A four-thousand-year-old sandstone bust depicts a bearded priest covering his left shoulder with a shawl or mantle. Even today Indian men wear shawls similarly. In fact, the woollen tradition in India spans more than four millennia, right from the days of the ancient Indus civilization. Pashmina is an adventure of considerable scope and daring, taking you through a grand tour of the finest fabric known to the world. Its subject matter is nothing less than Indian textile history brought up to date with the patterns and colours of present-day attire. At first, the book presents an overview: the royal patronage that nourished the industry, the techniques that went into the making of a pashmina shawl, the slow and subtle evolution of brilliant motifs. It then goes on to present a more detailed picture: individual patterns, their differences in style, and their continuity with or departure from tradition. A brilliantly illustrated book, Pashmina brings out vividly, in colour and in detail, the particular inspiration that guides each thread within a pashmina fabric.
