ZARI & ZARDOZI Zardozi is a Persian word that means sewing with gold string. Zar meaning gold and Dozi meaning embroidery. Zardozi attained its summit in the 17th century, under the patronage of Mughal Emperor Akbar. Under the rule of Aurangzeb, the royal patronage stopped and this led to the decline of the craft. Since the cost was high and raw materials were quite rare, craftsmen could not carry on with the embroidery on their own. Zardozi embroidery has been in existence in India from the time of the Rig Veda. The craft prospered during the Mughal Emperor, Akbar, but later a loss of royal patronage and industrialization led to its decline. The main Zari production centers are Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. Here the metal ingots are melted into metal bars called pasa from which lengths are made by beating it after treatment. This is then pulled through perforated steel plates to make it into wires, followed by the tarkashi process to make it thin with rubber and diamond dies. The last stage is called badla where the wire is flattened and twisted with silk or cotton thread to become kasab or kalabattu. This has uniform evenness, flexibility, softness, and ductility. Kasab can stand for real silver/gold, as well as for plated silver/gold or for an imitation in which a copper base is given a coat of silver or golden color to make the product less expensive.
LISTED BELOW ARE DIFFERENT KINDS OF ZARI WORK. This is a heavy and more elaborate embroidery work which uses varieties of gold threads, spangles, beads, seed pearls, wire, and gota. It is used to embellish wedding outfits, heavy coats, cushions, curtains, canopies, bags, purses, belts, and shoes. The material on which this kind of embroidery is done is usually heavy silk, velvet and satin. The kind of stitches found are salma-sitara, gijai, badla, katori, and seed pearls, among others. The main centres are in Delhi, Jaipur, Varanasi, Agra, and Surat. The elderly teach the young and the skill continues from generation to generation.
RAW MATERIALS AND TOOLS Basic Material: Jacquard fabric made with Silk, Zari, Cotton, Polyester etc. Coloring Material: Bukani (Colour Powder). In today s times, Zari is categorized into 3 types: I) REAL ZARI made of pure gold & silver. IMITATION ZARI made of silver electroplating (thinly) on copper wire. METALLIC ZARI made of slitted polyester metalized film. II) Sequin (Salma, Sitara, Cutdana, Moti) III) Glass beads, Wooden beads, Ghungroo IV) Dabaka, Kasab, Kora
Adda (Wooden Frame): It is a wooden adjustable frame consisting of four wooden bars and the cloth on which the embroidery is supposed to be done is stretched on the two horizontal bars. It is then fixed tightly and locked on the other two vertically parallel bars. This prevents the cloth slippage while working and also enables clear vision and faster movement of the tools. Aari (Needle): Needle is the main tool in the Zardozi embroidery. It has a hook at the tip and wooden, plastic or steel handle at the back. For Zardozi work, 10 no. needle is required. Raw Material The raw materials required for making Zardozi embroidery are procured from the local market in bulk and stored for later use. The materials used are as following:
Gold and Silver Threads: Originally the embroidery of Zardozi was done by using real gold and silver threads. These threads were made by the craftsmen themselves in the small workshops at their homes. The blocks of metals (gold and silver) were melted and pressed through iron sheets having perforations to make thin wires. The size of the perforations varied according to the requirement of the threads. Simple plain wire is called as Badla. These Badlas are sometimes wrapped around a thread and is called Kasav. The twisted wire is called as Nakshi. Metal Wires: In recent times the original gold and silver has been replaced by metal wire made out of copper and resham threads. Anchor threads are also commonly used these days. Dabka and Sitara : Dabka and Sitara are used as embellishments in the Zardozi embroidery. These are spring kind of threads. They are cut into small size and used as per the requirement. Sitara are small spangles, golden or silver color. Kardana and Pootki Mooti (Beads): Artisans also use beads as and when required. These beads come in different shapes and sizes and are named accordingly. The glass beads with cylindrical
structure are called Kardana and very small spherical beads are called Potki Moti. Shiny stones: These stone which resembles like diamonds are used to embellish the product. These are available in different shapes, sizes and colors. Fevicol is used to paste the shiny stone on the cloth. Tracing paper is used for tracing the motifs. Khadiya (Chalk Powder): It is used in the solution with Kerosene Oil to make the paste for tracing the motifs.