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Category: Indian heritage fabrics

  • Kalamkari art on fabrics

    Kalamkari is an ancient fabric art renowned for its mesmerizing beauty and intricate art work. kalamkari paintings portray deities and scenes taken from the Hindu epics such as Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas.

    Kalamkari is a well-known fabric art loved by people across the world and everyone who love Indian ethnic fashion trends collect in their wardrobe at least a kalamkari shawl. Kalamkari fascinate people owing to its bright and black intricate artworks which portray Indian mythological stories.

    It is an ancient textile printing art, that originated   in Machilipatnam in the state of Andra Pradesh India. The name kalamkari is derived from two Hindi words “Kalam” implies ‘pen’ and “Kari” means ‘art’, which was coined by the Mughal emperors who came across this amazing art form during their conquest extended to Deccan region.

    In India, silk, mulmul, cotton, and synthetic sarees portray the kalamkari art and they have great demand locally as well as in foreign lands. Printing is a much easier task than traditional Kalamkari work. Kalamkari printed dupattas and blouse pieces are popular among Indian women particularly among urban tribes.

    Genesis of Kalamkari art

    Kalamkari art originated about 3000 years ago in the state of Andhra Pradesh And this art form reached the zenith of its grandeur in Andra Pradesh during the reign of Vijayanagara empire.

    Kalamkari is around 3000-year-old art form as per the archeological evidence. The discovery of a resist dyed piece of cloth on a silver vase at the ancient site of Harappa (c. 2600 BC) of the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilization corroborates for its antiquity.

    Kalamkari style of art originated in Machilipatnam. Centuries ago, the artisans of the hamlets were keen to depict mythological narratives using large bolts of canvas painted on the spot with simple means and dyes extracted from plants.  The depictions were linking the art with Hinduism prevailed in the land for centuries since Vedic times. 

    Kalamkari underwent a huge transformation in its style with the Muslim invasion in Indian subcontinent. Later the Mughal empire patronized this craft in the Coromandel and Golconda provinces. The royals called the practitioners of this craft as “Qualamkars”, from which the term “Kalamkari” has evolved.

     The Pedana Kalamkari craft made in Pedana close to Machilipatnam evolved under the patronage of the Mughals and the Golconda sultanate.  The original kalamkari art got influenced by Persian art under the Islamic rule. This paved way for two major styles of kalamkari art in fabrics in Indian subcontinent.

     

    The making of Kalamkari art on fabrics

    Natural dyes are used since ancient times in making kalamkari art forms. Two principal styles of Kalamkari paintings exist in India. The hand painted style practiced in the town of Srikalahasti and block printed style practiced in the town of Machilipatnam. Both styles are registered as Geographical Indications from Andhra Pradesh under handicraft goods, with the Srikalahasti style registered in 2005 and the Machilipatnam style in 2008, under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999.

    Srikalahasti style of Kalamkari

    In this style of kalamkari painting the “kalam” or pen is used for freehand drawing of the subject and filling in the colors. It is entirely hand worked. It is produced in Srikalahasti of Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh. This style flourished in temples centered on creating unique religious identities, appearing on scrolls, temple hangings, chariot banners.

     Srikalahasti style of kalamkari paintings portray deities and scenes taken from the Hindu epics such as Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas. The Kalahasti artists generally depict on the cloth the deities, scenes from the epic Ramayana, the Mahabharata, Puranas and other mythological classics mainly producing scrolls, temple backcloths, wall hangings, chariot banners etc.

    Machilipatnam style of Kalamkari or Pedana Kalamkari is vegetable dyed block-painting on a fabric. It is practiced at the town of Machilipatnam in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh.

    The captivating blend of colors on the fabrics mostly depicts characters of the Indian mythology, including the divine figures of Brahma, Saraswati, Ganesh, Durga, Shiva and Parvati.

    The Machilipatnam paintings, is a melange of Hindu and Islamic art forms of fabric painting owing to the patronage of the Mughals and the Golconda Sultanate. Therefore, religious motifs of Hinduism were absent on this art form. The traditional block prints in this art show Persian motifs like interlacing pattern of leaves and flowers, the cartwheel, different forms of the lotus flower, creepers, birds like parrots and peacock, and other intricate leaf designs.

    In this art form there is great significance to the portrayal of tree of life.

    With the conquest by the Mughal Empire in 1687, a new style emerged in Machilipatnam kalamkari work which represented personal portraits of the emperors along with panels depicting sagas of the Mughal court.

    The making of pristine kalamkari fabric

    The first step in creating Kalamkari fabric is steeping it in astringents and buffalo milk and then drying it under the sun. Afterwards, the red, black, brown, and violet portions of the designs are outlined with a mordant and cloth are then placed in a bath of alizarin.

     Later to cover the cloth in wax, except for the parts to be dyed blue, and immerse the cloth in indigo dye. The wax is then scraped off and the remaining areas are painted by hand.

    To create design contours, artists use a bamboo or date palm stick pointed at one end with a bundle of fine hair attached to this pointed end to serve as the brush or pen. This pen is soaked in a mixture of jaggery and water; one by one these are applied, then the vegetable dyes are added.

     Dyes for the cloth are obtained by extracting colours from various roots, leaves, and mineral salts of iron, tin, copper, and alum.

     Various effects are achieved by using cow dung, seeds, plants and crushed flowers to obtain natural dye. Along with buffalo milk, myrobalan is used in kalamkari. Myrobalan is also used to remove the odd smell of buffalo milk. The fixing agents available in the myrobalan can easily fix the dye or colour of the textile while treating the fabric. Alum is used in making natural dyes and also while treating the fabric. Alum ensures the stability of the colour in Kalamkari fabric.

    Modern day kalamkari art

    Contemporary kalamkari techniques are slightly different from its primitive form. In Masulipatnam, mordant is now uniformly printed with a block. Indigo dyeing has been given up and the application of the wax resist by kalam has also disappeared. The mordant for outlining in black remains unchanged, but iron acetate has replaced indigo for dyeing the larger areas black, despite its known corrosive qualities. Yellow dyes are made from dried flowers of the myrobalam, Terminalia chebula.

    Kalamkari is a vastly popularized ethnic art form which has been in use in most part of the country and spread world wide as one of the most sought-after fabric art form.

    Written by Dr. Sanjana.p. Souparnika

    References

  • Madhubani fabric painting

    Madhubani paintings is a popular art form which has been widely used in Indian ethnic fashion for many decades. It is passionately loved by Indian fashion aficionados across the globe and fabrics and outfits with madhubani paintings are in huge demand. This ancient ethnic art originated from Madhubani district of the Mithila region of present Bihar,India. Madhubani paintings use two-dimensional imagery, and traditional colors derived from nature.

     Madhubani  art mostly depicts people and their intricate connection with nature along with scenes and deities from the ancient epics. This painting style is named after the Madhubani district of Bihar, India, where it originated.

    It is a style of painting practiced in the Mithila region of India and Nepal and hence Madhubani art is also known as Mithila art.

    Mithila painting’s themes include natural objects like the sun, the moon, and sacred plants like Tulsi  along with scenes from the royal court and social events like weddings. In this art form the gaps between main figures and objects are filled by paintings of flowers, animals, birds etc. It includes geometric designs also.

    The origin & style of Madhubani painting

    The Madhubani art is traditionally practiced for many decades by women of Jitwarpur, Ranti and Rasidpur. The paintings were traditionally done on freshly plastered mud walls and floors of huts, but later they started doing it on cloth, handmade paper and canvas.

    Madhubani paintings use traditional colors derived from nature. The pigments used for making this art include vermilion powder mixed with grounded mustard seeds for red, cow dung mixed with lampblack for greenish black, rice paste for white, Pevdi for lemon yellow, turmeric for yellow ochre, Indigo for blue, palash flower for orange, bilva leaf for green, and red clay for indian red.

    Gum arabic or goat’s milk constitutes the paint’s binder. Gum arabic is used for painting on paper and goat’s milk used mainly for wall paintings.

    The paint is created using natural dyes and pigments such as ochre and lampblack are used for reddish brown and black respectively.

    The creation of painting is done using twigs, brushes, nib-pens, matchsticks and sometimes with fingers. Still the artists continue to utilize traditional brushes, which consist of bamboo slivers, rags, and sticks.

    Madhubani painting art is still confined to specific geographical area and the skills have been passed on to generations through centuries. However, the content and the style of Madhubani painting have not transformed overtime. It has stood the test of time with its unique and exquisite style and popularity. Thus, Madhubani painting has received GI (Geographical Indication) status.

    The paintings are characterized by their astounding geometrical patterns. There is also ritual content  made available for particular occasions, such as birth or marriage, and festivals, such as Holi, Surya Shasti, Kali Puja, Upanayana, and Durga Puja.

    Mithila art has five distinctive styles:

    Bharni

    Katchni

    Tantrik

    Godna

    Kohbar

    In the 1960s, Bharni and Tantrik styles of Madhubani art were predominantly created by Brahmin women in India and Nepal, focusing on religious themes and depictions of gods and goddesses.

     Artists from other castes incorporated elements from their daily lives, local legends like the story of Raja Shailesh, and various symbols into their paintings.

    Khobar style Madhubani

    It is also known as puren , and it is traditionally painted on the wall of a Mithila wedding chamber, where a bride and groom spend their first night together. They most often depict circular motifs made up on feminized faces, and lines drawn in red and black ink. There are both Brahman and Kayastha versions of the Khobar style.

    Madhubani mythological linking

    Madhubani paintings also known as Mithila art has a mythological linking with epic Ramayana. It is believed that the Mahbubani painting was first created at Mithila, the birthplace of Hindu goddess Sita of Ramayana. According to the epic, Mithila is the birthplace of Sita and she was the daughter of king Janak. During the marriage rituals of Lord Ram and Sita , King Janak asked to capture the moments of marriage as paintings.

    Later Madhubani painting was traditionally created by the women of various communities in the Mithila region for many centuries.

    Madhubani painting -on the trajectory of growth &popularity

    Deliberate and consistent efforts have been taken by many institutions in India to sustain this beautiful ancient art form. It is still practiced and kept alive in institutions spread across the Mithila region. Kalakriti in Darbhanga.

    Vaidehi in Benipatti in Madhubani district and Gram Vikas Parishad in Ranti are some of the major centres of Madhubani painting which have taken taken tremendous efforts to preserve & sustain this ancient art form for generations yet to come and it is indeed awe-inspiring.

    Madhubani artists have been featured in multiple museum collections and exhibitions, including a UNESCO Christmas card collection and an exhibit from San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum titled Painting is My Everything: Art From India’s Mithila Region. It denotes the global recognition this ancient art form has achieved over the years.

     In contemporary times, Madhubani art has evolved into a global art form, transcending caste distinctions unlike as in the past. Artists now freely work across all five styles of Madhubani, and has gained international recognition.

    Nation honouring the artisans of Midhila paintings

    Madubani artists have been honoured by the government of India several times and still it is a continuing tradition. Madhubani painting received official recognition for the first time in 1969 when Sita Devi received the State award by the Government of Bihar. Later Indian government honoured her with National Award also. Mamta Devi from the village Jitwarpur also received the National Award.

    Jagdamba Devi from Bhajparaul, was honoured with Padma Shri by the nation in 1975. In 1984 Ganga Devi was awarded by Padma Shri& Mahasundari Devi received the Padma Shri in 2011.

    written by dr sanjana p souparnika [copyright]

    References

  • Pattachitra Painting

    Pattachitra arts is a form of fabric painting known for its intricate details as well as mythological narratives and folktales inscribed in it.

     Pattachitra is one of the ancient artworks of Odisha ,Bengal & Bangladesh. In Sanskrit, the word paṭṭa means “cloth” and chitra means “picture”. Most of these paintings depict stories of Hindu mythology.

     This ancient painting art is a general term for traditional, cloth-based scroll painting, based in the eastern Indian states of Odisha, West Bengal and parts of Bangladesh.

    There are chiefly two important categories of pattachitra painting- Odisha pattachitra and Bengal pattachitra.

    Hisory

    Originally this art form was created for ritual use and as souvenirs for pilgrims to Puri, as well as other temples in Odisha.

    Patachitras are also a component of an ancient Bengali narrative art, originally serving as a visual device during the performance of a song.

    Charanachitras, Mankhas, Yamapatas were ancient form of paintings out of which Pattachitra paintings seem to be evolved. Pattachitra  paintings are over  more than thousand years old.

    Odisha pattachitra painting

    Pattachitra style of painting is one of the oldest and most popular art forms of Odisha. Most of the paintings depicts Hindu mythology stories. They seem to be inspired by Jagannath and Vaishnava sect. All colours used in the Paintings are natural and paintings are made in old traditional way by Chitrakaras or Odiya Painter.

     There are different categories of Pattachitra  from the point of view of medium used  for painting, i.e. paintings on cloth are called ‘Patta Chitra’ .

    Paintings  on walls are known as ‘Bhitti Chitra’ and paintings on palm leaf engravings as “Tala Patra Chitra’ or “Pothi, Chitra’.

     The style of all the three painting arts remains more or less the same at a specific time as then the artists were commissioned to work in all these media.

    The pattachitra paintings are similar to the old murals of Odisha particularly of religious centres of Puri, Konark and Bhubaneshwar region [ 5th century BC]. The oldest record of Pattachitra Paintings is related to the time of establishment of the shrine of Shri Jagannath temple at Puri. However, the oldest classical marble paintings of Sitabanji at Keonjhar do not conform to the present style of Patta painting wholly.

    Pattachitra themes

    The theme of Odia Pattachitra painting mostly portrays Lord Jagannath and the Vaishnava sect of Hindu mythology. Lord Jagannath is believed as an incarnation of Lord Krishna. The theme also include Balabhadra and Subhadra, temple activities, the ten incarnations of Vishnu basing on the ‘Gita Govinda’ of Jayadev, Kama Kujara Navagunjara, Ramayana, Mahabharata. The dress style portrayed in the paintings has Mughal influences.

    The background on which the figures are represented in pattachitra  is delineated with decorations of flowers and foliages and is mostly painted in red colour. All the paintings are given decorative borders.

    Pattachitra painting method

      Pattachitra paintings are done on small strips of cotton cloth. The canvas is prepared by coating the clothing with a mixture of chalk and gum made from Guar or tamarind seeds. Then it is rubbed by taking the help of two different stones and then the cloth is dried. The mixture of gum and chalk gives the cloth’s surface a leathery finish on which the artists paint with vegetable, earth and stone colours.

    The chitrakar or painter simply draw over the cloth canvas made, with the brush either in light red or yellow colour. Then the colours are filled in. The final lines are drawn and the painting is given a lacquer coating to protect it from weather, thus making the painting glossy. The painting is held over a fireplace so that the back of the painting is exposed to heat. On the surface of the painting fine lacquer is applied.

    The  pattachitra painters prepare their own colours or paints. White colour is made from the conch-shells by powdering, boiling and filtering through a complicated process. Although  this process  requires great effort and patience it gives brilliance and permanence to the hue.

    ‘Hingula’, a mineral colour, is used for red. ‘Haritala’, king of stone ingredients for yellow, ‘Ramaraja’ a sort of indigo for blue are being used in pattachitra painting. Pure lamp-black or black colour is prepared from the burning of coconut shell.

    The brushes that are used by the painters of this art form are also indigenous and are made of hair of domestic animals. A bunch of hair tied to the end of a bamboo stick and the brush is made.

    Palm leaf Pattachitra

    Palm leaf pattachitra which is in Oriya language known as Tala Pattachitra drawn on palm leaf. The palm leaves are plucked and left for becoming hard. Then these are sewn together to form like a canvas. The images are traced by using black or white ink to fill grooves etched on rows of equal-sized panels of palm leaf that are sewn together. These panels can also be easily folded like a fan and packed in a compact pile for better conservation.

     Often palm-leaf illustrations are more elaborated, obtaining by superimposing layers that are glued together for most of the surface, but in some areas can open like small windows to reveal a second image under the first layer.

    Bengal Patachitra

    The Bengal Patachitra refers to the ancient painting art of West Bengal and Bangladesh. It is a traditional and mythological heritage of West Bengal. The Bengal Patachitra is categorized into various types like Durga Pat, Chalchitra, Tribal Patachitra, Medinipur Patachitra, and Kalighat Patachitra.

     The theme of Bengal Patachitra is mostly mythological, religious stories, folk lore and social. The Kalighat Patachitra, the last tradition of Bengal Patachitra is developed by Jamini Roy. The artist of the Bengal Patachitra is called Patua.

    These religious pots[ painting] encompass the story of Hindu epics like, mythology, Ramayana, Mahabharata narrating stories of Hindu gods and goddesses like Radha Krishna, Chaitanya, Kali, Shiba and the indigenous Bengali folklore of Manasha and Chandi, Behula and Lakshinder .

    Secular pots depict important news events, scandals accidents etc. such as bus accidents at Narayangarh, rural elections, the rationing system, family planning, evils of the dowry system etc.

     Every  Bengal Patachitra has a song related to it, which the artists sing while unfurling the Patachitra. Singing pot in Bengal is called Patua Sangeet. Patua Sangeet or Poter Gan is a cultural tradition of the singing Bengal Patachitra.

     It is famous in the village part of West Bengal like Birbhum, Jhargram, Bardhaman and Murshidabad as a folk song of West Bengal.

    Chalchitra is a part of Bengal Patachitra, It referred to the Debi Chal or Durga chala, the background of the Durga Pratima or idol.

     Patua or  the artists of Chalchitra called it as Pata Lekha, means the writing of Patachitra. 300–400 years old idols of Nabadwip Shakta Rash used Chalchitra as a part of Pratima.

    Durga pot or Durga sara is recognised as the worshiped patachitra. It worshiped in the Hatsarandi Sutradhar society of Birbhum district on Durga puja time. This type of patachitra is also worshiped is Katwa. Durga Pot has a hemispherical Patachitra where Patachitra of Durga is in the middle position.

     Ram, Sita, Shib, Nandi-Vringi, Brahma, Vishnu, Shumbha-Nishumbha are painted on this kind of Chalchitra. These paintings have elements of symbolism and cultural significance.

    Use of natural color is one of the individual characteristics of the Bengal Patachitra. In general, blue, yellow, green, red, brown, black and white are used in the Patachitra of West Bengal. Chalk dust is used for white color, pauri for yellow color, cultivated indigo for blue, bhushakali for black and mete sindur for red color.

    The seated figures of Dasaratha and Chand Sadagar of Medinipur crowning the Ramayana and Kamale-Kamini scrolls are impressive and monumental.

    Bengal Patua artists carry the occupational surname of ‘Chitrakar’. They are concentrated in the village of Naya in Medinipur district of West Bengal.

    References

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