|
Kalamkari, a beautiful traditional handicraft of dedicated skills, is wowing the world with its creativity. Sari is the most desirable and enticing attire of women. Especially, Indian saris are the logos of tradition and cultures. One such alluring Indian attire is Kalamkari. Kalamkari, a simple folk craft of hand painting or block printing, which is a legendary art of making unique and exquisite designs of depicted deities, Mahabharata and Ramayana epics and other mythological classics, has always been considered as dear in fashion world. Kalamkari, which is the combination of two Persian words Qualm and Kari, means ‘Pen’ and ‘work/craftsmanship’, which means art of working or painting with pen, is an age-old traditional craft of India, which is still a hot cake. While it has been a challenge to the designers, it’s been a painstaking process for the traditional practitioners of the art, as they must use their concentration and skill to make the design look beautiful. The 300 decade old traditional craft, Kalamkari has some of its roots in Srikalahasti and Machilipatnam, which are located in Andhra Pradesh. Both the places follow two different unique styles in making Kalamkari, where one i.e., Srikalahasti is entirely done by the hand, where the other i.e., Machilipatnam, uses pen as well as engraved wooded blocks. The speciality lies in Kalamkari art is, the craftsmen of Kalamkari has got the name as ‘Qualamkars’. With dedication and patience and after 17painstaking steps, the artisans made Kalamkari look akin to nature. The major steps involved in Kalamkari are: 1. Cow dung bleach, which is the mixture of cow dung, water and milk, where the fabric usually cotton or other natural fabrics, is stirred well. 2. Washing is also one of the major steps followed in Kalamkari, where the fabric should be washed in normal water after stirring. 3. Myrabolum treatment, where the craftsman mixes myrabolum power with water and applies to the fabric. 4. Block liquid and Alum liquid, where one is used for outlining and the other is used for filling the colours. 5. Again washing is required to fill the uncoloured areas, here running water is used. 6. Colour development, here the fabric is boiled with ingredients alizarin and dye sources. It may require gradual increase of heat based on the fabric using. 7. Final wash, here the fabric is washed 3 times in normal water. 8. Fixation, again the fabric is dipped and stirred in Alum water. 9. Drying the fabric, the fabric will be dried according to the requirement. Kalamkari is an intricate and tedious process of hand-printing and resist dyeing. The main designs involved in Kalamkari are Islamic styles and scenes from Hindu epics. Islamic influence uses more of flora and fauna as themes in its work. The motifs like flowing lines, flowers, birds, animals and human figures look like alive. Kalamkari was not limited to paintings and drawings. Now days, fashion designers are introducing modern touches to the kalamkari art and sometimes modern western outfits of teenagers include rudiments of the art. Kalamkari saris and salwar suits are all time wears of today’s women. Unnati Silks, one of the largest ethnic Indian Online Shops provides an exquisite collection of ethnic sarees and salwar kameez from traditional pockets across India. Latest Kalamkari saris with exquisite designs are available for online sale. Products are dispatched within 24 working hours of placing the order. We have free shipping and Cash on Delivery (COD) facilities for domestic retail; worldwide express shipping covers most countries across the globe.
Related Articles -
Kalamkari, Kalamkari paintings, Block printing, fabric paintings, Kalamkari art, traditional crafts,
|
