Ganga to Mekong: A Cultural Voyage through Textiles
Hema Devare
ISEAS; Manohar: 2016 

Ganga to Mekong, a new textile book written by an enthusiastic textile convert, promised much. While the author is neither a textile specialist nor a practitioner, her Indian heritage stimulated her interest in similarities between patterns and techniques of Indian textiles and those of Southeast Asia, both mainland and island. The opening chapters are perhaps the strongest, being an historical account of India’s trade to its east and south-east and the vital contribution of the textile trade to commerce over many centuries. Interspersed are mythological backgrounds to themes and motifs seen on Indian textiles and their interpretations in Southeast Asian textiles, which are of interest, but not new to textile enthusiasts or practitioners. The following chapters are a romp through the similarities in patterns and dress styles in Southeast Asia (the Mekong connection in the title) and those of their Indian counterparts (the Ganga connection). The final chapter highlights the famed Indian patola cloth.

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