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FOREWARD

The term Graduation Project refers to a set of activities that involves skills and dedications of the
apprentice to produce a desired object.

Academic graduation project initiative presentation module is an intrinsic part of the Bachelor of
Design at Graphic Era Hill University.

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 CERTIFICATE

Certified that Ms. Jyoti Mehra Roll No. 1045007 of Bachelor of Design (Fashion Design) VIII Semester,
Graphic Era Hill University has done her graduation project “ARPAN” under my supervision.

The work done by her is her own work as best of my knowledge.

Mentor:

Navneet Kaur

Assistant Professor

Department of Fashion Design

Graphic Era Hill University

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

My deepest appreciation to the vice chancellor Dr. Sanjay Jasola, Graphic Era Hill University and my
HOD Dr. Jyoti Chhabra and Asst. Prof. Kokila Bhandari for providing me the opportunity to complete
my Graduation project.

I am highly indebted to the Teacher in Charge Ms. Navneet Kaur for her guidance and constant
supervision as well as for providing necessary information regarding the project and also for her
support in completing the project.

I would like to express my gratitude towards my parents for their kind co-operation and
encouragement which helped me in the completion of this project.

My thanks and appreciations also go to my classmates in developing the project and to the people who
have willingly helped me out with their abilities.

Jyoti Mehra

Bachelor of Fashion Design

Semester-VIII

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TABLE OF CONTENT

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 INTRODUCTION

Sustainability is most often defined as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet theirs. It has three main pillars: economic, environmental, and
social. These three pillars are informally referred to as people, planet and profits.

The Environmental Pillar

The environmental pillar often gets the most attention. Companies are focusing on reducing their
carbon footprints, packaging waste, water usage and their overall effect on the environment.
Companies have found that have a beneficial impact on the planet can also have a positive financial
impact. Lessening the amount of material used in packaging usually reduces the overall spending on
those materials, for example. Walmart keyed in on packaging through their zero-waste initiative,
pushing for less packaging through their supply chain and for more of that packaging to be sourced
from recycled or reused materials.

The Economic Pillar

The economic pillar of sustainability is where most businesses feel they are on firm ground. To be
sustainable, a business must be profitable. That said, profit cannot trump the other two pillars. In fact,
profit at any cost is not at all what the economic pillar is about. Activities that fit under the economic
pillar include compliance, proper governance and risk management. While these are already table
stakes for most North American companies, they are not globally.

The Social Pillar

The social pillar ties back into another poorly defined concept: social license. A sustainable business
should have the support and approval of its employees, stakeholders and the community it operates
in. The approaches to securing and maintaining this support are various, but it comes down to treating
employees fairly and being a good neighbor and community member, both locally and globally.

On the employee side, businesses refocus on retention and engagement strategies, including more
responsive benefits such as better maternity and paternity benefits, flexible scheduling, and learning
and development opportunities. For community engagement, companies have come up with many
ways to give back, including fundraising, sponsorship, scholarships and investment in local public
projects.

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 Social sustainability

The ability of a community to develop processes and structures which not only meet the needs of its
current members but also support the ability of future generations to maintain a healthy community.

Social sustainability is one aspect of sustainability or sustainable development. Social sustainability

encompasses human rights, labor rights, and corporate governance. In common with environmental
sustainability, social sustainability is the idea that future generations should have the same or greater
access to social resources as the current generation, while there should also be equal access to social
resources within the current generation.

Social resources include ideas as broad as other cultures and basic human rights. Also we can speak of
Sustainable Human Development that can be seen as development that promotes the capabilities of
present people without compromising capabilities of future generations.

In the human development paradigm, environment and natural resources should constitute a means
of achieving better standards of living just as income represents a means of increasing social
expenditure and, in the end, well-being.

The different aspects of social sustainability are often considered in socially responsible investing.
Social sustainability criteria that are commonly used by SRI funds and indexes to rate publicly traded
companies include: community, diversity, employee relations, human rights, product safety, reporting,
and governance structure.

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 UTTARAKHAND

The 27th state of Republic of India, Devbhoomi Uttarakhand that was formed in the year 2000 after
being separated from the large state of Uttar Pradesh, is a destination to explore the riches of Indian
culture, history, and natural beauty. The state that borders Tibet to the north; Nepal to the east; the
state of Uttar Pradesh to the south; and Himachal Pradesh to the west and north-west, is divided into
regions, Garhwal and Kumaon, which further break into 13 districts. Earlier, the state was named
Uttaranchal by Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) led central government and Uttar Pradesh State Government
when they started a fresh round of state reorganisation in 1998. However, in 2006, Union Cabinet of
India to the agreed to the demands of the Uttaranchal Legislative Assembly and leading members of
the Uttarakhand Statehood Movement and renamed Uttaranchal as Uttarakhand. The state also finds
its mention in history as a part of the Kuru and the Panchal kingdoms (mahajanpads) during the Vedic
age. In Hindu mythology also, Uttarakhand has been recognized as a part of the famed Kedarkhand
(Now Garhwal) and Manaskhand (Kumaon).

The people of Uttarakhand indulge in vivid celebrations and performing of rituals around the year due
to their deep-rooted collection with nature and the rich mythology.

Each season is welcome with hearty folk songs and dance and so are the agricultural periods. The
ancestor spirit worship is exclusive to the state, Jaagar, as it is locally called, is held to wake the Gods
and the local deities up from their inactive stage to solve their problems and shower on them many
blessings. Dances like Barada Nati, Bhotiya Dance, Chancheri, Chhapeli, Choliya Dance, Jagars, Jhora,
Langvir Dance, Langvir Nritya, Pandav Nritya, Ramola, Shotiya Tribal Folk Dances, Thali-Jadda, and
Jhainta are performed on various occasions in Uttarakhand. 

The culture of Uttarakhand still revolves around its traditional ethics, moral values, the simplicity of
nature and a rich mythology.

People are divided into regions and are thus better recognized as Kumaoni (Inhabitants of Kumaon
Region) and Garhwali (Inhabitants of Garhwal Region).

Garhwal

Garhwal is the western region and administrative division of the Indian state of Uttarakhand which is

home to the Garhwali people. Lying in the Himalayas, it is bounded on the north by Tibet, on the east
by Kumaon region, on the south by Uttar Pradesh state, and on the northwest by Himachal
Pradesh state.

The Garhwal Himalayas appear to have been a favorite locale for the voluminous mythology of the
Puranic period. The traditional name of Garhwal was Uttarakhand. Excavations have revealed that it
formed part of the Mauryan Empire.

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Kumaon

Kumaon - The name of the sociocultural region of Kumaon is believed to have been derived from
"Kurmanchal", meaning Land of the Kurmavtar (the tortoise incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

In the ancient period between 1300 to 1400 AD, after the disintegration of Katyuri kingdom of
Uttarakhand, eastern region of Uttarakhand (Kumaon and Far-Western Region of Nepal which was a
part of Uttarakhand then), divided into eight different princely states i.e., Baijnath-Katyuri, Dwarhat,
Doti, Baramandal, Askot, Sira, Sora, Sui (Kali kumaon). Later on, in 1581 AD after the defeat of Raika
Hari Mall (maternal uncle of Rudra chand) with the hand of Rudra Chand all these disintegrated parts
came under King Rudra chand and the whole region was as kumaon.

Both the Garhwal and Kumaon regions have been subject to more or less similar social political and
cultural circumstances during the recent past- when the region was stronghold of the Katyuri and
Chand kings- before a short spell of Gorkha Dynasty and the final take over by the British- early in the
19 century where after the present pattern of its divisions of Garhwal and Kumaon continued to exist
for a long time. Since November 9, 2000. Kumaon has been included in the new state of Uttarakhand
and makes up its eastern portion.

In the present work an attempt has been made to provide detailed material on Aipan- a traditional folk
art of Kumaon which not only reveals a great variety in its content and style but also through its
mythological colour carry’s a special sanctity in the traditional and social cultural behavior of the
people.

As a common in many other parts of the country, Kumaon also abounds in the myth and rituals and as
a result many of the drawings depicted in Aipan reflect a distinct religious aura infact. Almost all types
of Aipan are either drawn for ritualistic use or for ceremonial and festive occasions and as such.

Aipan are distinct, in the sense that besides their artistic value these are invariably dedicated to god.

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 CONCEPT

The concept of Aipan has basically emerged from the deep faith of the people in Hindu religion
wherein a man is required to bind his conduct and activities according to a prescribed code during
different stages of his life - right from birth to death. These stages, as per Hindu faith require a part of
which also finds an expression in the Aipan drawings which are very often prepared for and used
during such occasions.

The inspiration has taken from the traditional art of Kumaon Uttarakhand. Aipan created the ethnic
saree’s collection “ARPAN”.

The saree are gracefully adorned with hand painted. Despite having cultural relevance this art is slowly
faded away from the community. Hence using the old motifs an effort has been made to bring Aipan
into new avatar.

Being a Kumauni I realised the value of this art hence the ideation of this collection came to my mind
to make an effort to bring this art in front of the present day consumer.

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 AIPAN

Aipan constitutes a characteristic form of folk art prevalent in Kumaon and as is common in other of
the country, forms an important element of the traditional art-being largely dominated and shaped by
religious motives. Aipan reveals a great variety in its content and style and it has flourished more or
less in the form of a domestic art-being handed over from one generation to another by mothers to
daughters. The patterns are invariably drawn by fingers - using a paste of powdered rice locally called
biswar over a surface painted with red rock oxide called geru.

These surface drawings and patterns are drawn for decorating a variety of places in the household
during specific occasions including the steps leading to the main door, the door entrance, the doors,
the courtyard, specific places on the walls, the altar and even domestic appliances like a supa or a
winnowing scoop.

Many a times, however, these patterns also take the form of figurative drawings called patta or likh
thap either using a plot (narrative) depicted over a paper or cloth and making use of a variety of floral
colours. Yet another distinctive style of Aipan, known as bar boond creates mystic geometrical patterns
with the help of specific numbers and arrangement of dots for particular designs.

As is manifest in many of the Aipan designs-specially the worshipping seats and the geometrical
designs, it appears that the concept and design of Aipan have been deeply influenced by some of the
most ancient holy scriptures in Indian mythology like Purans specially Skandh Purana, Kalika Purana,
Bhawishya Purana, Markande Purana, Devi Purana, Agni Purana, Vayoo Purana, Bhagwat Purana,
Vishnu Purana and Shiv Purana. In Skandh Purana, there is a specific reference to the Garhwal and
Kumaon regions in the Kedarkhand and Manaskhand respectively.

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 AIPAN ART

Almost all types of Aipan are drawn for use either during festivals, various rituals and ceremonial
occasions or for worship. Sometime these may find a place as artful patterns drawn on the doorsteps,
doors, courtyards or walls or else this may be drawn over cloth, a seat, a plate or a supa. Aipan stand
distinct in view of the fact that these are not only drawn from an artistic point of view alone but Aipan
are more significant because of their spiritual base and a spirit of devotion. Aipan, which also
symbolizes the various parameters of the environment is considered sacred and is dedicated to God.
On the basis of the material used in this folk art and the variety of medium used for different types of
figurative drawings, as also the diversities of designs and patterns, these can broadly be grouped into
the following two distinct styles of Aipan :

1) Floor designs and patterns and

2) Figurative drawings - Likh Thap – Patta

The medium selected for drawing an Aipan may differ according to the purpose or the occasion and a
variety of patterns and combinations thus may be used at different occasions. Likewise, the material
used for drawing the Aipan may also be different according to the style adopted and the matter
depicted. Thus two main styles of Aipan may be recognized mainly on the basis of the medium and the
material used for drawing the Aipan.

AIPAN

FLOOR DESINGS & PATTERNS FIGURATIVE DRAWINGS

Surface patterns On walls, paper or cloth called

likh thap or patta
Use of biswar over a base
coloured with geru. Use of floral colours.

1. Creepers & filler designs 1. Patta

2. Worshipping seats 2. Bar Boond

Chauki – a wooden seat Narrative figurative drawings

using various colours
Asan – a thick cloth
Mystic geometric patterns
drawn with dots using various
colours

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 AIPAN DESIGNS

Aipan is one of the traditional forms of Rangoli, practiced in the state of Uttarakhand, now Uttaranchal.
The art is associated with a great degree of social, cultural as well as religious significance. In
Uttarakhand, Aipan designs are mainly drawn at places of worship, along with the main entry door and
the front courtyard of the house. In the Indian subcontinent, the art form of Aipan is carried on from
generation to generation. Women pass on the patterns to their daughters and daughters-in-law. Some
of the patterns are significant from a religious point of view and are especially made at the time of
ceremonies like marriages, threading ceremony, naming ceremony, etc, to perform rituals. Each and
every Aipan design has a particular meaning attached to it and is drawn with a specific purpose in
mind.

Some of the most popular Aipan designs are:

Traditional Aipan the main designs of traditional Aipan are linear art, geometrical designs, flowers and
imprints, drawn for ornamental purposes. 

Aipan of Door Step:

The Aipan drawn on the doorstep of the house has a beautiful design and great artistic value. At times,
Vasudhara is also combined with this design to give it a more elegant look.

Vasudhara:

Vasudhara is made around the Pooja Vedika, doorsteps of house, worship place and Tulsi plant. The
place, that is to be decorated, is painted with Geru (red color soil) and then, vertical lines, in odd
numbers like 5, 7, 9 or 11, are made on it with the help of Bishwar (soaked rice powder). 

Swastika In case the Aipan of a particular occasion is not known, a swastika is drawn. Swastika
symbolizes creation and growth and encourages people to march ahead in the search of success. 

Astadal Kamal:

Astadal Kamal is the Aipan drawn at the place of a Havan. Its design includes an octagonal geometry,
with lotus petals, and a swastika in the middle. 

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Lakshmi Padchinha:

Lakshmi Padchinha, comprising of the footprints of Goddess Lakshmi, is drawn on Deepawali, right
from main entrance of the house to the worship place.   Lakshmi Peeth Lakshmi Peeth is drawn on
Deepawali in the puja room. 

Bhuiyan:

Bhuiyan pattern is made on the outer side of a Soop (an ugly sketch of a demon). The inner side of the
'Soop' has the image of Lakshmi-Narayan. 

Dhuliarghya Var Chauka:

Dhuliarghya Var Chauka is drawn at the time of marriage. When the bridegroom is introduced and
welcomed by the bride's family, he stands on the Chauka only. 

Acharya Chauka:

Acharya Chauka is made for the kulguru, who stands on it while performing the marriage rituals from
bridegroom's side, at the time of dhuliarghya 

Janeo:

Janeo Aipan is drawn for the ceremony of 'Janeo' i.e., the threading ceremony, of a boy. The pattern
has 15 dots in the center. 

Bhadra:

Bhadra form of Aipan is drawn in the puja room and at the time of a yajna. It is further subdivided into
several forms, based on the number of dots it has. The bhadra with 12 dots is known as bindu bhadra,
while the one with 24 dots is known as bindu bhadra. 

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Namkarna Chauki:

Namkarna Chauki is the naming ceremony of a newborn, held on the eleventh day of his birth.
Namkarna Chauki Aipan is drawn in the courtyard, where the surya darshan (baby's first exposure to
the sun) is performed.

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 Different Forms of Aipans

Saraswati Chowki:

The main feature of Saraswati chowki i s a five-pointed star, with a swastik flower or a Diya in the
center. The artist decorates the center piece with flowing designs or floral patterns. This Aipan is made
when a child begins formal education. During this time, a puja is also held to give him/her an
auspicious start. The form of Aipan has been named after goddess 'Saraswati', the Goddess of
Learning.

Chamunda Hast Chowki:

Chamunda Hast Chowki comprises of a circles, within which there are two triangles, interspersed with
two diagonal lines that runs across both of them. There is a 5-pointed star in between, making it
centerpiece of this chowki. The gaps in the pattern are filled with floral designs or Lakshmi's feet. The
circle itself is often decorated with 8 petals of the lotus. This type of Aipan is made during " havans" or
"yagnas".

Nav Durga Chowki:

The main points of Nav Durga Chowki are nine dots, representing the Nav Durgas. The dots are
enclosed within a square, with parallel lines running in a crisscross fashion, decorated with lotus petals.
A simpler way is to form swastiks with the nine dots; which is called Nav Swastik. There are many
variations of this chowki. A simpler version is made by drawing three horizontal and vertical lines, with
a Swastik in the centre. This type of Aipan is made at the time of Devi puja.

Shiv or Shivarchan Peeth:

Shivarchan Peeth comprises of an eight-cornered design, with 12 dots joined by 12 lines. To make it
more attractive, there is an outside border, drawn with four corners. This type of Aipan is made in the
month of Savan or Magh, which is specifically dedicated to Lord Shiva. In this month, 28 or 108 Parthiv
Lings are placed in a copper thali and Shivarchan Peeth is drawn on the ground.

Surya Darshan Chowki:

Surya Darshan chowki is made for the naming ceremony of a newborn child. It is drawn on the floor,
where the priest sits reciting the mantras. For ten days after his birth, the baby is kept indoors. He is
brought out on the eleventh day, for Surya Darshan. This is followed by the naming ceremony.

Janeyu Chowki:

Janeyu Chowki comprises of seven stars, made within a six-sided drawing. The seven stars in the Aipan
represent the Sapt Rishis. Around the six-sided drawing, a number of dots are drawn. This chowki is
made especially for the sanctified thread ceremony, called janeyu.

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 OBJECTIVES

The inspiration has taken from the traditional art of Kumaon Uttarakhand. Aipan created the ethnic
saree’s collection “ARPAN”.

The saree are gracefully adorned with hand painted. Despite having cultural relevance this art is slowly
faded away from the community. Hence using the old motifs an effort has been made to bring Aipan
into new avatar.

Being a Kumauni I realised the value of this art hence the ideation of this collection came to my mind
to make an effort to bring this art in front of the present day consumer.

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