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[[File:Vrindavani Vastra.jpg|thumb|Vrindavani Vastra (detail), circa 1680, British Museum]]{{Short description|A religious drape}}
'''Vrindavani Vastra''' is a drape woven by Assamese weavers led by Mathuradas Burha Aata during 16th century under the guidance of [[Srimanta Sankardeva]], a Vaishnavite saint and scholar who lived in present-day [[Assam]].<ref name=reach>{{cite news|title=Vrindavani Vastra ‘out of reach’ for govt|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130323/jsp/northeast/story_16704689.jsp#.Un_VB3BHJgg|archive-url=https://archive.today/20131111163632/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130323/jsp/northeast/story_16704689.jsp%23.Un_VB3BHJgg|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 11, 2013|accessdate=10 November 2013|newspaper=The Telegraph, Kolkotta|date=23 March 2013}}</ref> The lead weaver Mathuradas Burha Aata a disciple of Sri Sri Madhabdev, who was the first Satradhikar of the [[Barpeta Satra]]. Mathuradas Burha Aata along with his 12 assistant weavers wove the Brindavani Bastra. The large drape illustrates the childhood activities of Lord Krishna in [[Vrindavan]].<ref name=reach/> Parts of the original ''Vrindavani vastra'' are presently owned by the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]] in London and [[Musee Guimet]] (the Guimet Museum) in Paris. The piece of cloth demonstrates the skillful weaving methods developed during medieval times and such complexity is rarely seen in present-day Assam.<ref name=editorial/>

==History==
Assamese silk weavers depicted scenes from Bhagavatha, Mahabharatha, mainly of the childhood days of Lord Krishnalala on silk clothes under the supervision of Saint, scholar, and poet Srimanta Sankardeva and his disciple Madhvadeva during 16th Century.<ref name=gogoi>{{cite news|title=Vrindavani Vastra: Gogoi to move British Museum|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/vrindavani-vastra-gogoi-to-move-british-museum/article5334146.ece|accessdate=10 November 2013|newspaper=TheHindu|date=10 November 2013}}</ref> First woven between 1567 and 1569, it was taken to Bhutan and then later to Tibet, where European merchants brought it back to Europe. Presently, it is owned by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Musee Guimet in Paris.<ref name=reach/> Some reports suggest that the Vrindavani Vastra piece was collected by a reporter of "The Times" (London) and donated to the museum <ref name=gogoi/> around 1904.<ref name=editorial>{{cite news|last=Bezboruah|first=D N|title=Lengths of precious fabric|url=http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=nov1009/edit2|accessdate=10 November 2013|newspaper=The Assam Tribune (editorial)|date=March 2013|archive-date=11 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111173238/http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=nov1009/edit2|url-status=dead}}</ref> Similar silk drapes are also held by other museums like The [[Philadelphia Museum of Art]].<ref name=phil>{{cite web|title="Cloth of Vrindavan" (Vrindavani Vastra) depicting Scenes from the Life of Krishna|url=http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/85842.html|publisher=Philadelphia Museum of Art|accessdate=10 November 2013|archive-date=11 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111182402/http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/85842.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2004, a similar piece of silk drape, probably designed by Sankaradeva during 16th Century, was put up for auction by the auction house of Christie's in New York, with a reserve price of $120,000.<ref name=hugh>{{cite news|last=Hugh and Colleen Gantzer|first=Colleen Gantzer|title=The polymath guru of Assam|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-08-28/edit-page/33426189_1_religious-leaders-teachings-monasteries|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615193733/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-08-28/edit-page/33426189_1_religious-leaders-teachings-monasteries|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 June 2013|accessdate=10 November 2013|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|date=28 August 2012}}</ref> This type of silken-weaving artwork was produced up to around 1715 in Assam and its neighborhood<ref name=mac>{{cite book|last=Mary Schoeser|first=Foreword by JulienMacdonald|title=Silk|year=2007|publisher=Yale Univ. Press|location=New Haven, Conn. [u.a.]|isbn=9780300117417|page=[https://archive.org/details/silk00scho/page/70 70]|url=https://archive.org/details/silk00scho|url-access=registration|quote=vrindavani vastra.|author2=Marcandalli, contrib. by Bruno }}</ref> and exported to places like Tibet.<ref name=reach/>

The exhibit owned by [[British Museum]], acquired in 1904 from Tibet, is nine and half meters long and is made up of several pieces of silk drapes depicting Krishna's (or Vishnu's) life.<ref name=editorial/> Along with colorful pictorial depictions, it has a portion of a poem written by Srimanta Sankardev woven on it.<ref name=editorial/>

There were futile efforts by government agencies of India to bring back the silk drape back to India.<ref name=reach/> During 2013, Assam government, India has requested British Museum to exhibit Vrindavani Vastra at London so that art lovers, researchers, and local people with Assamese heritage can admire the piece of art.<ref name=gogoi/> This textile is now on display until August 2016 in the exhibition 'Krishna in the garden of Assam: the cultural context of an Indian textile' in Room 91 of the British Museum. Entry is free.<ref>[https://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/krishna_in_the_garden_of_assam.aspx Krishna in the Garden of Assam], exhibit at British Museum, 2016</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Borgeet]]
* [[Ankia Naat]]
* [[Bhaona]]
* [[Dihanaam]]
* [[Hiranaam]]
* [[Kirtan Ghoxa|Kirtan Ghosha]]
*[[Khol]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Narrative_Curtain_Depicting_Avatars_of_Vishnu_(Vrindavani_vastra)_LACMA_AC1995.94.1.jpg Vrindavani vastra], circa 1570, [[Los Angeles County Museum of Art]]

{{Assam}}

[[Category:Asian objects in the Victoria and Albert Museum]]
[[Category:Textile arts of India]]
[[Category:16th century in India]]
[[Category:Weaving]]
[[Category:Culture of Assam]]
[[Category:Indian artefacts held abroad]]

Vrindavani vastra - Revision history

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