KALAMKARI-Beauty personified
Thronging
our way through the lofty roads of Tirupati to the small dancing lanes in the
temple town of Srikalahasti about 28 kms away , what awaited us was a panoramic
view of the lush green paddy fields, the majestic brown hills of Sripuram and Mummidi-cholapuram
cocooning it allover, the dazzling Swarnamukhi river bestowing life to its
people from ages, the small whitewashed houses with cattle farms, the pile up
of freshly manufactured bricks, artisans detailing the wood sculptures and the
mighty Dakshina Kailasam temple with
lord Shiva enshrined in the form
of a self manifested white lingam.The plethora of splendid beauty engulfing Srikalahasti embodies the
rich cultural heritage and the holiness of this place. Legend holds on to many tales surrounding the sanctity of Srikalahasti ,
the most accepted being the story of Bhakt Kannappa who was ready to offer both his eyes to cover blood flowing from
the Shiva linga before the Lord Shiva stopped him and granted him mukti while the name is believed to have been derived from the three
greatest devotees of Shiva -Sri(the spider), Kala(the serpent) and hasti(the
elephant) .
Adding to its repute is Srikalahasti being the birthplace of the magnificent temple art of Kalamkari. Kalamkari or Qalamkari as the name suggests is a type of hand-painted textile derived from the Persian words ghalam (pen) and kari (craftsmanship).Though the practice of hand painted textile prevailed in other cultures too inspired from their own traditions ,in India this art form flourished around temples and their patronage and so had a religious identity - scrolls, temple hangings, chariot banners and the like, depicting deities and scenes from the great Hindu epics of Ramayana, Mahabharata, Puranas and the mythological classics, Panchatantra, Bhagavadam, Ram Patta Abhishekham,Krishna with Gopikas,village scenes, jungle scene with tigers, deer,elephants, annapakshi alongwith the very symbolic tree of life which represents the importance of trees in the sustainability of human civilization and hence held in very high accord. Groups of singers, musicians and painters, called chitrakattis who were village dwellers are considered to be the creator of this art form illustrating their experiences and beliefs in big canvases using the naturally available resources for coloring making it a suitable medium for story telling and a perfect depiction of painted travelogues.
But with the changing demands of time this art form too lost its essence meeting the fate of other heritage fabrics and this immensely adored textile gave in to the budding growth of its cheap imitation using screen printing and block printing for faster production with chemical dyes making it affordable to everyone, unethically creating a wrong perception among the masses. At a time when the artisan families doing traditional kalamkaris were facing a tough challenge to keep it alive,a name surfaced, Mamata Reddy, who with her fresh ideas and sincere vision offered an entirely different perspective to it flourishing the industry again and hence rightfully been acknowledged as the revivalist of Kalamkaris since 18 long years. Kalamkaris which adorned only our temples with huge panels, shedded its inhibitions and she started adorning it in the form of a saree, dupatta or handbag promoting its utility quotient to a more acceptable level.Supporting her efforts towards kalamkaris is Gaurang who with his trademark sensibilities of design and style dolloped this hand painted textile with heaps of other interesting fusion and detailing, very much evident in his collection of sarees and dupattas.
The technicality : The affluent and traditional process of treating the fabric before painting starts with immersing the fabric for a day in a mixture of myrobalans and cow milk alongwith water . Myrobalan is able to remove the odd smell of milk and the fixing agents available in the Myrobolan can easily fix the dye or color of the textile while treating the fabric.After drying , the basic outlines are sketched free hand with a burnt tamarind twig.Contours and reasons are then drawn with the kalam or pen (klonchi) which is a pointed bamboo stick (edhuru pulla) wrapped in pieces of wool material and threads, by soaking it at periodic intervals in a fermented mixture of jaggery(belam) and iron rust(inumu thupu) with water. After the typical black outlines with detailings are done the fabric is treated in boiling water for color fastness and dried. For the coloring , the kalam has a blunt tip and unlike the ordinary kalamkaris ,only natural dyes are used in our kalamkaris which are mostly prepared at home with the locally available materials. While red is extracted from a tree bark named suruduchekka and applied after treated with alum , yellows are from the karaka flower,blues from indigo, black is derived from a mixture of iron,sugarcane and thati etc.After applying each color on to the motif, the Kalamkari fabric is washed after drying. Thus, each fabric can undergo up to 20 washes.
Apart from the traditional solid colors, Gaurang’s kalamkaris are now played around with various shades and tints of colors , which is a feat no one has been able to create in kalamkaris and gives it the much needed tinge. Usually cotton is used as the base fabric for its affinity towards strong color consumption but here again he outshone the quality of kalamkaris on fabrics like raw silk,silk,kota and tussar.Gaurang’s fusion of kalamkaris on unusual fabrics with intricate detailing,various color combinations , different and interesting layouts amalgamated with other handwoven and handcrafted fabrics like kanjeevarams, chikankaris , zardozis etc bagged him the “Best Collection Award” at Lakme fashion Week,Winter Festive 2012.
The textile art which was on the verge of extinction few years ago has now widened its horizon appealing people world over with the challenging innovations of revivalists like Gaurang and Mamata Reddy and the zest of the master craftsmen to portray the newer challenges to the best of perfection.Every member of each household happily participates in different stages of its creation for their skills are utilized without any exploitation and even the younger generation is inclined now to learn this art form holding on to the legacy. Trainings are provided to them through experienced craftsmen with a view to create a source of livelihood as well as establish this textile art as a full fledged industry in the years to come seeking the involvement of more and more people.
Adding to its repute is Srikalahasti being the birthplace of the magnificent temple art of Kalamkari. Kalamkari or Qalamkari as the name suggests is a type of hand-painted textile derived from the Persian words ghalam (pen) and kari (craftsmanship).Though the practice of hand painted textile prevailed in other cultures too inspired from their own traditions ,in India this art form flourished around temples and their patronage and so had a religious identity - scrolls, temple hangings, chariot banners and the like, depicting deities and scenes from the great Hindu epics of Ramayana, Mahabharata, Puranas and the mythological classics, Panchatantra, Bhagavadam, Ram Patta Abhishekham,Krishna with Gopikas,village scenes, jungle scene with tigers, deer,elephants, annapakshi alongwith the very symbolic tree of life which represents the importance of trees in the sustainability of human civilization and hence held in very high accord. Groups of singers, musicians and painters, called chitrakattis who were village dwellers are considered to be the creator of this art form illustrating their experiences and beliefs in big canvases using the naturally available resources for coloring making it a suitable medium for story telling and a perfect depiction of painted travelogues.
But with the changing demands of time this art form too lost its essence meeting the fate of other heritage fabrics and this immensely adored textile gave in to the budding growth of its cheap imitation using screen printing and block printing for faster production with chemical dyes making it affordable to everyone, unethically creating a wrong perception among the masses. At a time when the artisan families doing traditional kalamkaris were facing a tough challenge to keep it alive,a name surfaced, Mamata Reddy, who with her fresh ideas and sincere vision offered an entirely different perspective to it flourishing the industry again and hence rightfully been acknowledged as the revivalist of Kalamkaris since 18 long years. Kalamkaris which adorned only our temples with huge panels, shedded its inhibitions and she started adorning it in the form of a saree, dupatta or handbag promoting its utility quotient to a more acceptable level.Supporting her efforts towards kalamkaris is Gaurang who with his trademark sensibilities of design and style dolloped this hand painted textile with heaps of other interesting fusion and detailing, very much evident in his collection of sarees and dupattas.
The technicality : The affluent and traditional process of treating the fabric before painting starts with immersing the fabric for a day in a mixture of myrobalans and cow milk alongwith water . Myrobalan is able to remove the odd smell of milk and the fixing agents available in the Myrobolan can easily fix the dye or color of the textile while treating the fabric.After drying , the basic outlines are sketched free hand with a burnt tamarind twig.Contours and reasons are then drawn with the kalam or pen (klonchi) which is a pointed bamboo stick (edhuru pulla) wrapped in pieces of wool material and threads, by soaking it at periodic intervals in a fermented mixture of jaggery(belam) and iron rust(inumu thupu) with water. After the typical black outlines with detailings are done the fabric is treated in boiling water for color fastness and dried. For the coloring , the kalam has a blunt tip and unlike the ordinary kalamkaris ,only natural dyes are used in our kalamkaris which are mostly prepared at home with the locally available materials. While red is extracted from a tree bark named suruduchekka and applied after treated with alum , yellows are from the karaka flower,blues from indigo, black is derived from a mixture of iron,sugarcane and thati etc.After applying each color on to the motif, the Kalamkari fabric is washed after drying. Thus, each fabric can undergo up to 20 washes.
Apart from the traditional solid colors, Gaurang’s kalamkaris are now played around with various shades and tints of colors , which is a feat no one has been able to create in kalamkaris and gives it the much needed tinge. Usually cotton is used as the base fabric for its affinity towards strong color consumption but here again he outshone the quality of kalamkaris on fabrics like raw silk,silk,kota and tussar.Gaurang’s fusion of kalamkaris on unusual fabrics with intricate detailing,various color combinations , different and interesting layouts amalgamated with other handwoven and handcrafted fabrics like kanjeevarams, chikankaris , zardozis etc bagged him the “Best Collection Award” at Lakme fashion Week,Winter Festive 2012.
The textile art which was on the verge of extinction few years ago has now widened its horizon appealing people world over with the challenging innovations of revivalists like Gaurang and Mamata Reddy and the zest of the master craftsmen to portray the newer challenges to the best of perfection.Every member of each household happily participates in different stages of its creation for their skills are utilized without any exploitation and even the younger generation is inclined now to learn this art form holding on to the legacy. Trainings are provided to them through experienced craftsmen with a view to create a source of livelihood as well as establish this textile art as a full fledged industry in the years to come seeking the involvement of more and more people.
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