Attend this session in Mumbai to learn more about the East Indian community's lugra textile

An East Indian woman in a lugra; (right) An East Indian couple in traditional attire. Pic Courtesy/ The Almeida Family from Small Carpentry Gaothan

From high fashion runways to viral Instagram posts - heirloom textile revival remains a hot topic, whether viewed from a sartorial or cultural lens. While much of this conversation revolves around fabrics favoured by erstwhile aristocracy - such as the regal Banarasi and Paithani weaves - little is documented about garments that adorned the everyday individuals of bygone eras. Even less chronicled is the textile legacy of Mumbai's earliest inhabitants, like the East Indian lugra (once a quintessential part of the community's cultural fabric) that is fading away from the memories and wardrobes of existing community members.

Fabric histories

Textile heritage chronicler Savitha Suri, co-organiser, shares that this session is part of an ongoing effort to revive the lugra, and spread awareness by sharing stories that it tucks into its chequered folds. "The lugra used to be commonly worn by women prior to the Anglicisation of the community and, by extension, of Mumbai. Today, barring a few elders residing in East Indian pockets like Uttan and Manor, the lugra has become a relic of the past. My research revealed that Bandra's East Indians have no visual memory of even their grandmothers wearing lugras. The geographical proximity of these East Indian pockets to erstwhile Bombay has played an integral role in determining where this traditional textile was worn, and how soon it was given up," she explains.

To recreate the lugra, Suri worked with weavers from North Karnataka

Suri's decision to recreate the lugra stems from her conversation with culture chronicler Mogan Rodrigues. "Mogan had received his grandmother's sonkari lugra, which dates back to the 1940s. He was keen to get one made for his wife and to preserve this aspect of his community's heritage. Soon, we discovered that many were interested in learning more about this textile. We curated the project that involved recreating two versions of the sonkari lugra," she elaborates.

While the East Indian lugra is typically nine or 11 yards in length, the pieces recreated by Suri were of two types - a familiar six-yard weave with a single pallu for wearers who did not belong to the East Indian community, and a traditional nine-yard design with a double pallu for community members. "This was a limited recreation and not a revival in the truest sense of the term, as that would mean that the community has returned to wearing the lugra in their everyday lives," she clarifies. However, the team's efforts resulted in technically perfect recreations in terms of the weight of the silk and cotton used, as well as the overall saree design. "If you placed them next to each other, you would not be able to tell them apart," she exclaims.

The recreated sonkari cotton-silk lugra mirrors an original from the 1940s

Revive, resurrect

Suri's research revealed several similarities between the Goan Kunbi kaapod, which she was instrumental in reviving, and the lugra. She also found that different families had different versions made of silk, cotton-silk and cotton, depending on their social status. "The design language and weaving techniques are similar to the textiles native to North Karnataka. When we studied migration paths of weavers, we plotted their route that leads from North Karnataka towards Maharashtra and Goa. Many similar weaves are still created in North Karnataka as the community has held on to its saree-wearing ways, unlike the native communities in Goa and Maharashtra. The insistence of the Portuguese to prevent these community members from wearing their traditional textiles also led to the lugra's decline," Suri says.

To recreate the textile, Suri worked with weavers from North Karnataka who had the necessary skillset and the familiarity with the design language. Her conversations with them revealed that, over centuries, the weavers had customised several designs for the community. "Komdichi pai [feet of chicken] is a popular design motif because chicken farming was a common profession in the community and; as is the case with several Indian textiles here too, the community adopted designs that were inspired by their immediate environment. The motifs were also reflective of the wearers' socio-economic background and religion," Suri emphasises.

These traditional hand-woven garments were part of the everyday East Indian wardrobe

The colour palette reveals their lifestyle: "Indigenous communities follow a typical colour palette; red and green being the most common. Red symbolises fertility and Mother Earth, which agrarian communities deeply respect. Green represents prosperity and progress, indicative of fertile lands with abundance of crops,"
elaborates Suri.

The lugra type recreated by Suri's team is the sonkari lugra, which was worn by brides when they visited their maternal homes after the wedding. Wealthier families would often include zari into these weaves. Newly widowed women would wear a blue lugra with red checks, while those who had been widowed for a while would wear purple.

Savitha Suri

"We observed this shift among the Kunbi community too. Widowed women would wear a single colour and simpler designs, symbolising their shift from materialism to complete renunciation of the material world. Textiles were not merely articles of clothing for the community - the lugra type was indicative of her socio-economic status," Suri (inset) says. The draping style also reflects the wearer's societal hierarchy - landowners draped the lugra differently from the agrarian folk. "Many East Indian women are unfamiliar with the lugra, and are thus unable to drape it. The idea is to involve the community in these revivalist conversations. This project has been a milestone event fuelled by the community. It's their way of reclaiming the textile," Suri signs off.

Contact 9892080863 (Mogan Rodrigues) for details on the next workshop
NOTE The November 8 session has been sold out