KALAMKARI
Main Centres : Machilipatnam And Kalahasti In Andhra Pradesh
Typical Items : Clothing & Wall Decorations
Colours : Only Four Colours Are Used, Red, Yellow, Green & Blue
Kalamkari is the craft of painted and
printed fabrics. It is an art form that was developed both for decoration
and religious ornamentation. Intricately done Persian motifs inspired the
artisans of Machilipatnam to
create printed cotton textiles depicting stories from mythology.
This unique art form evolved into what is today called 'Kalamkari'. It
derives its name from 'kalam' or pen with which the patterns are traced.
The pen-painted fabrics of Machilipatnam and
Kalahasti,
known for their intricate and detailed designs, are used in clothing and
wall decorations.
A
Primitive Art
The discovery of a resist-dyed piece of cloth on a silver vase at the
ancient site of Agrippa confirms that the tradition of Kalamkari is very
old. Even the ancient Buddhist Chaitra Viharas were decorated with
Kalamkari cloth. The great Alexander is also supposed to have acquired
this Kalamkari cloth.
The craft has been in existence from about a thousand years, but gained
the height of its popularity during the 15th century. Today the two main
centres of Kalamkari production are Machilipatnam and Kalahasti in the
State of Andhra Pradesh. The work from
these two places is also different from each other. The themes are
mythological, mostly from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. In addition,
block-painted textiles by hand are also produced.
The Making Of Kalamkari
In Machilipatnam the art of
block printing is practiced, where large wooden pieces are used for saris
or linen, while in Srikalahasti hand painting is predominant, the wall
panels depicting mythological tales and characters.
Each design can take several days of concentrated effort to complete, as
the process of dyeing and hand printing are very elaborate. Many stages
have to be undergone before the final results are achieved. Unlike other
styles of painting, Kalamkari painting demands a lot of treatment before
and after the painting is completed on the cotton fabric.
Depending on the treatment of cloth, or quality of the mordant, the
colours change accordingly. Every step from soaking of the cloth, to
sketching the outlines to washing and drying the cloth, is done carefully
and correctly.
The harmless, naturally dyed fabrics is used for Kalamkari paintings. Only
four colours are used. The colour red is obtained by using the Indian
madder root, yellow from the pomegranate seed or even mango bark, blue
from indigo, and black from myrobalam fruit. No chemical dyes are used is
producing Kalamkari colours.
The process used for both schools of Kalamkari painting is more or less
the same. The only major difference is that 'Srikalahasti' paintings
depend entirely on the brush-like pen, whereas the Machilipatnam style
uses block-printing procedures. The process done in Srikalahasti is more
tedious. The cloth is treated and washed twice, and alum is painted for
two or three times.
Stages Involved
The cloth is first whitened by immersing it in a solution of goat or cow
dung and letting it dry in the Sun for a few days. The cloth is then
treated in Myrobalam solution. Ripe fruits are used in Machilipatnam and
raw ones in Srikalahasti. Milk is then added to the solution to prevent
the colour from spreading in the next step. Then iron acetate solution is
filled in, either for solid spaces or as outlines, with a brush-pen in
Srikalahasti, and wooden blocks in Machilipatnam.
All the areas meant to be red are painted or printed over with the alum
solution as a mordant. Mordant is a substance that fixes the natural dye
on the material. After applying alum, the cloth is kept for at least 24
hours. Then the excess mordant is removed by washing the cloth under
flowing water.
The dyeing is done for the red colour by boiling with the red colouring
materials. All the portions that are not to be blue are covered with wax.
The waxed cloth is immersed in indigo solution. In Srikalahasti, the blue
is painted with the kalam. Then the wax is removed by boiling the cloth in
water. The yellow is painted on to produce yellow and green.
The cloth is finally washed again and dried before the final colours
emerge. However, the use of vegetable dyes and mordants make it still a
time consuming process.
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