Gondal Beadwork
Torans, toys and toran-birds strung bead by bead in a Saurashtra town.
Gondal, in Rajkot district of Gujarat's Saurashtra region, has a domestic craft of beadwork in which small coloured glass beads are threaded and netted on wire and thread into torans, hanging parrots and peacocks, boxes, coasters, toys, fruit, figures of Krishna and Ganesha, and covers, made largely by women for the home and for gifting. The colours are planned so the beads themselves form the pattern — mango shapes, flowers, borders and figures.
Craft at a Glance
Origin
Gondal, Gujarat
Also Known As
Kathiawadi motikaam, Saurashtra beadwork, Gujarati bead toran craft
Craft Type
Glass-bead stringing and netting
Practising Community
Women of Kathiawari households, historically making pieces for the home and dowry; now also through craft groups
Materials
Small coloured glass seed beads; thin wire; nylon and cotton thread; and cardboard or wire armatures for structured pieces such as birds and boxes.
Known For
Beaded door hangings (torans), hanging parrots and peacocks, toys, boxes and household decorations
Where It's Made
Gondal and the surrounding towns of Rajkot district in the Saurashtra region, Gujarat
Time to Create
Days to weeks per piece
GI Status
Not GI-registered
Process Steps
Charting the design and colours
The motif and its colours are worked out on paper so the beads themselves will form the pattern when strung.
Sorting the beads
Seed beads are sorted by colour and size so the right beads are to hand while working.
Stringing
Beads are threaded onto wire or thread in the planned sequence for each row of the design.
Netting and shaping
Strung beads are worked in netted and looped stitches, over a wire armature for birds and torans.
Building three-dimensional forms
Boxes, fruit and figures are netted as tubes and panels and closed up over their armatures.
Assembling
Beaded panels, pendants and figures are joined into the finished hanging, box or toy.
Finishing
Loose ends are secured, tassels or bells are added, and the piece is checked for tension and alignment.
Technique Glossary
Toran
A decorative hanging strung across the top of a doorway, here made entirely of beads.
Netting stitch
A beadwork technique of linking beads in open diamond mesh to make flexible panels.
Right-angle weave
A beadwork stitch in which beads sit at right angles to one another, used for firm three-dimensional shapes.
Kathiawar
The peninsular region of Saurashtra, Gujarat, with a strong tradition of women's domestic craft.
Armature
The wire or card frame around which a beaded bird, box or figure is built.
Seed bead
A very small, roughly spherical glass bead, the basic unit of the craft.
Popat / mor
The parrot and peacock, the two most common figures hung with a toran.
A Craft Through Time
Pre-modern
Household and dowry craft
Kathiawari women make beaded hangings, covers and toys for their own homes and trousseau.
Princely era
Gondal as a pocket
The princely town concentrates the skill among its craft-active households.
20th century
Light commercialisation
Cooperatives and craft fairs create a small market for beaded torans, birds and toys.
Late 20th century
Craft-group organisation
Women's groups and NGOs help market the work beyond the immediate community.
Present
A decorative craft
Gondal beadwork is sold as Gujarati home decor and festival decoration, still largely made at home by women.
Did You Know?
A Kathiawari beaded toran can carry several thousand individual glass beads, all counted into place by hand so that the mango and parrot motifs line up across every pendant flap.
Every craft has a story. Every story begins with tradition.