal use and some now embroidering on order.
The replication of a Kapdaganda - by weavers who reproduce woven motifs of an authentic embroidered Kapdaganda or by artisans other than Dongria Kondh who reproduce embroidered motifs of an authentic Kapdaganda-does not carry the same value and meaning. In this context, the Kapdaganda needs to be protected by a Geographical Indication tag. Documentation work, regarding this, is in process. Obtaining a GI tag for the Kapdaganda will bring recognition to this sacred textile and the Dongria Kondh women who embroider it.
Text by Brinda Gill
Follow Pankaja Sethi: @pankajasethistudio
1 comment
This was so well explained, I’m a student learning about the Indian traditional arts and this really helped me. Thank youuu.