Pidan (textile)

Silk pidan
Silk pidan

A pidan is a type of silk cloth used in Cambodian and Khmer weddings, funerals, and Buddhist ceremonies as a canopy or tapestry. Pidan are often decorated with images of wats, nāgas, apsaras, scenes from the life of Buddha, Angkor Wat, animals (especially elephants), and plants.[1]

Etymology

Pidan ពិតាន transliterates as bitan, meaning "extension, curtain, canopy." It is derived from the Sanskrit word vitana, defined as “an awning, canopy or cover.” The Khmer dictionary today defines pidan as ‘ceiling’ or "canopy,"[2] generally that of a vihear (Buddhist worship hall).[3] Pidan rup duk, meaning "pidan in the style of a boat/ship" ពិតានរបេទក, refers to pidans woven with ship motifs.[4] Pidan rup preah ពិតានរបេប្រា means "pidan in the holy/deity style" and pidan rup prasat ពិតានរបេសាទ is a "pidan in the temple style."[5] Hol pidan (ហូលពិតាន) is a pidan woven in the ikat technique from uneven twill groundweave, giving single or two-color fabrics produced by weaving three threads so "color of one thread dominates on one side of the fabric, while the two others determine the color on the reverse side."[6] The result is a brighter tone one side than the other, while the shade of the pattern itself remains consistent.[7]

Production, use, and themes

Hol pidan detail.
Hol pidan detail.

Pidan is produced by an experienced weaver. Because of this and its silken composition, it is fairly expensive.[1] The pidan-making process tends to take between three months to a year.[8] An example of pidan preah, though less common, is a tiered pidan suspended above a Buddha statue inside a vihear for protection. These may be slightly adorned with moon and sun icons.[9][10] Hol pidan may also be hung above the Buddha, like a parasol, for protection.[11] Traditionally, pidans are dedicated in the vihear for holy use.[12] Pidans may also function as ‘scenes of paradise’ where they’re placed next to the dying.[13]

Buddhist pictorial depictions on silk weft hol are crafted by weavers to fit within one and a half meters (or just under five feet long) of fabric, or else twice that, the shorter versions depicting illustrated stories and the longer silks repeat icons of the given theme.[14] Elaborate (and likely older) examples bear a single repeat centered between “partial repeats.” Two to four indistinguishable vertical panels may also showcase patterned icons.

Currently, the body of Buddhist-themed pidans come in three categories: Jataka tales, especially Vessantara Jātaka; the life of Prince Siddhartha (the future Buddha), and the Three Worlds cosmology depictions.[15] Popular examples of classic figures that represent Jataka are white elephants, horses, the Buddha mounted on a pedestal, a Brahman priest wearing chong kben, and open pagodas with three figures likely representing Prince Vessantara’s family.[16] There are two forms of the Prince Siddhartha-category pidans. The first is a lone composition of important events of Siddhartha’s life in a linear fashion, but with stylized and flat figures ignoring traditional perspectives. There are Burmese paintings that utilize a similar composition. The second, and also fewer in number, utilize repeats of classic figures symbolizing (instead of portraying) important events of Siddhartha’s life.[17] The third category of the three Buddhist themes is Three Worlds ត្រៃភូមិ (or Trey Phum, derived from Sanskrit) cosmology. This consists of upper, middle, and lower primary realm depictions: the Tusita Heaven (where past mothers of Buddhas reside with bodhisattvas) and Tavatimsa Heaven (for gods), a perfected world desired by humans, and the final destination of the condemned, respectfully.[18] Some examples of popular Trey Phum pidans motifs are Indra (green of color, and parasol in-hand), no-wall religious halls on clouds, apsaras, praying worshippers, seated Buddha, and waving banners (tung rolok) and crocodile banners (tung krapeu) held in beaks, on pagodas, and on poles - all identifying the upper realm. The middle realm's paradise forest Prei Haembopean is inhabited by composite animals and also the kinnari and kinnara, lions, tigers, elephants, horses, and peacocks. Some of these creatures feature pagodas mounted on their backs. Moon and sun icons may also appear.[19]

A pidan protecting a Durga sculpture in Sambor Prei Kuk.
A pidan protecting a Durga sculpture in Sambor Prei Kuk.

A few antique hol pidan bear a ship motif.[20] Accompanying these pidan rup duk are popular figures such as nagas, birds, lobsters, crabs, fish, rays, turtles, sharks, seahorses, elephants (not white), and also crocodile banners and trees-of-life - possibly the only two motifs that also appear in Buddhist themed hol pidan.[21] The three categories are 'archaic ships', 'sailing ships' and 'symbolic ships.'[22] Archaic ships contain a middle superstructure, sometimes even three stories high, that houses human or spirit figures. The ship is adorned with naga finials, and may also contain animals. Land-based religious pavilions may also appear, sometimes in three.[23] The second category, sailing ships, depict vessels that visited Cambodia over the centuries, including Arab, Chinese, and even European with three sails. Some depict composite ship forms.[24] The third, symbolic ships, come in two categories: the first depicts ships in pairs of “stacked layers,” the widest layer being the foundation and rows decreasing in width all the way to the naga-headed top. The motif created is a flower mound (phka ben), or sometimes a stupa.[25] The second symbolizes a model ship, the motif being either an incense holder or banana tree trunk. Both may support pairs of sprouting stalks or “star-like spot” symbolizing incense or a candle flame.[26]

Silk pidan
Silk pidan

A palette of soft blue hues was welcomed to hol pidan production by weavers trained by Japanese NGO Caring for Young Khmer (CYK). Distinct from orange, brown, and red tones historically common in hol pidan, the introduction of indigo colors is a new, modern feature. The utilization of the new indigo hues produced a 2014 pidan called 'Wave Pattern.' Weaver Seam Soma created this unique, abstract piece with flowing indigo tones zig-zagging like water across the length of the silk.[27] In the 2014 ‘Reviving Pidan’ exhibit, Sueun Serynoch presented a Buddhist Prince Siddhartha-themed pidan in gold, beige, and radiant burgundy dominated by a front and center religious pavilion. The structure is accompanied by a cheering audience, two horse-riders, and two elephants.[28] The same exhibit saw weaver Tampo’s pidan that featured nagas and numerous Cambodian animals on soft gold against bold purple with splashes of green and sky blue.[29] Weaver Pech Kim wove a deep and tightly-pattern hol pidan exhibited in 2016 that appears abstract but reveals a repetition of ritual items, such as incense and candles. Also exhibited in 2016, Soung Mech’s pidan portraying the birth of the Buddha with servants and gods in bright clothes. The Buddha, left arm raised, has lotus flower-shaped footprints, and the scene repeats five times.[30]

History

Silk pidan
Silk pidan

Inscriptions from the Angkor era reveal a word whose use and description match today’s term pidan,[31] and pidan production was most frequent and plentiful between approximately 1880 and 1930.[32] Women are the majority of pidan weavers and always have been; the practice is a crucial source of income.[33][34] In the past, pidans were commissioned by wealthy donors for the protection of Buddha images in a pagoda. This high-value item earned merit for the donor.[35] Since the 1960s, pidan production began satisfying an artistic market and serving secular purposes.[36][37] Between 1975 and 1979, Pol Pot’s regime banned silk-weaving, including pidan production. A few survivors retained the skills and techniques required.[38] Out of 415, 300+ textile collections from the National Museum had disappeared after the Khmer Rouge were overthrown in 1979.[39] Japanese org Caring for Young Refugees initiated weaving workshops in Khao-I-Dang refugee camp on the Thai border in 1980. Via the Cambodian division titled Caring for Young Khmer (CYK), a small number of Khmer silk weavers made pidans. In 1991, CYK had come to Cambodia only to realize pidan production had ceased almost completely and the textile was nearly unheard of among weavers. Then by 2014, CYK had trained 172 weavers.[40] In 2014, Ms. Harumi Sekiguchi of CYK donated 25 hol pidan to the National Museum of Cambodia. In 2024, villagers of Prey Kabbas (Takéo province) released three hol pidan to Siem Reap Province’s Mekong-Ganga Cooperation Asian Traditional Textiles Museum. In 2025, CYK once again gave the Cambodian Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts more than 40 pieces of hol pidan.[41]

In 2010, 2014, and 2016, the National Museum hosted hol pidan exhibits called ‘Hol Pidan Khmer,’[42] 'Revitalizing Khmer Treasure – Pidan: Pictorial Ikat Silk,'[43] and ‘Khmer Tradition of Weaving the Hol Pidan Khmer: Conservation and development,’ respectively. A hol pidan exhibit called 'Hol Pidan Khmer: Evolution and Challenges' was held at the National Museum of Cambodia in 2024.[44]

Hol Pidan Khmer in 1880-1910

Further reading

References

  1. 1 2 Berthon, Magali (17 September 2018). "HOL PIDAN: AN OTHERWORLDLY CAMBODIAN EXPERIENCE". Cooper Hewit. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  2. ↑ Greene, Gillian (2003). Traditional textiles of Cambodia : cultural threads and material heritage. River Books. p. 266. ISBN 978-974-8225-39-5.
  3. ↑ Wolfarth, Joanna (2003). Hol Pidan: Cambodian Traditional Pictorial Silk textile preservation and development, at the National museum of Cambodia, 2016. p. 205.
  4. ↑ Greene, Gillian (2003). Traditional textiles of Cambodia : cultural threads and material heritage. River Books. pp. 269, 307. ISBN 978-974-8225-39-5.
  5. ↑ Greene, Gillian (2003). Traditional textiles of Cambodia : cultural threads and material heritage. River Books. pp. 303, 307. ISBN 978-974-8225-39-5.
  6. ↑ Visiting Arts (2005), "Silk weaving".
  7. ↑ Greene, Gillian (2003). Traditional textiles of Cambodia : cultural threads and material heritage. River Books. p. 89. ISBN 978-974-8225-39-5.
  8. ↑ Michelle Vachon (2014). "Weaving Pidan". english.cambodiadaily.com/.
  9. ↑ Greene, Gillian (2003). Traditional textiles of Cambodia : cultural threads and material heritage. River Books. p. 266. ISBN 978-974-8225-39-5.
  10. ↑ Wolfarth, Joanna (2017). Cambodian Traditional Pictorial Silk Textile Preservation and Development, at the National Museum of Cambodia, 2016. pp. 205, 206.
  11. ↑ Wolfarth, Joanna (2017). Hol Pidan: Cambodian Traditional Pictorial Silk Textile Preservation and Development, at the National Museum of Cambodia, 2016. pp. 205, 206.
  12. ↑ Greene, Gillian (2003). Traditional textiles of Cambodia : cultural threads and material heritage. River Books. p. 217. ISBN 978-974-8225-39-5.
  13. ↑ Greene, Gillian (2003). Traditional textiles of Cambodia : cultural threads and material heritage. River Books. p. 218. ISBN 978-974-8225-39-5.
  14. ↑ Greene, Gillian (2003). Traditional textiles of Cambodia : cultural threads and material heritage. River Books. p. 258. ISBN 978-974-8225-39-5.
  15. ↑ Greene, Gillian (2003). Traditional textiles of Cambodia : cultural threads and material heritage. River Books. p. 221. ISBN 978-974-8225-39-5.
  16. ↑ Greene, Gillian (2003). Traditional textiles of Cambodia : cultural threads and material heritage. River Books. p. 222. ISBN 978-974-8225-39-5.
  17. ↑ Greene, Gillian (2003). Traditional textiles of Cambodia : cultural threads and material heritage. River Books. p. 235. ISBN 978-974-8225-39-5.
  18. ↑ Greene, Gillian (2003). Traditional textiles of Cambodia : cultural threads and material heritage. River Books. pp. 242, 243. ISBN 978-974-8225-39-5.
  19. ↑ Greene, Gillian (2003). Traditional textiles of Cambodia : cultural threads and material heritage. River Books. pp. 243, 245. ISBN 978-974-8225-39-5.
  20. ↑ Greene, Gillian (2003). Traditional textiles of Cambodia : cultural threads and material heritage. River Books. p. 269. ISBN 978-974-8225-39-5.
  21. ↑ Greene, Gillian (2003). Traditional textiles of Cambodia : cultural threads and material heritage. River Books. p. 270. ISBN 978-974-8225-39-5.
  22. ↑ Greene, Gillian (2003). Traditional textiles of Cambodia : cultural threads and material heritage. River Books. p. 270. ISBN 978-974-8225-39-5.
  23. ↑ Greene, Gillian (2003). Traditional textiles of Cambodia : cultural threads and material heritage. River Books. p. 270. ISBN 978-974-8225-39-5.
  24. ↑ Greene, Gillian (2003). Traditional textiles of Cambodia : cultural threads and material heritage. p. 280. ISBN 978-974-8225-39-5.
  25. ↑ Greene, Gillian (2003). Traditional textiles of Cambodia : cultural threads and material heritage. p. 288. ISBN 978-974-8225-39-5.
  26. ↑ Greene, Gillian (2003). Traditional textiles of Cambodia : cultural threads and material heritage. p. 293. ISBN 978-974-8225-39-5.
  27. ↑ Wolfarth, Joanna (2017). Hol Pidan: Cambodian Traditional Pictorial Silk Textile Preservation and Development, at the National Museum of Cambodia, 2016. p. 208.
  28. ↑ Michelle Vachon (2014). "Weaving Pidan". english.cambodiadaily.com/.
  29. ↑ Michelle Vachon (2014). "Weaving Pidan". english.cambodiadaily.com/.
  30. ↑ Wolfarth, Joanna (2016). Hol Pidan: Cambodian Traditional Pictorial Silk Textile Preservation and Development, at the National Museum of Cambodia, 2016. pp. 208, 209.
  31. ↑ Greene, Gillian (2003). Traditional textiles of Cambodia : cultural threads and material heritage. River Books. p. 266. ISBN 978-974-8225-39-5.
  32. ↑ Michelle Vachon (2014). "Weaving Pidan". english.cambodiadaily.com/.
  33. ↑ Wolfarth, Joanna (2017). Hol Pidan: Cambodian Traditional Pictorial Silk Textile Preservation and Development, at the National Museum of Cambodia, 2016. p. 206.
  34. ↑ Rin Ousa (2024). "Weaving Pidan". english.cambodiadaily.com/.
  35. ↑ Wolfarth, Joanna (2017). Hol Pidan: Cambodian Traditional Pictorial Silk Textile Preservation and Development, at the National Museum of Cambodia, 2016. p. 206.
  36. ↑ Michelle Vachon (2014). "Weaving Pidan". english.cambodiadaily.com/.
  37. ↑ Greene, Gillian (2003). Traditional textiles of Cambodia : cultural threads and material heritage. p. 218. ISBN 978-974-8225-39-5.
  38. ↑ National Museum of Cambodia (2010). "Old Stories Revived - New Cambodian pidan". cambodiamuseum.info/.
  39. ↑ Rin Ousa (2024). "Hol Pidan Exhibition Shows Khmer Handicraft". cambodianess.com/.
  40. ↑ Michelle Vachon (2014). "Weaving Pidan". english.cambodiadaily.com/.
  41. ↑ Gov. (2025). "Culture Ministry Receives 40 Pieces of Hol Pidan from Japanese NGO". information.gov.kh/.
  42. ↑ Rin Ousa (2024). "Weaving Pidan". english.cambodiadaily.com/.
  43. ↑ National Museum of Cambodia (2014). "Revitalizing Khmer Treasure - Pidan: Pictorial Ikat Silk Stories Revived January 25 - 27 April, 2014". cambodiamuseum.info/.
  44. ↑ Rin Ousa (2024). "Weaving Pidan". english.cambodiadaily.com/.
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