NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FASHION TECHNOLOGY

BENGALURU-560102
DEPARTMENT OF FASHION TECHNOLOGY

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

ASSIGNMENT-I
TOPIC-A CASE STUDY ON TODA EMBROIDERY

Submitted to Submitted by
Prof.Raghuram Jayaraman S. Janani(MFT/18/29)
Date of submission:26th September 2018

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 TABLE OF CONTENT

I.INTRODUCTION
II.ABOUT THE EMBROIDERY
III.PROBLEMS FACED BY THE ARTISANS
IV.GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION
V.RECOMMENDATIONS
VI.CONCLUSION

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THE DEAD BURRIED WITH EMBROIDERED CLOTH – A CASE STUDY OF TODA
I.INTRODUCTION
We moved haltingly in Nilgiri’s jam packed seasonal traffic till we reached the 2789m high hills.
Rolls of dusts drifted with us. Beyond our windows, the gradient range from gentle to steep and a
hilly slope dotted with the trees that stretched as far as I could see.
The roads were spotted with people wrapped in single piece of white attire with rich white, red
and black embroidery. I was curious about the attire and the embroidery. Spending the whole day
roaming in the botanical garden and the doddapetta peak, that evening we wanted to rest under
the gaze of the full moon with essence of village. We hit our car straight to Mund.
“One man loved a girl. “Her parents know about this love. “They catch the man and tie him to a
tree. “His beloved waited from dawn to dusk “But her lover never came.” ‘The buffaloes are
home again'," the lad sighs,” ‘But my lover does not come.” ‘My cows have come to shed” ‘But
my lover does not come.” ‘The lights will soon be lit” ‘But my lover does not come.” ‘The
darkness deepens” ‘But he is not home.” ‘The sun will soon set” ‘But my lover does not come'."
The moment we entered, the sound and music of a Toda love song from the lands of Mund filled
the air. As far as I could witness there were hamlets (Approximately 70) and each hamlet
consisting of 6-7 curved huts of bamboo and thatched grass. They were kind enough to offer us
shelter that night, above all they set campfire for warmth. I was in fact carried away by the small
history they revealed.
Toda’s believed in 1600-1800 gods but the two important ones were- On and Teikirzi. On was
the male god of Amnodr and Teikirzi was the female deity who came up with laws held during
Toda’s cultural ceremony and rituals. They regard buffaloes to represent their remarkable feature
in their lives. They even sung songs about the cult of buffaloes during festivals and funerals.
Apart from their interesting range of culture I was nosy about their attire and the rich
embroidery. At last there was this old man who actually understood my curiosity and explained
me an amusing story behind those embroideries.
The Toda’s embroidery is commonly known as poothkuli among the Todas. The motifs are done
by having the thread count in mind. One unique thing about these pattern is the designs they
embroider are similar to the designs their ancestors uses to tattoo.

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 The Toda community The embroidery inspired from the
ancestors of Toda

II.ABOUT THE EMBROIDERY

The embroidery is by all means handmade. They have balanced weaving structure on both the
sides of the fabric with three stripes consisting of two red and one black. The embroidery that is
patterned on the shawls is called the karnol, while the embroidered pattern on the rest is called
the karthal. Interesting thing to be noted is Toda embroidery has close resemblance with
Anatolian motifs, in terms of the crosses and rosettes, along with the bull. The bull is considered
as an emblem of the Toda’s belief system involving a significant color scheme where Black
implied the Underworld, Red indicated the intermediate realm of Earth, and White indicated the
colors of the Toda. Their patterns were usually sun, florals, rabbit ears showing their close
relationship with nature.

III.PROBLEMS FACED BY THE ARTISANS

Now the artisans who work on these hand embroidery designs have demanded measures to
prevent the non-Todas duplicating their cultural work impacting the local economy of the
hamlets. This led the Sangamam Toda Women’s Federation to claim for trade mark registration.

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K.Vasami, a social worker claims that the duplication of their designs available online are
dominanlty done by the non-Toda who have affronted their culture and she empathized her
community ladies who spend days in bringing out the designs which is easily being duplicated.
Apart from which the local economy has dropped down because the actual designs were sold
upto Rs.10000.
Moreover the proportion of Toda employed are very few for manufacturing the products.
Besides all the issues the entire folks of Toda are in the verge of extinction. Their population has
dropped down to 1400 scattered in about 50 hamlets according to the census august 8 2017. The
folks of toda are tormented with sickle cell anemia casusing their extiction. The SCD is blood
disorder inherited from parents and ancestors reducing the life expectancy. Now they have
become due to lots of medical camps conducted and the life expectancy has also increased to 40-
55 years.

IV.GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION
Toda embroidery, was granted Geographical Indication (GI) status in 2012 valid until
28thseptember 2018. Although the world is ruled by internet and fashion you can still find them
adorned in their traditional attire. The embroidery was not just matter of aesthetic, but also a way
of carrying oneself with pride and dignity. Today Toda embroidery is available online.
Entrepreneurs and designers like Sanjiv sivaraman of chirpy India and organizations like Gatha
help them market their products not just in shawls but also in other articles.

V.RECOMMENDATIONS
The Women of the Toda Women’s foundation have putfront the issue of duplication. Besides
attaining geographical indication and trade mark they still do feel affronted of the non-tribe

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indulged in embroidering. This can be avoided by passing on the traditional knowledge to their
decedents as the tribes now are more focused on urban lifestyle and education.
Toda community can practice the embroidery full time and implicate exports as Toda
embroidery are very appreciated work of art everywhere
The extiction of the toda population are predominantly due to SCD. As SCD is inherently
aquired they cannot be avoided. As Toda folks get married within their community there is
dominance in the effect of SCD. This can be reduced by intercommunity weddings hence
increasing the life expectency.

VI.CONCLUSION
Regardless of the technology driven world we exist, this community people have stayed loyal to
their culture and regimen. It is an appreciative for how the folks of toda have imparted their
traditional knowledge to their next generation and fought when their culture was at threat. They
fought for their identity. This was one good trip which enlightened and amazed me.