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Rajputi Poshak: Present Continuous

As a child, designer and educator Kshipra Singh Jadon remembers sitting with her mother before festivities and ceremonial events, going through the latter’s trunk filled with Rajputi poshaks. One in particular, her mother’s red wedding poshak, became the inspiration for new designs created by Jadon for her eponymous label. “I was keen to replicate its colour. It took more than 40 samples to get it right,” says the designer who lives and works between Mumbai and Indore. “The idea was to retain the silhouette’s charm and authenticity with subtle modifications in patterns.” Jadon’s poshak is made of mulberry silk and embellished with abstract shapes inspired by mythical creatures and floral patterns. The highlights are custom-cut copper and silver laffa embroidery with techniques such as zardozi, pitta, nakshi, beading and sequins.

The poshak is a four-piece stitched ensemble—a ghagra, a half-sleeved choli called kachli overlaid by a kurti (long sleeveless blouse) and an odhna (dupatta). Traditional to the Rajput community in Rajasthan and outside, it is a familiar sight during weddings and the ceremonial occasions of Holi, Gangaur and the upcoming Hariyali Teej (July 31). “In traditional homes, women wear them on a regular basis. For many, it also serves as a statement of Rajputi style,” says Vandana Bhandari, author and former Dean of Academics at National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT). “Working class and rural women wear it every day and many stitch the garments themselves.”

Celebrity appearances in poshaks—actor Manushi Chhillar in the movie Samrat Prithviraj (2022), influencers such as Masoom Minawala in social media campaigns and sari draper Dolly Jain—may spark an occasional ‘fashion’ moment. But, for the most part, the garment remains rooted in the community. “The poshak is an important part of our culture—it doesn’t change with trends,” says Jaykirti Singh Baria, a textile designer from Kishangarh (Rajasthan) married into the erstwhile princely family of Baria in Gujarat. The ensemble holds deep emotional value for its wearers—even as its use is increasingly limited to ceremonial occasions. As Jadon says, “I may not wear the poshak every day but it symbolises the memories and connections I have to my roots.”

Wearing Heritage

Historical information on the poshak’s origin, is sparse. According to the Mehrangarh Museum Trust, the garment may have been adopted by Jodhpur royals around the late 19th century. “It is likely that poshaks were originally made from fabrics such as mulmul and would most commonly be tie-dyed using leheriya,” says Bhandari. “For ceremonial occasions, the royalty would wear silks with embroidery or crafts such as gota patti. Silk became common as it became more accessible.” Bhandari’s book Jewelled Textiles: Gold and Silver Embellished Cloth of India (Om Books, 2015), features a vintage photograph of Princess Sushila Kumari of Bikaner in a brocade poshak overlaid with zardozi.

Archival photographs and anecdotes make apparent the garment’s ubiquity in the early 20th century and the royal patronage accorded to poshak makers. Some of those continue to be operational, such as Mangalmayee in Jaipur’s Bapu Bazaar, founded in 1911under the name Harakchand Nandlal Chothmal Zariwal. Mangalmayee is now helmed by Sandeep Burad, a fourth generation descendant of the founder. Its poshaks are worn by women from the erstwhile royal families of Bhavnagar, Kishangarh, Kanota and Patiala, among others.

Yet, in the absence of documented history, the stories of poshaks endure in family anecdotes, as heirlooms passed down generations and received as padla (trousseau from the groom’s family). “Many Rajput families preserve and procure old textiles. and they keep transferring the embellishments [to new fabrics] in pure gold and silver back in the day,” Jadon notes, recalling her grandmother’s silver embellished poshaks. Women are often custodians of these traditions. Baria has ensembles belonging to her grandmothers and great grandmothers. “One of my great grandmother-in-law’s poshak has so many kalis that I can cut them to make two lehengas,” she adds. Baria’s fondest memory is of her grandmother’s poshak which she wore to a cousin’s wedding in Kishangarh. “It has a 22-inch laffa that shines even now. When my grandfather saw me wearing it, he gave me a ruby and pearl jewellery set that she always wore with the outfit,” she says. She adds that different occasions call for distinct colours and crafts, from yellows and reds during birthdays, to bandhej in red or blue with white for festivals such as Holi. “During Hariyali Teej, one sees a lot of green mothda (a tie-dye technique). During Gangaur, many of us wear samdar leheriya (seven colours)—it is also given to new brides,” she says.

If the poshak is a means of preserving history for some, for others it is a tool for discovery. When Yashasvini Kumari Devi, of Dhenkanal, Odisha, married in Tiloi, Uttar Pradesh (part of the Awadh region) earlier this year, she wore two poshaks. One was a Bhupal Shahi poshak featuring multi-coloured leheriya (in the chevron Bhupal Shahi pattern) and golden zari borders on both edges—one side broader than the other. “Each of the pieces has a story to it. Two of my aunts and a cousin are married in Mewar—the Bhupal Shahi poshak was my ode to them,” she says. The second, an Awadhi poshak, part of her padla, featuring crafts such as chata pati (tukri) work, zardozi and kaduan. A series of fish motifs stood out on the lehenga’s tassel and the motiya (pearly pink) tissue. “The fish is a signature of Awadh—it was part of its royal emblems. The fish is also part of my family emblem in Odisha—two fish hold a flag; so it’s a piece of home as well,” says Yashasvini, a crafts professional who researched and documented all the crafts used in her wedding ensembles.

New Design Interventions

When it comes to contemporary poshaks, Jadon observes little to no change in either silhouettes or embellishments among those available in the market. Occasionally, one hears of an A-list designer creating a poshak. In 2019, couturier Sabyasachi Mukherjee created the much-publicised wedding ensemble for actor and dancer Mohena Kumari Singh (of Rewa, Madhya Pradesh). But most still turn to traditional and local makers, some of who are bringing subtle changes to the ensemble. Baria runs an eponymous textile label in Jaipur specialising in block prints. She also makes bespoke poshaks and restores heirloom pieces. Among her design innovations are hand block printed poshaks with surface embellishments.

When Jadon created her take on the poshak, she introduced minor changes in silhouette for better fit and new interventions in surface design and artwork. “I custom-cut the copper to create a molten textured effect. We did the same with the pure silver danka, which took me over two years to procure,” says Jadon, who is pursuing a PhD in danka embroidery. “Usually danka is crafted from square plates but I experimented with hand-cutting them in varying patterns.” She retained the finer details, be it the magji—the diagonal borders on the ghagra—or the metallic fringe of the odhna, known as kiran.Read more at: https://www.formaldressuk.com/ | https://www.formaldressuk.com/collections/short-prom-dresses