Wearing Saree is an age old tradition among Bangladeshi women. Its an integral part of Bangladeshi culture and heritage. It,s a tradition of Bangladeshi women to wear gorgeous Saree in weeding ceremony It is also a habit of a woman to wear Saree in their daily life.
Jamdani Saree is very favorite to a woman among the large varieties of Saree produced in Bangladesh. The word Jamdani is derived from Persia, where ‘Jam’ means flower and ‘Dani’ means a vase or a container. Jamdani is world famous for it’s eye catching artistic and expensive ornamental fabric. It,s made of high quality cotton muslin of Bengali origin, with colored stripes and patterns. It is the most artistic textile of the Bangladeshi weaver.
Undoubtedly , jamdani industry of Bangladesh reached the pinnacle of success during the Moghul era. Greater Dhaka was the center of hand looms. There were hand looms in almost all villages of the Dhaka district. Dhaka, Sonargaon, Dhamrai, Titabari, Jangalbari and Bajitpur were famous for making exclusive quality jamdani and muslin. Traders from Europe, Iran, Armenia, as well as Mughal-Pathan traders used to throng in Dhaka to deal with in these fabrics. Particularly the Mughal Emperor, the Nawab of Bengal and other aristocrats were the main customer to buy high quality muslin and jamdani for their masters’ use . The golden age of Dhaka muslin began with Mughal rule.
Zamdanii Saree began to face hurdle during the middle of the 19th century and the industry alarmingly started to decline. Svereal factors were behind the declination. Mainly because of using the machinery in the English textile industry, and the subsequent import of lower quality, but low cost yarn from Europe. On the other hand fall of Mughal power in India, deprived the producers of jamdani of their most influential patrons. Villages like Madhurapur and Jangalbari, (both in the Kishoreganj district), once famous for the jamdani industry went into gradual extnction.
The major problem, the industry is facing is that the weavers do not get adequate wages for their labor. A skilled experience taanti or “locally called ostad” used to earn about Tk 2,500 to Tk 3,000 per month. Junior weavers get much less, around Tk 1,600. As a result many weavers discourage their children not to choose profession as a waiver. On the other hand the garments industry offer a lucrative alternative consequently led them to gave up the profession as a waiver. A good piece of jamdani sari needs intensive labor of one to two months, and the wage paid to the weavers does not match their hard work. Another problem is , producers often force to access sari markets through middleman, who often create informal cartels, ultimately lead the waivers deprived of their share of profit. Even sometimes, the producers fail to realize their production cost.
It is a good news for jamdani industry that some government and non government organization are coming forward to save the old pride of Dhaka jamdani and they are trying hard to avoid the middleman and also trying to establish a direct link between the producers and Saree markets. In this regard a Jamdnai Palli has been established at mirpur in Dhaka. Thanks to tireless endevour form entrepreneurs such as Monira Emdad, who came forward to keep afloat the sinking jamdani industry. Tangail Saree Kutir along with other sari stores in Baily Road, also played a supportive role to keep this age old tradition and fashion alive and gaining momentum.
