Cindai is a beautiful piece of textile commonly used as a shawl or a wrap around made from fine soft silk originating front the province of Gujerat, India. Known as patola in its homeland, the people of the Nusantara (Southeast Asian islands and its neighbouring continental territories) called it shawl-cindai. Cindai was made using the ikat ganda or double-knot technique. Motifs and patterns were created from the process of interviewing the warp and the pakan or the weft on the loom. By this method, the designs were therefore created different from prints such as batik.
The cindai collection of the Museum of Asian Art and the local museums are in from of long shawls similar to Indian sarees. Some measure 5.5 meters with tassels at the end, dark red in color with repeated designs and motifs of flowers.
Last Update: 25/02/2022