Patwa is a thread craft which originated in Rajasthan and is now practiced in parts of Rajasthan, Maharashtra, UP. The word Patwa has been derived from the Hindi word ‘pat’ meaning silk and those involved in the silk and cotton thread business are called Patwas. The Patwa are a mainly Hindu community. Traditionally they were weavers and engaged in jewelry-making business and worked with silver and golden threads. Nadas, Parandi, tassels, pironas of necklaces and payals and rakhis are all examples of the craft.

1. PATWA CRAFT
PRESENTED BY: APURVA PANDEY | BHAKTI TULSHIAN | KRITI BAKSHI | SHIVANGI
MAKWANA |VAIBHAVI NEUREKAR
TO: DR. CHET RAM MEENA

2. Sr no. Topic Page no.
1 Introduction
2 Patwa Craft Across India
3 Patwa Craft Across Mumbai
4 About the Patwa Community
5 Raw Materials
6 Tools
7 Techniques and Process
8 Products
9 Market
10 Global Status
11 Learning Outcome
12 References
INDEX

3. INTRODUCTION
Patwa is a thread craft which originated in Rajasthan and is now practiced in parts of Rajasthan,
Maharashtra, UP. The word Patwa has been derived from the Hindi word ‘pat’ meaning silk and those
involved in the silk and cotton thread business are called Patwas. The Patwa are a mainly Hindu
community. Traditionally they were weavers and engaged in jewelry-making business and worked
with silver and golden threads. Nadas, Parandi, tassels, pironas of necklaces and payals and rakhis
are all examples of the craft.
ORIGIN OF PATWA CRAFT
Patwa falls under Commercial Handicraft. Patwa is a thread craft which originated in Rajasthan and is
now practiced in parts of Rajasthan, Maharashtra, UP. The Patwa are a mainly Hindu and Jain
community native to North India. Traditionally they were weavers and engaged in jewelry-making
business and worked with silver and golden threads. According to the traditions of the Patwa, they
descend from a deota (a Hindu god). The Patwa are an endogamous community, and follow the
principle of gotra exogamy. They are Hindu and Jain, and worship the goddess Bhagwati and
Mahavira. It is said that a couple emerged from Vishnu’s chest and the male performed the priestly
activities. After the marriage ceremony, Lord Vishnu suggested to the man that to maintain his
livelihood by making patwa. The community practicing the craft started to be known as patwa. They
are believed to have migrated to Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Gujrat. These artisans have a history of
travelling from village to village to sell their thread wrapped jewelry in addition to other accessories
and Knick knacks like nail polish, wooden toys, or other items they bought to resell.
Page 1

4. PATWA CARFT ACROSS INDIA
The craft is present in the western, central and northern parts of India. In the North western part of
India, presence of patwa craft is in the cities of Jaipur, Udaipur and Ajmer in the state of Rajasthan. In
the northern part of India, cities like Lucknow, Varanasi, Bareli, Gorakhpur in the state of Uttar
Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are found to have presence of Patwa craft. In the central parts cities
like, Pune, Mumbai, Nagpur, Nasik in the state of Maharashtra and also Gujrat have the presence of
Patwa craft.
Demographic locations in India that practice
Patwa as a craft
Page 2

5. PATWA CRAFT ACROSS MUMBAI
In most parts of Mumbai Like Thane, Mankhurd, Dadar, Bhuleshwar, Kalbadevi, Vasai, Daagina gali the Patwa
craftsmen are present. These craftsmen either work for goldsmiths or different companies and export houses. The
extent of presence of this craft is quite a lot in Mumbai. The craft accounts livelihoods of thousands of people in
Mumbai. One can usually find patwa craftsman making and repairing Mangal sutras and anklets outside these
jewellery shops through out Mumbai. And in bhuleshwar one can find more use of crystal beads and pearls for
making torans and jewellery.
Areas in Mumbai where patwa is practiced mainly
Page 3

6. ABOUT THE PATWA COMMUNITY
Patwas are originally agriculturalists and chose to engage in the business of Patwa jewelry making not
only as their occupation but also their religion and culture so much so that they embrace the name of
this craft as their surname. May travel from village to village repairing old jewelry and threading the
pieces together and selling their wares. Based on their traditional caste occupation, the subgroups of
the Patwa community are Khandwalohera, Nema, Shrivastav, Deobanshibaish, Kachera and Narowa.
The Patwas are also known as the Patahaar in some areas. Traditionally, the community name is used
as the surname, but nowadays the Patwas also have the surname of Gupta, Gupt, Sharma, Verma,
Varman, Goyal, Maheshwari and Khandelwal among others.
The community has a traditional organized structure run by the panchayat. Shree Patwa Sangh is the
name of the new organizational structure made up of general secretary, president, vice president,
treasurer, and committee members. The main function of the organization is to unite all Patwas and
to revive their traditional culture. There is a fund kept by the organization to assist members for
opening new businesses, education and marriage. Craftsmen Patwa community has hundreds of
individual artisans, artisan families and small family workshops, cooperatives, women’s groups and
small scale producers that produce over thousands of fairly traded crafts, home accessories and
museum quality art.
A craftsman
Page 4

7. RAW MATERIALS
1.Lacchi – Yarns rolls that are available in wholesale
batches.
• Woolen yarn is used for bangles.
• A combination of zari and woolen yarns is used
for neckpieces.
• Resham-silk yarn in combination with cotton
yarn is used for Rakhi making threads such as
nylon, cotton, zari, gold, silver and gold yarns are
also miscellaneously used.
2.Kundan studs – these are used in mukuts and
other items. They are colourful and of different
shapes and size.
3. Stones – large and small stone of different shapes
and size are used to male strands of different
necklaces. They may be made of ruby, amethyst,
coral, green sapphire and other glass beads.
4. Moti– beads and pearls of different varieties are
used in all sorts of Patwa accessories.
Patwa craft require a variety of raw materials including various beads, different types of threads,wires
etc. Yarns acts as foundation for many Patwa products such as necklace, armlets, torans,rakhi, etc.
They purchase in bulk mainly from area like Sion, Masjid, Masjidbunder and Bhuleshwar.
Beads
Threads and kundans
moti
Page 5

8. TOOLS
The various tools used in patwa craft are :
• Needle
• Metal hooks
• Comb
• J shaped iron hook
• Ornament cleaner
needles
cleaner
Metal hook
Page 6

9. TECHNIQUE AND PROCESS
Patwa work is carried out in a jewellery bazaar, where several patwas are always found seated on a cloth
spread out on the sidewalk or in small open sidewalk stall. There is an extensive of methods such a silk
winding, braiding and cord making which forms the composite feature of Patwa. Mainly, different types of
knotting is done.
MAKING OF TASSELS:
• Long threads of the same size are cut from the bundle.
• A loop is made in the cord to which the tassel is to be attached .
• The long threads are passed through the cord and are tied with one strand of the same thread on the cord.
• The threads are cut to desired length of the tassel.
• The remaining length is tied just above the first tassel to thicken the tassel
• The threads are combed in between just to smooth the threads.
MAKING OF MALA:
• Long thread of required size is cut.
• One end of thread is attached on metal hook and pressed under foot and needle on the other side.
• Beads are inserted through the needle.
• Pendant and different types of beads are inserted as per the requirement.
• The hook is attached in the end.
Page 7

10. Page 8
Making of Rakhi and bead malas
Hanish Patwa – A Ptwa Craft man

11. PRODUCTS
1) Jewellery
• Necklaces
• Bangles and Kadas
• Bracelets
• Mangalsutra
• Earrings
• Anklet
2) Interior Products
• Decorations done on Penstand
• Decorative Hangings
• Decorative tassel
• Napkin holders
• Wax diya holders
Page 9
3) Fashion Accessory
• Latkans
• Shoes and slippers
• Bead Tassel
• Parandi
• Embellishment for bag
Chains and Anklets Chains and Anklets Latkan

12. MARKET
Bhuleshwar is a major Patwa hub, there are buyers and sellers coming from various places in
Mumbai like Thane, Dadar, kalbadevi etc. It is a major business scope specially during the festive
season. The traditional pear shaped Patwa has found many variations to it in recent years as a
result of consumer demand. The market are flooded with different Accessories, Tassels, Torans,
Mangalsutra etc.
As Patwa craft was initially started as products being made from silk, polyester, synthetic and
occasionally cotton threads. It consisted of simply jewellery making but after a period of time beads
were introduced to this exquisite craft that reformed its value taking it to a new level.
There are many types of products Patwa craft. We can classify them into following parts:
1. Jewellery (Necklaces, Rakwadi, Bangles, Mangalsutra, Earrings, Anklet)
2. Interior products (Toran, Decorative Hangings, Napkin holders)
3. Fashionable cloths (Latkans, Shoes and slippers, Bead Tassel, Embellishment for bag)
Bhuleshwar Market area
Page 10

13. GLOBAL STATUS
Local and international designers and brands like Pallavi Jaipur, Adegbe (Nigerian), Stoned
Cherrie, Kokon to Zai and Victoria Secret 2016 collection have shown an interest in developing
exclusive designs, increasing the presence of the Patwa craft tradition.
Machine-made threads have replaced the tradition of silk. The designs are improving and
diversifying because artisans are benefiting from design workshops organized by NGO’s in the
craft sector. Once an artisan is visible and appreciated as skilled, market interest increases and
his/her range continues to expand. Variation in traditional designs with the same look to attract
wider market. Today we see the Patwa tassel or motifs along with dresses, footwear, bags, hair
accessories, dupattas, stole etc. In the contemporized products, especially in the organised sector
braided yarn is being replaced by fabric, metal wire, and metal chains. Crochet work is also being
done to enhance the aesthetic appearance of the product. Different materials like foil, brass,
copper, bone, glass, ceramic, coconut shell, and miniature paintings are experimented to make
the contemporized products.
By retaining the traditional shapes and motifs, more wearable jewellery can be designed which
can attract wider age group. By varying the basic designs, different designs can be crafted with the
same look such as kurta buttons and earrings that matches with necklace.
Victoris Secret 2016 Collection Fashion show for Peace in Nairobi may 24,2008
Page 11

14. LERNING OUTCOME
Studying the craft helped to understand the Patwa community, their lifestyle and the Patwa craft,
which is a yarn craft done majorly on jewellery with the help of few simple tools. Patwa is a
secondary source of income. Most of the Patwas carry their inherited craft from generation to
generation as their family business. There were several people engaged in Patwa craft and they
were sitting one after the other. The craftsmen there did not have proper working conditions. They
were working in small stalls which were placed on the footpaths outside the jewellery shops. It
takes them barely minimum time to make a single tassel. They try not to waste the material. Last
but not the least, it was observed that they are very particular about their work and their dedication
for the craft is something to be inspired about.
REFERENCE
• Aditi Ranjan and M.P Ranjan, Handmade in India, Pg no. 457
• www.creative.sulekha.com:http://creative.sulekha.com/patwas-the-
sutradhar-of-beads_238915 blog
• www.karigar.in: http://www.karigar.in/artisans.php
• www.bookingkhazana.com:
http://www.bookingkhazana.com/pokhran-tourism
• www.behance.net:
https://www.behance.net/gallery/11264879/Patwa
• www.craftrevival.org:
http://www.craftrevival.org/voiceDetails.asp?Code=4
• www.merriam-webster.com: https://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/craft
• Craft Documentation on Patwa Craft. NIFT.
Page 12