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Kalamkari is an ancient textile printing art that finds its roots in theIndian state ofAndhra Pradesh. The ancient textile printing art form is believed to have evolved about 3000 years ago in Andhra Pradesh. Kalamkari gained popularity in the south of India during the reign ofVijayanagara Empire.Kalam implies 'pen' andKari means 'art', a name given by theMughals when they discovered the art during their reign over theDeccan region. Onlynatural dyes are used inKalamkari, which involves twenty-three steps.[1][2][3] There are two main styles of Kalamkari. The block printed that is practised in the town ofMachilipatnam and the hand painted style that is largely practised in the town ofSrikalahasti, both located in Andhra Pradesh.
Srikalahasti style of Kalamkari, where the "kalam" or pen is used for freehand drawing of the subject and filling in the colours, is entirely hand worked. It is produced inSrikalahasti ofTirupati district of Andhra Pradesh. This style flourished in temples centred on creating unique religious identities, appearing on scrolls, temple hangings,chariot banners as well as depictions ofdeities and scenes taken from the Hindu epics (e.g.Ramayana,Mahabharata andPurana). The style owes its present status toKamaladevi Chattopadhyay who popularised the art as the first chairperson of theAll India Handicrafts Board.[4]
Machilipatnam style of Kalamkari or Pedana Kalamkari work involves vegetabledyed block-painting of afabric.[5] It is produced at the town ofMachilipatnam inKrishna district of Andhra Pradesh. It was registered as one of thegeographical indication from Andhra Pradesh underhandicraft goods byGeographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999.[6]
Historically, Kalamkari used to be termed asPattachitra, an art form still found in neighbouringOdisha and other parts of India and Nepal.[7][8] The term "Pattachitra" (Sanskrit: पट्टचित्र) translates to "patta", meaning "cloth", with "chitra" meaning "picture".[9][8] Paintings made on fabric and fabric scrolls are mentioned in ancientHindu,Buddhist andJain literature.[10][11]
When Southern India was undermedieval Islamic rule, the term Kalamkari was derived from thePersian wordskalam, which means "pen", andkari, which means "craftsmanship". This term became popular under the patronage of theGolconda sultanate.[12]
Kalamkari is an ancient textile printing art form that evolved about 3000 years ago in the state ofAndhra Pradesh.[13] The discovery of a resist dyed piece of cloth on a silver vase at the ancient site ofHarappa confirms that the tradition of Kalamkari is very ancient. Kalamkari style of architecture originated inmachilipatnam. Musicians and painters, known aschitrakars, moved from village to tell the village dwellers the stories of Hindu mythology. They illustrated their accounts using large bolts of canvas painted on the spot with simple means and dyes extracted from plants. Similarly, the ones found in Hindu temples are large panels of Kalamkari depicting the episodes ofHindu mythology andiconography, similar to BuddhistThangka paintings.
The Mughals who patronised this craft in the Coromandel and Golconda province called the practitioners of this craft "Qualamkars", from which the term "Kalamkari" evolved.[14] ThePedana Kalamkari craft made inPedana nearbyMachilipatnam inKrishna district,Andhra Pradesh, evolved under the patronage of theMughals and theGolconda sultanate. Owing to the said patronage, this school was influenced byPersian art underIslamic rule.[12]
Srikalahasti Kalamkari
The Kalahasti style is produced inSrikalahasti ofTirupati district. A "kalam" or pen is used for freehand drawing of the subject and filling in the colours and is entirely hand worked. This style flourished in temples centred on creating unique religious identities, appearing on scrolls, temple hangings,chariot banners as well as depictions ofdeities and scenes taken from the Hindu epics. As a result it has a distinct religious identity and thrives on mythological themes. The attractive blend of colours on the fabrics usually portrays characters from the Indian mythology, with the divinity figures ofBrahma,Saraswati,Ganesh,Durga,Shiva andParvati as the main source of inspiration. The Kalahasti artists generally depict on the cloth the deities, scenes from the epicRamayana, theMahabharata,Puranas and other mythological classics mainly producing scrolls, temple backcloths, wall hangings, chariot banners and the like.
In ancient times, the common man learned of gods and goddesses, and of their mythical character from these paintings. Groups of singers, musicians and painters, called chitrakattis, moved from village to village narrating the great stories of the Hindu mythology. Progressively, during the course of history, they illustrated their accounts using large bolts of canvas painted on the spot with rudimentary means and dyes extracted from plants. Thus, it is believed, was born the first Kalamkari.[13] It was registered as one of thegeographical indication from Andhra Pradesh, underhandicraft goods byGeographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999.
MachilipatnamKalamkari(Pedana Kalamkari)
Pedana is a small town just 13 km fromMachilipatnam. The Machilipatnam paintings, on the other hand are Persian in character because of the patronage and proximity to theMughals and theGolconda Sultanate. Hence they were forbidden to use religious motifs of Hinduism. The traditional block prints in this art largely usePersian 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. One very popular subject with them is the tree of life. Their chief production is in the field of table and bed linen, curtain lengths, dress material, scarves, file and bag covers, cushion covers and wall hangings. With the advent of theMughal Empire, afterAurangzeb conquered the region in 1687, a new style emerged in Machilipatnam work which represented personal portraits of the emperors along with panels depicting sagas of their rule and daily life, and the richness of their courts.[13]
In theMiddle Ages, the term was also used to refer to the making of any cotton fabric patterned through the medium of vegetable dyes by free-hand and block-printing, produced in many regions of India. In places where the fabric is block printed, thekalam (pen) is used to draw finer details and for application of some colours.[15]
The first step in creating Kalamkari is steeping it inastringents andbuffalo milk and then drying it under the sun.[16] Afterwards, the red, black, brown, and violet portions of the designs are outlined with a mordant and cloth are then placed in a bath ofalizarin.[16] The next step is to cover the cloth, except for the parts to be dyed blue, in wax, and immerse the cloth in indigo dye. The wax is then scraped off and the remaining areas are painted by hand,[16] similar to Indonesianbatik.
To create design contours, artists use abamboo ordate palmstick pointed at one end with a bundle of fine hair attached to this pointed end to serve as the brush or pen.[17] This pen is soaked in a mixture ofjaggery and water; one by one these are applied, then the vegetable dyes are added.
In Iran, the fabric is printed using patterned wooden stamps.[18]
Dyes for the cloth are obtained by extracting colours from various roots, leaves, and mineral salts of iron, tin, copper, andalum.[17] Various effects are obtained by usingcow dung,seeds, plants and crushed flowers to obtainnatural dye. Along with buffalo milk,myrobalan is used inkalamkari. 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 thetextile 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.
Kalamkari specifically depicts epics such as theRamayana orMahabharata. However, there are recent applications of the Kalamkari technique to depict Buddha andBuddhist art forms.[19] In recent times, many aesthetically good figures such as musical instruments, small animals, flowers, Buddha and few Hindu symbols, likeswastika are also introduced to Kalamkari.[citation needed]
Contemporary kalamkari techniques show various departures from the past. 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 called aldekai (Telugu) or kadukai (Tamil) of the myrobalam, Terminalia chebula.[citation needed]
Nowadays, in India, silk, mulmul, cotton, and synthetic saris are also sold with Kalamkari print. Printing is a much easier task than traditional Kalamkari work. Kalamkaridupattas and blouse pieces are popular among Indian women.
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