Meghalaya Eri Silk Weaving
The warm 'ryndia' peace silk of the Khasi hills, spun by hand and dyed with lac, iron and leaf.
Meghalaya eri silk, known locally as ryndia, is a soft, warm, matte silk reared, spun and woven by Khasi households, with the Ri-Bhoi villages of Umden and Diwon at its centre. The open-ended eri cocoon is processed after the moth has left, so the silk is spun rather than reeled and the tradition is called 'peace silk'. It is woven into shawls, stoles, the cloth for the Khasi jainsem, jackets and blankets, in natural cream and fawn or dyed with lac, iron, turmeric and local leaves and barks.
Craft at a Glance
Origin
Ri-Bhoi, Meghalaya
Also Known As
Ryndia, Umden-Diwon eri silk, Meghalaya peace silk
Craft Type
Eri silk rearing, hand-spinning and handloom weaving
Practising Community
Khasi households, mostly women, who rear the worms and spin and weave; organised through cooperatives and the eri silk village cluster
Materials
Eri cocoons (from worms fed on castor and kesseru); plant ash for degumming; natural dyes — lac, iron, turmeric, tree bark and leaves; and cotton for some warps.
Known For
Eri (ryndia) shawls, stoles, jainsem-piece cloth and blankets in natural and plant-dyed tones
Where It's Made
Umden and Diwon villages in Ri-Bhoi district, and other Khasi and Garo villages, Meghalaya
Time to Create
One to three weeks per shawl, including spinning and dyeing
GI Status
Meghalaya Eri Silk (Ryndia) is a registered GI
Process Steps
Rearing the worms
Eri silkworms are reared indoors on castor or kesseru leaves through their growth stages.
Collecting the cocoons
The open-ended cocoons are gathered after the adult moths have emerged, so no pupa is killed.
Degumming
The cocoons are boiled with plant ash to remove the gum and soften the fibre.
Hand-spinning
The softened fibre is teased open and spun into yarn on a spindle or spinning wheel.
Natural dyeing
The yarn is dyed with lac, iron, turmeric, bark and leaves, or left in its natural cream and fawn.
Warping and weaving
The yarn is warped and woven on a loin or frame loom into shawls, stoles and jainsem cloth, plain or with borders.
Washing and finishing
The woven cloth is washed, which softens it and raises its characteristic gentle nap.
Technique Glossary
Ryndia
The Khasi name for eri silk and the cloth woven from it.
Eri (peace) silk
A spun, matte, warm silk from an open-ended cocoon; the moth emerges before processing.
Spun vs reeled silk
Reeled silk is unwound as a continuous filament; spun silk is made from short fibres twisted together, softer and hairier.
Jainsem
The two-piece draped garment worn by Khasi women, for which ryndia cloth is woven.
Lac dye
A pink-to-maroon dye from the resin of the lac insect, a staple of Khasi natural dyeing.
Kesseru
A tree whose leaves, with castor, feed the eri silkworm.
Loin loom
A backstrap loom tensioned by the weaver's body, widely used in the northeast.
A Craft Through Time
Pre-modern
A household silk
Eri rearing and spinning is a domestic activity in the Khasi and Garo hills, the cloth worn as warm daily wear.
20th century
Sericulture support
State sericulture agencies promote eri rearing as a low-land, all-season livelihood.
2000s–2010s
The eri silk village
Umden and Diwon are developed as an eri silk cluster with natural-dye and design training.
2010s
Geographical Indication
Meghalaya Eri Silk (Ryndia) is registered as a GI.
21st century
Ethical-textile market
Ryndia shawls and stoles reach urban retail and export buyers drawn to the peace-silk and natural-dye story.
Present
A hill livelihood
Khasi households continue to rear, spin, dye and weave ryndia for the family and a growing commercial market.
Did You Know?
Ryndia is dyed almost entirely from what grows around the weaver — lac from the forest for pink and maroon, rusty iron for grey and black, turmeric for yellow, and tree bark and leaves for the browns and greens.
Every craft has a story. Every story begins with tradition.