UNESCO lists 50 iconic Indian Textiles

UNESCO recently released a list of 50 exclusive and iconic heritage textile crafts of the country.

• According to UNESCO, one of the major challenges to the safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in South Asia is the lack of proper inventory and documentation.
• The publication, which aims to bridge this gap, brings together years of research on the 50 selected textiles.
• Some of the textiles are mentioned in the below-given table:

Textile in India:

• The manufacture and use of various forms of fine textile varieties can be traced back to the Indus Valley period.
• Due to the short life of the textiles, the only evidence is the paintings, sculptures, and inscriptions if any.
• The images in the paintings and sculptures are seen draped in fine transparent muslin. In fact, in most paintings, the fineness of the cloth is stressed by highlighting only the hem and folds of the dress.
• There is clear evidence of the variety of textiles and embroidery in the Ajanta murals and miniature paintings, temple murals.
• The art of weaving and dyeing cotton had been well developed, but silk weaving came later. The art was practiced from the 1^st century and by the 4^th and 5^th centuries, woven silk formed a major portion of exports.
• Textiles were the major attraction that formed the bulk of the trade with Western and Eastern countries.
• Roman documents mention the export of silk from India to Europe around the sixth century A.D.
• Masulipatnam on the western coast was an important port, with traders coming in from China, Arabia, and European countries like Portugal, France, and England.
• Textile trade was carried on in the North, with caravan loads of woven textiles reaching Moscow.
• The Mughal Emperors with their flair for beauty and luxury brought in new skills which mingled with the existing art, resulting in fine artworks.