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In times of powerlooms, there is a need to preserve traditional crafts like tana-bana. These offer richness of art besides the pleasure of owning a hand-woven product "Madamji, I was
five-year-old when I took to weaving carpets. It was all in the
family. My father passed on the tradition and I have known nothing but
weaving ever since." Apart from weaving carpets, he smilingly
exhibits his skills to the onlookers and points towards the framed
photographs of the likes of Prince Charles evincing interest in the
traditional art and crafts showcased here. Started at the initiative
of late Brigadier Maharaja Sawai Bhawani Singh to enable dozen of
national and state award-winning artists and craftsmen to sell their
products directly to the visitors, this space presents a riot of
colours — exotic patterns and eye-catching display of sarees,
quality miniature painting, Kundan jewellery, marble objects d’art,
fragrances, blue pottery, block printed textiles, and lacquer products
of Rajasthan, mainly from Jaipur. The
USP of Rajasthan carpets lies in its superior quality, designs that
are unique to the state and comparatively low prices. The work of
weaving carpets is being done in the rural areas of Jaipur, Tonk,
Alwar, Dausa districts. Carpet is woven on a handloom by interweaving
tana and bana. The complete designing process usually takes around
20-25 days. Traditionally, the designs used in the carpet are created
manually. Tana -bana mainly uses natural fibres like cotton, wool,
jute etc. Two sets of warp threads are alternatively raised and
lowered to form shed. Through this shed, the shuttle is passed
carrying across the weft thread which is beaten against the woven
fabric with a reed. When the heddle is shifted, the two sets of warp
reverse position, binding the weft into the fabric and opening other
shed are made. Shedding separates warp
threads, according to pattern to allow for weft insertions. As soon
as, a weft yarn is inserted, the artisan beats up the weft with a
reed. Services of artisans like Munesh are also being hired
occasionally by government agencies to instruct aspiring weavers
sponsored by other states of the country. Munesh Kumar acknowledges
the magnanimity of Jaipur’s former royalty, which has always been
extending patronage to the arts and crafts of the state. Says he,
"This practice of promoting art and crafts began way back in the
18th century by Maharaja Sawai Mansingh II, who set up state
patronised 36 ‘karkhanas’ meant for different
crafts. Although the programmes started by the Development
Commissioner for Handlooms, Ministry of Textiles, have supported the
handlooms by providing yarn at cheaper rates, dyes and chemicals,
credit, technology upgradation, skill up-gradation, marketing, etc.
but the weavers are uncertain about the future of this art. Ask
Munesh if his children would follow their father’s footsteps, a
distant look, coupled with a momentary silence, greets you before he
blurts out, "Madamji do ladke hain, khud krenge jo
karna hoga. Waqt ki maang hi aisi hai" (Madam, I have two
sons who are free to take up any vocation that interests them. Demands
of time are such). Clearly, he senses the setbacks in terms of stiff
competition from well set power looms; the handloom sector has
suffered in last few years. There is a dire need to preserve this
dying art as in the present times of mechanisation, tana-bana offers a
unique richness of traditional art and pleasure of owning a hand-woven
product.
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The dexterous
hands of 53-year-old Munesh Kumar have relentlessly been working
for more than 48 years on the tana (warp), running vertically
and bana (weft) running horizontally of his loom. It’s a
delight to watch the pride in this old man’s eyes as he shows some
of his priceless testimonials and continues blabbering in Hinglish,
explaining the nuances of this traditional art.
According to Indian mythology, warp
threads are the sun and weft threads are moon and both eventually
weave the celestial tapestry. In earlier times, weaving was a
highly patronised and promoted art. Weavers were so prized that they
were often given away by the royals as part of a bride’s dowry.
While weaving, one interprets verbally the graphical
design into a special weaving language called ‘boli’ and the other
person on the loom accordingly interlocks the threads into a carefully
woven network of threads known as tana-bana. 
