[Nakshi Katha of Bangladesh with hand-stitched designs]
Bangladesh has a lot of things to offer to the world. The traditional Nakshi [ নকশি কাঁথা] Katha is one of them. Nakshi Katha is just like a blanket though it is thinner than a blanket. The specialty of Nakshi Katha is its design or pattern made by hand more specifically with hand needles and thread collected from clothes. The word Nakshi has come from the Bangla word Noksha or design/pattern. The Nakshi Katha has various kinds of designs like flowers, birds, leaves, animals, etc. on them. Another specialty of Nakshi Katha is that it is traditionally made by women and girls only.
[Close view fo a design in a Nakshi Katha]
No one can tell us the exact time of the starting of Nakshi Katha. The Bangladesh Nakshi Katha has a years-long history though It is also found in the Indian states of Assam, Tripura, and West Bengal. We have a tradition that Grandmas make the Nakshi Katha for their newborn grandchildren. When a woman becomes pregnant her mother or mother-in-law starts sewing baby size Nakshi Katha for the coming newborn baby. This way most of our children have the experience of using a Nakshi Katha. This Katha carries the love, wishes, and blessings of the elderly people to the newborn babies. This way Nakshi Katha has become an inseparable part of our life.
[A full-length Nakshi Katha for adult people]
The making of Nakshi Katha is time-consuming and requires the experience of using a hand needle. You need pieces of clothes, a hand needle, thread, and the design inside your mind. You need several pieces of cloth to make the layers of the Nakshi Katha. Mostly, old clothes are used to make the Nakshi Katha. But at present new pieces of cloths are used in the commercially made Nakshi Katha. Same for the sewing thread. Earlier, the thread was collected manually from the cloth. Now, various colors of thread cones are bought to sew the Nakshi Katha.
[Collage photo of Nakshi Kathas]
To make a Nakshi Katha you need to use some weight also. You can use stone, bricks or any hard things as weigh at the corners of the cloth’s layers. First, you need to cut the cloths or fabric into pieces as per the size of the Nakshi Katha you want. It depends on how much think the Katha you want. Thicker Nakshi Katha requires more clothes. Now spread a big fabric or mat on the floor to lay the cloths/fabrics of the Nakshi Katha. Lay the cloths/fabrics vertically one layer after another layer. Then place 4 pieces of weight on four corners of cloths/fabrics so that the inner layers cannot be displaced. After spread and placed the fabric properly, the women first sew edges of the cloths/fabric layers. They sew another 2 or 3 lines from edge to edge so the inners layers stay in the same place for several days. After all these preparation women start sewing with the hand needle to make nice designs.
[A girl is sewing a Katha. I took this photo from the fifth floor of my office]
To make a Nakshi Katha takes several days. Normally women sew the Nakshi Katha in their free time. Sometimes women come from the neighbor houses and join to stitch the nice Nakshi Katha. They do it free of cost and spend a happy time gossiping. Making of Nakshi Katha has become expensive. You will not find any women to make this free of cost. There are now many shops that make and sell Nakshi Katha commercially. Nakshi Katha has become a part of our exported goods also. It earns foreign currency for us and spreads our history, a tradition the creativity of our women to the rest of the world.
[A simple flower design in a Naksshi Katha for children ]
I like to invite my friends to have a look at this post: @Ant_Bad_Yogi @OlgaKlimchik @Nyainurjanah @RosyKohli to get an idea about one of our old tradition.
Credit: Photos of the collage collected from Imtiaz Morad Imti with written permission.
