Kalamkari
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Kalamkari literally means the art of decoration with the help of a pen. It is made up of 2 words, ‘kalam’ (meaning pen) and 'qari' (meaning to decorate). Kalamkari is an exquisite ancient craft of painted and printed fabrics.
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.
History
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
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 Masulipatnam  Masulipatnam  Srikalahasti  Srikalahasti  Srikalahasti
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centre of Kalamkari, catering to the Islamic aesthetics. Srikalahasti, on the other hand, under the influence of Hindu rulers, 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.
Srikalahasti
Dominated and influenced by Hindu mythology and religious figures, the school draws on figurative art towards the depiction of Hindu deities. It follows free hand drawing techniques and the panels are used as decorative elements in temples and on chariots. The panels depict narratives from the epics and puranas. Gods like Krishna, Brahma, Ganesha, Durga, Kiratavinyaarjuna, Lakshmi, Rama, Shiva and Parvathi.
Characteristics of this painting style
- Simplicity, yet richness in colors, no shading
- Round Faces, Long and Big Eyes, Stout Characters
- Use of curvy motifs for decoration
- Dominance of colors like Green, Red, Black, Yellow and Blue
Masulipatnam
Inspired by the Islamic mythology, renditions of flora and fauna were common in this school of Kalamkari, especially ‘The Tree of Life’ motif. Themes from the Old Testament in the Bible also were common occurrences to meet the demands of the west.
Process
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 require a lot of treatment before and after the painting is completed on the cotton fabric.
Firstly, the cloth is whitened in a solution on cow dung or goat dung and dried in the sun for a couple of days.
This 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.
An iron acetate solution is filled in, either for solid spaces or as outlines, with a brush-pen in Srikalahasti, and wooden blocks in Masulipatnam. The artists use a bamboo or date palm stick pointed at one end with a bundle of fine hair attached to this pointed end to serve as the brush or pen.
Alum is added on the areas that are to be printed red. The cloth is kept in the same manner for 24 hours and excessive alum is then washing the cloth under flowing water.
After this, the areas on the cloth that are not meant to be blue are covered with wax and then the waxed cloth is immersed in the indigo solution. In Srikalahasti, the blue is painted with the kalam. The wax is then removed by boiling the cloth in water.
Yellow and green colors are the last ones to be painted on the cloth. The cloth is finally washed and dried before the final colors emerge and the fabric is ready to use.
The dyes are obtained by extracting colors form parts of plants - roots, leaves along with mineral salts of iron, tin, copper, alum, etc., which are used as mordants.
Products
From narrative scrolls and panels to textile art pieces, Kalamkari has come a long way. Today it is used in apparels, sarees, upholstery, furnishings and accessories, etc.
Images sources from Google Search Engine, with the term 'Kalamkari' |
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