Tussar Silk- from Bihar and Jharkhand

Costumes of Bihar &
Jharkhand…
EMPHASIZED ON ‘‘TUSSAR
SILK’’
(Queen of textile)

CONTENTS…
 Introduction ,
 Producing silk,
 Production centres,
 Used different motifs & patterns,
 Silk process,
 Silhouette part

SILK…
 The material 'Silk' always spells luxury,
elegance, class and comfort. Everyone loves
this shimmering fiber.

Introduction…
 Exquisite qualities of Silk saris like the natural
sheen, inherent affinity for dyes and vibrant
colors, high absorbance, light weight,
resilience and excellent drape etc. have made
it, Queen of textile, all over the world.

Producing silk…
 Tussar Silk, also known by its Sanskrit name
Kosa silk, is produced from Tusser silkworms.
Produced mainly in the Indian state,
Jharkhand and Bihar. Tussar is valued for its
texture and natural gold color, which is
unusually rich and deep.
 Tussar Silk is a type of wild silk.

 Silk is a protein fibre, produced by the silkworm for
spinning around its cocoon. This fibre (filament) is
unwound to obtain silk. Yarn is produced by twisting
the fibre, which is then dyed, warped and finally
woven to produce fabric.

 The fabric is derived from the cocoon formed
by the caterpillar of the silk moth. The
caterpillar feeds on mulberry leaves and forms
the cocoon by a single thread of silk which is
its saliva.
 This strand of silk is later unwound and
converted into a usable thread. Production of
silk in this process is known as sericulture.

Production centers…
 India produces the bulk of the world’s production
of Tussar silk. Of that, as much as 40% comes
from one state – Jharkhand.
 The Kharsawa district of Kuchai area of
Jharkhand considered as the epicentre of Tussar-
silk rearing in India. For the locals there (mostly
tribals) sericulture is one of the most viable
income generation options available.
 The sericulture is managed by the skilled tribal
workforce of the region. The silks are impressed
upon with traditional printings or prints of tribal
dances and tribal festivals and the other features
of tribal life.

 Silks from Bihar are dominated by tussar silk,
so that Bhagalpur is nicknamed as the 'Silk
City'.
 For almost 100 odd years the spinning and
reeling of tussar yarn is being done in various
parts of the state and largely in the
Bhagalpur- Katoria region. The reeled yarn
gets passed on from Bhagalpur to
Biharsharief, Katoria (Banka), Manpur (Gaya)
and other smaller locations of the state.

 Among the silk garments worn in India, the
most famous is undoubtedly the silk sari. Sari
is the most common outfit for Indian women
and silk saris have a special meaning for
women of all social status.

 Tussar silk or Kosa silk is valued for its purity
and texture as it is available naturally in
shades of gold-pale, dark, honey, tawny,
beige, creamy, etc. Tussar silk saris are
considered auspicious.
 It is a special variety of silk, as the cocoons
are raised on Arjun and Sal trees. They come
in a range of colors and are decorated with a
variety of natural motifs.

 Today silk is not just restricted to saris.
 A wide range of ladies' and men's wear like
dupattas, garments, fabrics, caps,
handkerchiefs, scarves, dhotis, turbans,
shawls, ghagras or lehengas, and even quilts,
bedcovers, cushions, table-cloths curtains are
made of silk.

Grading Silk
 Unlike cotton, which is graded in counts, silk is
graded in deniers. In cotton the lesser the
count the thicker the material and the higher
the count the thinner the material.
 While in silk it is the opposite with the lesser
denier yearn producing a finer silk and a
thicker denier producing a heavier silk.

Silk process…
Reeling
 The unwinding of the fine silk filaments from the
cocoon is called reeling, and the process is
carried out in a building known as a filature.
 The cocoons are first put into hot water in order to
soften the sericin. After soaking, the cocoons are
lightly brushed to find the ends of the filaments so
that they can be unwound.
 Although there may be as much as 13,000 feet
(4,000 meters) of filament in one cocoon, only
about one fifth can be reeled into the continuous
filament known as net silk.

…
 Reeling was once a long operation requiring
many hours of labour. But today it is highly
automated.
 Modern reeling machines can reel up to 11
pounds (5 kilograms) of raw silk in eight hours.
 Much reeled silk is traded in hank form, bound
into bundles called books. These are packed
into bales for sale or export.

Throwing
 Reeled silk is usually subjected to a process
called throwing, in which the silk strands are
twisted together with other silk strands to form
a thicker, stronger, multithreaded yarn.
 Throwing produces a wide variety of yarns that
differ according to the number of strands and
the amount and direction of the twist imparted.

Degumming
 Silk that contains sericin is called raw silk. The
gummy substance affords protection during
processing and so is usually retained until the
yarn or fabric stage.
 It is then removed by boiling the silk in a mildly
alkaline solution. This process, called
degumming, leaves the silk soft and lustrous,
but it can reduce the weight of the silk by as
much as 30%.

Spinning
 Silk that is unsuitable for reeling is known as
waste silk.
 The fibres in waste silk are usually about 3 to 5
inches (8 to 12 cm) long.
 Waste silk can be cleaned and degummed and
then carded and combed to produce silk tops, or
slivers.
 These are then spun to produce spun silk yarns.
Spun silk yarns, like cotton yarns, are normally
defined by the yarn count--the number of hanks,
each 840 yards (768 meters) long, that will weigh
1 pound (0.45 kilogram).
 The higher the count number, the finer the yarn.

Weighting
 The loss in mass that occurs during
degumming is often restored in a process
known as weighting.
 In weighting, a finishing substance, such as
metallic (usually tin) salts, is applied to the silk
to increase the silk's mass.
 Weighting can improve the lustre and draping
properties of silk, but the process can also
increase the fibre's susceptibility to damage.

 During weighting, silk can absorb as much as
300 percent of its own weight in metallic salts.
 Excessive weighting diminishes the affinity of
silk for dyestuffs, and the fibres become more
brittle and lose strength.
 The amount of weighting that has been given
to a silk is normally specified on the garment
label.

Dyeing
 The dyeing of silk using natural dyestuffs was
practiced by the Chinese as far back as 2600
BC.
 Today, synthetic dyestuffs are used.
 Silk may be dyed as yarn before weaving or as
woven fabric after degumming.
 Acid dyes, metal-complex dyes, and reactive
dyes can be used to dye silk to a wide range of
colors.

Weaving
 Silk weaving is similar to the weaving of other
types of yarns: warp and weft threads are
intertwined according to a pattern to produce a
woven fabric.
 Sheer, soft fabrics like chiffon or lightweight
crepe, satin, taffeta, twill, damask, and
brocades; even velvets are all woven from silk.

Lehangas, made by tussar
silk…

Traditional costume of
Jharkhand…
(Tribal costume)

Tussar Silk- from Bihar and Jharkhand

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