Kalamkari is a type of hand-painted cotton textile produced in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. 'Kalamkari' was internationally recognized by GI in 2003 as a local basic craft.
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Architect Kazi Anisuddin Iqbal From ancient times till now, the skill of people of India in all kinds of creative mediums continues to amaze the whole world. This huge landmass is rich in the mixture of skills of different cultures and civilizations of the world. Civilizations have developed here, and great empires have crumbled over time. Sometimes they have been divided into small states under native rulers. Attracted by the tolerable climate, impressed by the rural common people’s simple life, the occupying armies laid down their weapons and settled in this country. Influenced by each other’s thoughts, new languages were created, new religions were introduced, cultures were changed. The media used in the creative arts are very interactive. Art and technology knows no boundaries, when something good is created it is imitated elsewhere. As language blends, other areas of culture also develop through various forms. |
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Image : Map of India |
There are various racial groups, numerous languages, and different human traits in India. Along with this diversity there is tolerance, mutual interest and cooperation, education, unity in lifestyle. There is also participation in festivals, Pala-Parban. Today India is divided into several countries, but they are inheritors of a larger culture. Folk art is a term that refers to a variety of regional arts that have existed for hundreds of years. The interaction of different genres of art has given birth to new art in the course of time. Their differences are in subject matter, technique, context, such as place, environment, social structure and way of thinking. To understand the folk culture of Bangladesh, we have to go to the source, there we have to find our common heritage with the whole of India. Folk culture cannot be thought of as having its roots confined to a particular place. I often see similarities between different crafts that are practiced side by side. I think it is relevant to highlight the identity of other folk arts of India in the discussion of folk art. But in this case, their differences are numerous and insignificant in many cases. That is why I have chosen the famous ‘Kalamkari’, a genre of South Indian folk arts. |
| Creative art, which we call art, has two essential messages in it, first: It serves as a messenger of beauty by pleasing the sense of sight and the other is that it must be new. It should not be copied or imitated. A saree border can be very beautiful but it cannot get the status of originality because it is being copied over and over again. That is why such art is classified as handicraft. Personal skill, hard work are all there yet it is only an object. Line art has an ancient basis. In order to draw a picture in the appearance of telling a story, the arrangement has to be kept very little, the purpose is to explain the story, from time to time when the picture becomes important, the arrangement increases but the old method remains. In India, myths like Ramayana-Mahabharata have been written based on mythological stories, and these stories have also been spread through images. These images are mainly line-based, drawing and telling stories through lines. The materials used for drawing are very common, such as pen or brush made from the branches of trees and dark colors obtained from the juice of various types of leaves, bark, flowers and fruits or other natural materials. |
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‘Kalamkari’ is a famous name in folk painting of India. The name is formed by combining two Persian words ‘Kalam’ and ‘Kari’ (technical meaning). The presence of Persian language indicates that this painting has some connection with Persia. The special role of the pen is clear from the name itself. This image is basically drawing the picture with bold lines and then filling the inside of the lines with color. Through drawing, the artist plans the overall picture, then only illustrates it in color variations.
There are two main genres of Kalamkari painting, ‘Srikalahasti’ and ‘Machilipatnam’, both of these genres are active in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, India.
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Image : plain white ccotton fabric is used to make kalamkari painting |
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| It is known that about five hundred years ago some people in Andhra Pradesh area used to go in groups to spread religion from village to village. They were called ‘Chitrakutti’. They started to hang pictures with the theme of their religious Pala song behind the stage or on the walls of the temple to increase the attraction of the event. These religious groups were involved in temple activities and they used to create unworldly images of Hindu Gods and Goddesses to the general audience when temple authorities started patronizing these images for private collections, the circulation of these religious images increase. Pictures about the story of Gods and Goddesses, hence the word ‘Shrikala’ and ‘Hasti’ means hand as it is done by hand. Due to the popularity of this picture, the name of the area also became known as the art genre. ‘Srikalahati’ is a temple town on the banks of Swarnamukhi River in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. |
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Image : bright color paints give the fabric and design an exclusive look |
Image : the attractive image of Lord Ganesha with flute and Vishnu Chakra |
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These artists did not study in any art school, they were taught on hand training in the family environment. They began to imagine pictures on their own while listening to the stories of the Hindu Puranas in the family. Elders teach pen holding, drawing techniques, use of colors etc. Depending on that skill, they compose a picture according to their own mind. That’s why one picture is slightly different from another, the technique is the same but the arrangement of the subject is different. The decor is different. The main feature of Srikalahasti picture is its line drawing. The main figures are drawn first in curves, then the ornaments in thin lines. Although the proportional calculation of Indian industries varies here, they seem to follow some standard or conventional rules depending on the subject. All the characters in the picture have round faces, big eyes, thick lips. They have bow-like eyelids and also an extra line inside the eyes. Both men’s and women’s figures wear ornaments, and there is no lack of artistry. The presence of flowers in other arrangements of the picture is very high, flowers are very important for girls in daily life in South India, the predominance of women in painting can be understood. Srikalahasti Kalamkari: The pen in the Srikalahasti Kalamkari is of a special kind, though few people use those pens these days. There are two stages of drawing in this picture, first the tamarind tree branch is burnt and used as charcoal to draw the picture on the cloth and then the lines are finalized with real pen. This pen is usually; one end of the bamboo stick is sharpened as required and cloth/cotton/bandage is wrapped around the pen holding area. After that, the swollen area is twisted with a thread and tightly stuck to the stick. Now when this swollen part is dipped in color, the color comes out at the narrow end like a fountain pen. Whether the pen head will be thin or thick is determined by the needs of the line. A mixture of ‘haritaki’ soaked juice and Myrobalan Iron rust water is used to draw dark black lines. This stain on the cloth will not come off after drying. A slightly thicker pen or a bamboo tipped cotton swab is used to fill in the inner part of the line. But nowadays special types of pens are available in the shop and there are various tools for filling colors. |
Image : design sheets are used as reference to draw the motifs on the fabric |
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Image : different type of pen is made particularly to paint or color |
Image : brush made of bamboo reed & cotton cloth |
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Although keeping the subject’s typical shape, Srikalahasti painters take some liberties in their pictorial arrangements but the technique is so common that it seems the same to the new viewer. Those involved in this genre usually see the work as a ritual, so the same family is able to continue the work through generations. Such a mindset brings concentration to their work, evident in the craft of carefully drawn lines. The dynamism of the lines in these paintings, the skill of embellishing the picture with long main lines and small subsidiary lines is the main criterion for judging the quality of this art.
The inner part of the picture line is filled with color very carefully, so that the color does not cross the line. That is why unskilled hands are not entrusted with this color work. The colors of the characters in the picture are specific, blue for gods, red or green for demons and giants, yellow for women. Red is given for the background and freedom for flowers and birds.
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Image : green, red, blue & yellow are the most commonly used color |
Machilipatnam Kalamkari: Another popular genre of Kalamkari is called Machilipatnam or Musulipattam. Musulipattam was a port town in Krishna district in the Karamandal coastal area of Andhra Pradesh. It is now the main administrative office of Krishna district. Here the trading ships of Arab and Persian merchants flocked. It was an important trading port for the British, Dutch and French in the 16th century, with European traders settling in from the 16th century. Musulipattam genre paintings became popular under the patronage of the Muslim rulers of Golconda in the Pedana region of the district. It was also famous in the Mughal court. These painted cloths were hung to beautify the court rooms. |
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Image : traditional motif's paintings are more in demand compared to other images |
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Despite the name Kalamkari, its drawings are made from wooden block impressions. Blocks are made by carving the wood very efficiently, saving the time of painting by hand. A bamboo pen or tuli is used to fill the inner part of the line. However, blocks are often relied upon for filling. The blocks are very carefully pressed so that the lines are continuous, never disjointed. Animals and birds, flowers and vines were used as screens or backdrops in Muslim courts; there were no images of Gods and Goddesses. The flower-birds of the Persian style, however, are distinguished by the fact that they are not heavily lined. Many people can work together in a Musulipattam kalamkari, laying out many long pieces of cloth and imprinting them with many blocks of the same pattern. But the color filling is done very carefully. Applying, drying and washing each color separately, this cycle repeats itself. Apart from the color inside the lines, the texture of the fabric can also be dyed in different colors. In Srikalahasti and Musulipattam, the basic preparation of the cloth is similar in both the methods, i.e. soaking in milk, washing and drying the cloth, then drawing or imprinting on it. The variety of colors in Musulipattam is high, but natural colors are used in Kalamkari. These colors are extracted from alum, iron rust, haritaki, sugarcane or currant peel, roots of cordifolia, indigo, palm molasses, creeper etc. In the old times when the demand for these pictured-textile developed at the international level, they once started to be regarded as a ‘medium of exchange’. That is why it is important for these fabrics to be durable and ‘seasoned’. Merchants began to stockpile these cloths in considerable numbers. The demand is probably due to the use of this locally produced cloth by merchants from distant countries to exchange gold and silver coins and other valuables. Being completely handmade, this kalamkari cloth was not abundantly available in the market. However, in the modern financial system that need is gone.
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Image : block printing kalamkari |
| ‘Kalamkari’ was internationally recognized as a local original craft by GI in 2003. As a result, local dedicated artisans are getting good prices for their work, giving them status in the society. |
| Translated by : Architect Faiza Fairooz Nirnoy upodestha ltd, Panthapath |
