Leheriya: The Wave-Striped Tie-Dye of Rajasthan

Leheriya meaning

Leher means wave. Leheriya is a fabric from Rajasthan with thin diagonal stripes in two or more colours. The stripes really do come from waves: of cloth, rolled up and tied before it is dyed.

How leheriya is made

1. A piece of thin cotton, georgette or chiffon is rolled diagonally from one corner, like a rope. 2. The rope is tied tightly with thread at gaps along its length. 3. It is dyed. The dye cannot reach where the thread is tied, so when the cloth is opened, a diagonal stripe appears at each tie. 4. For more colours, the cloth is rolled again from a different corner, tied and dyed again.

When the second set of stripes crosses the first, it makes a small check pattern. This is called mothra.

Leheriya is a resist-dye craft, a cousin of bandhani, and it is made in the same cities: Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur.

The history of leheriya

Leheriya was first used for turbans. Men in Rajasthan wore leheriya safas, with different stripe colours for different seasons and occasions. The diagonal stripes were said to look like rain falling across the desert sky. Leheriya was, and still is, the fabric of the monsoon and of Teej, the festival that welcomes the rain. At Teej, women wear green and yellow leheriya odhnis.

Leheriya chaniya choli and dupatta

A leheriya dupatta over a plain chaniya is the lightest way to add a Rajasthani touch to a Navratri outfit. The thin diagonal stripes suit every height. Leheriya is also the traditional base fabric for gota patti, so a leheriya chaniya with gota borders is a classic Jaipur look.

Real vs printed leheriya

Real leheriya stripes are very slightly uneven, with soft edges where the dye spread at the ties. Printed leheriya stripes are perfectly straight. Both are sold, but only one is made by hand.