An Art Of Hand Painting Kalamkari sarees

Kalamkari or Qalamkari is a type of hand-painted or block printed cotton textile, produced in parts of India. The word is derived from the Persian words Kalam (pen) and kari (craftsmanship), meaning drawing with a pen. The Machilipatanm kalamkari craft made at Pedana near by Machilipatnam in Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh, evolved with patronage of the Mughalsand the Golconda sultana.

There are two distinctive styles of kalamkari art in India-one, the Srikalahasti style and the other the Machilipatanam style of art. The Srikalahasti style of Kalamkari wherein the kalam or pen used for free hand drawing of the subject and filling in the colours, is entirely hand worked. This style flowered around temples and their patronage and so had an almost religious identity-scrolls, temple hanging, chariot banners and the like, depicted deities and scenes taken from the great Hindu epics-Ramayana, mahabaratat puranas and the mythological classics. Only natural dyes are used in Kalamkari and it involves seventeen painstaking steps.It is a hand painting as well as block printing with vegetable dyes. Kalamkari art has evolved over the last 3000 years. It has evolved in two villages in Andhra Pradesh- Srikalahasti, 80 miles north of Chennai near Tirupati and Masulipatnam, 200 miles east of Hyderabad. Both centers have a distinct style of Kalamkari.

India has a very rich tradition of textiles- hand painted and hand printed. The Mughals patronized the Kalamkari Crafts in the Coromandel and Golconda provinces. Under the Muslim influence and trade ties across Asia and Europe, Masulipatnam emerged as a major centre of Kalamkari, catering to the Islamic aesthetics. Srikalahasti, on the other hand, under the influence of hindu ruler, flourished under hindu temple patronage, and exclusively drew inspiration from mythological figures.

The British influence was seen on the motifs as well. British East India Company and French East India company asked for their choice of designs and both the centers produced vigorously for them. Chintz was the rage of Europe then. A new type of Kalamkari emerged in Thanjavur and was patronized by the Maratha rulers, including Shivaji and the later ones.

Kalamkari painting is a very time consuming process of resist- dyeing and hand printing. There is huge succession of stages before the final stage can be arrived at. Kalamkari painting does requires a lot of treatment before and after the painting I completed on the cotton fabric. Firstly, the cloth is whitened in a solution on cow dung and dried in the sun for a couple of day. The fabric is then treated with a Myrobalan solution. Masulipatnam style of painting uses ripe fruits, while the Srikalahasti school uses raw fruits. The addition of milk prevents the color from spreading in the next step. The kalamkari is a time consuming process and the products arrived from this are apparels, upholstery, furnishing and accessories etc.

Prachi.L She is a freelancer long associated with ethnic fabrics, known for her special leaning towards ethnic sarees. She enjoys the privilege of being a part-time consultant to Unnati Silks. S.E-mail her at unnatikaro@gmail.com.