Sankaradeva’s Vrindavani Vastra remains largest surviving textile of its genre: Book

Guwahati, September 1: The VrindavaniVastra, a 16th century devotional silk textile linked to Vaishnav saint Srimanta Sankaradeva which the British Museum has agreed to loan to Assam for display in 2027, is regarded as the largest surviving example of its genre in the world, according to author T. Richard Blurton.

Blurton, in his book Krishna in the Garden of Assam, notes that while the British Museum’s Vrindavani Vastra is not believed to be the oldest surviving example, it is “suerly the largest”.

Smaller fragments of the textile are preserved in institutions such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Musée Guimet in Paris.

Around 20 fragments of VrindavaniVastra survive today, some stitched together into larger pieces, including the one in the British Museum, and others preserved in partial form. Blurton also points to the “Chepstow Coat” in Wales, fashioned from a similar woven silk textile, as well as smaller fragments used as backings for Tibetan Thangkas, now housed in museums in London, New Jersey, and elsewhere.

According to historical records, Sankaradeva had the Vrindavani Vastra woven at the request of Chilarai, brother of Koch king Naranaryan.

The British Museum’s Vastra consists of 12 silk strips stitched together, measuring 9.37 meters in length and 2.31 meters in height.

The intricate weaving depicts scenes from the life of Krishna, incarnations of Vishnu, and verses from Sankaradeva’s devotional play Kaliyadamana.

The textile was created using the complex lampas technique, which required two weavers to operate the loom simultaneously.

Scholars believe it survived because, at some point, the strips were transported to Tibet and preserved in a monastery in Gobshi, near Gyantse.

It was later acquired during the 1903–04 Lhasa Expedition by The Times correspondent Perceval Landon, who donated it to the British Museum in 1904.

The museum has agreed to loan the Vastra to Assam in 2027, subject to conditions including the creation of a state-of-the-art facility meeting environmental and security standards.

Blurton’s book, the only comprehensive study of the textile, places it within its cultural, artistic, and religious contexts.

A new edition of the book, updated with recent research, is expected to be republished soon and translated into Assamese and Hindi.

PTI