It is a type of tie-dye textile decorated by plucking the cloth with the fingernails into many tiny bindings that form a figurative design. The term Bandhani is derived from the Sanskrit word Bandha ("to tie"). The earliest example of the most pervasive type of Bandhani dots can be seen in the 6th century paintings depicting the life of Buddha found on the wall of Cave1 at Ajanta.
The main dyes used in Bandhani are organic and natural. As Bandhani is a tie and dye process, dying is done by hand and hence best colours and combinations are possible in Bandhanis.
The Bandhani work has been exclusively carried out by the Khatri community of Kutchh and Saurashtra. A metre length of cloth can have thousands of tiny knots known as 'Bheendi' in the local language ('Gujarati'). These knots form a design once opened after dyeing in bright colours. A variety of patterns like Chandrakala, Bavan Baug, Shikari etc emerge depending on the manner in which the cloth is tied. Traditionally, the final products can be classified into 'Khombhi', 'Ghar Chola', 'Chandrakhani', 'Shikari', 'Chowkidaar', 'Ambadaal' and other categories. The main colours used in Bandhani are Yellow, Red, Blue, Green and Black.
