I learned many years ago from a Cambodian brocade maker that the silk we see the Angkorian elite wearing in 12th-century bas relief was the precursor of contemporary Cambodian chorabab brocade. But, where did that first Angkorian brocade come from?
The definition of “chorabab” in the most authoritative dictionary of the Khmer language means, “from Kalinga”. This ancient kingdom was on India’s east coast, roughly where the province of Orissa is today. So when I was awarded a research grant from the Victoria and Albert Museum, Karun Thakar Fund, this is where I intended to look.
But Atakama Tauch, the librarian at the École française d'Extrême-Orient in Siem Reap, explained to me that in modern Khmer “Kalinga” simply means, “India”. So the precursor of chorabab could have originated on India’s east coast, or her west coast, or anywhere on the Indian subcontinent!
Then, at a textile conference, I met fashion designer Gunjan Jain (Vriksh Designs, New Delhi). I showed her photos of several contemporary chorabab patterns. She studied them carefully, and finally said, “Look at Ashavali* saris”.
I pulled up the websites of companies that sell Ashavali saris today. And I saw matches right away - to the Angkorian brocade we see in bas relief, and to contemporary chorabab.
After compiling a photographic log of the fifty patterns worn by the Angkorian elite, I showed them to Ashavali sari producer Paresh Patel (Royal Brocades, Ahmedabad). He identified 60% as Ashavali patterns. I then showed him six pieces of contemporary chorabab, each incorporating multiple patterns. He identified 30% as Ashavali patterns.
This detail from an antique Ashavali sari serves as illustration.
Three of the patterns are found in Angkorian brocade - the wide band of cross-hatch, the heavy line below it, and the frog-egg-in-diamond pattern next to the peacock’s chest.
Below you see the sash of one of Sūryavarman II’s generals. You can make out the cross-hatch pattern and the heavy line. And you can see that many of the patterns in Ashavali brocade and the patterns in Angkorian brocade are combined in the same way. In the antique piece, the cross-hatch and the line are next to each other. And in the general’s sash, the cross-hatch and the line are next to each other.
On the right you see Sūryavarman II’s principal queen. Look for the frog-egg-in-diamond pattern in her sash, next to the same pattern on her palanquin.
All six of the patterns in the detail of the antique Ashavali sari are found in contemporary chorabab. In the green piece, above and below the frog, you see the pattern under the peacock’s feet. And next to the frog, the frog-egg-in-diamond pattern. The cross-hatch pattern is currently out of fashion, but weavers will make it on order. Peacocks are often rendered in Ashavali saris as a pair facing each other, as though they’re having a chat. We see exactly the same pattern in chorabab (right). With the heavy line you see in the antique Ashavali sari.
There are more examples in What the Queens Wore - the Silk of Angkor.
But, could influence on either Angkorian brocade or chorabab have come from another source as well? I went to the comprehensive exhibition of Indian trade textiles at the Lalbhai Kasturbhai Museum in Ahmedabad, and examined all of the textiles carefully. I didn’t find many of the Cambodian patterns in anything other than Ashavali. I concluded that there was not another source of influence.
But one mystery remains. Ashavali brocade today is twill weave. Chorabab is plain weave. Was the Ashavali brocade imported by the Angkorian kings in the 12th century plain weave? We will probably never know.
* “Ashavali” is spelled, “Ashavali” when written in the Devanāgarī script, but the “v” is pronounced as a “w”.