About Kalamkari

The Name KALAMKARI  commences in the Persian and this is derived from the words qalam(PEN) and Kari(CRAFTSMANSHIP) it means DRAWING WITH PEN. It is a type of cotton and silk textile which is Hand Painted or Block Printed. This type of material is produced in Iran and India, in this material production only Natural Dyes are used, production process includes Seventeen Major steps.

History of Kalamkari

This was initially started in Iran Sasani Era which is nearly 2500 years ago in This there are two peculiar styles in India one is Srikalahasti and another one is Machilipatnam style. The difference between Srikalahasti and Machilipatnam style was Srikalahasti style was purely freehand designs and hand worked and is seen around temples and their outer layers, it has a religious identity in this style filling of colors is also done by hands only the textiles literally painted with pens which are made out of bamboo and cotton. whereas Machilipatnam, kalamkari which is also known as Pedana Kalamkari evolved with the encouragement of Mughals and Golconda Sultanates, in this type line drawing is done with a  pen and transferred onto wooden blocks which are carved and then used to print on fabric.

Types Of Kalamkari

Pedana Kalamkari involves vegetable dyed block painting. It was produced at Pedana Village near Machilipatnam Krishna District Andhra Pradesh, under handicrafts goods it was registered as one of the Geographical indications of goods act 1999. This style mainly uses vegetable dyes which are applied to the fabric with the help of wooden blocks. Different textile products produced from this type of style mainly includes wall hangings and curtains. In Machilipatnam kalamkari production is moved in commercial workshops where all the workers make production under a single roof.

Kalamkari is becoming popular day by day the reason behind this is now a day's most numbers of people across the globe are not interested to use chemicals in manufacturing and production so This Textile emerges as a perfect craft which uses only Natural Dyes avoiding chemicals in its production and still produces beautiful outfits in wide range of varieties like sarees, dresses, Kurtis, wall hangings, bed sheets, and curtains.

History

History of Kalamkari, From the 16th Century, Mughal rulers were the financial supporters for the textile art form, during Mughal rule this Kalamkari art was considered as a sign of great wealth, as it was in earlier times kalamkari begins to be produced in Machilipatnam an ancient city of Krishna District Andhra Pradesh,

And also another hub for the production of Kalamkari was Srikalahasti, situated in Chittoor District Andhra Pradesh, for a short period of time Kalamkari popularity was decreased, later on, when the British rule came nearly in the 18th century they found that the textile Art's craftsmanship was extremely beautiful.

The artists who worked on the kalamkari painting were known as Jadupatuas or Duari Patuas these are known as "Magical Painters". In spice trade merchants and traders across the world, kalamkari paintings are used as currency, these paintings have high demand as spices like clove, nutmeg, and pepper, which are available exclusively in the parts of Southeast Asia and Indonesia.

The Traders from Southeast Asia and Indonesia demands Indian Textiles in form of kalamkari paintings for ritual and commercial use. It is believed that the early part of painted fabric was found during Indus Valley Civilization. The Archeological department says that the hand painting on the resists-dyed cloth was discovered in the 8th century only. Francois Bernie's French traveler has taken initiation for promoting this kalamkari art through his old writings. Mughals encouraged this craft in the coromondal and Golconda region.

In olden days during 13th and 19th centuries, the people in the south region, especially in Andhra Pradesh painters, called CHITRAKATTIS kept moving from one village to another village only to describe the stories of Hindu Mythology in the form of street plays and earn for their livelihood.

For a better understanding of the people, chitrakattis gradually came up with the new ideas, they staged their plays using large coarse bleached cloth painted on the spot using basic natural dyes. This is how kalamkari has driven its path into the country.

Types

kalamkari art designs types

In kalamkari art designs Types There are three types of kalamkari but nowadays only  Two major types of kalamkari styles are developed in India and each one has their own origin, both are having exclusive styles of kalamkari art in India. one is SRIKALAHASTHI and another one is MACHILIPATNAM style. And the third one is KARRUPUR style. The Andhra Kalamkari adopts designs from Forts, palaces, and temples of  India along with the patterns of animals and birds.

Srikalahasthi Kalamkari: This kalamkari art designs work which involves hand-dyed painting of a fabric, this includes a unique style of creating designs, Srikalahasti kalamkari pattern includes Indian Mythology and Hindu god, goddesses images. This kalamkari style involves the representation of scenes from Indian epics like Ramayana, Mahabharatha and other Mythological stories. The main reason for the development of this art kalamkari is the river Swarnamukhi and its clean water.

Machilipatnam or Pedana Kalamkari : In this type of kalamkari art designs style designs are done by free hand which includes an outer line for the drawings and that is carved  on the wooden blocks which are used for printing on the cloth, this style has most design patterns of Persian, later when it got influenced by the Dutch there was a lot of demand from the European market. But the production of Machilipatnam kalamkari is geographically permitted only in pedana and villages around Machilipatnam and polavaram in Krishna District under the GI of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act 1999.

Karrupur kalamkari: This type of kalamkari art designs style acquires life during the MARATHAS rule Raja Sarfoji later Raja Shivaji while they were ruling in Thanjavur area. The distinctive feature of this type of kalamkari is having golden brocade work in the border in the earlier days this karrupur style was mainly used by the royal people, in order to bring more royalty for their outfits like saris and dhotis.

Colors

Colors: colors of kalamkari, One of the unique features of this craft is the colors which are used for painting. Only non-intoxicated colors extracted from Natural sources like plants and herbs are used as dyes for painting. In this process of extracting colors of kalamkari, Black Color is obtained from mixing jaggery, water, and Iron fillings it is also known as (KASAMI), Vibrant yellow, blue, red, and mustard is acquired from Indigo leaves, alum, and boiled pomegranate peels. And finally, Golden color is extracted from MYROBALAN flowers. This technique uses metallic salts called as Mordants to include the dye into the cotton fibers.

Red: This color is made with a solution of alum and tamarind seed powder this solution gives rust color. Tamarind seed powder is boiled in water until it becomes light viscous and this solution is taken out in a vessel and kept aside for cooling when it comes to normal temperature this solution is filtered using a muslin cloth to avoid small particles to mix with the color.

Black: This color is made by using Iron Ore, this one is powdered and boiled for making a fine solution, this color making process also involves boiling and cooling and filtering after cooling this color is directly applied on the design with the help of wooden block or bamboo pen.

Yellow: This color is made by using turmeric, in olden days saffron is used for making yellow and orange colors but nowadays due to the high price of saffron and limited availability, turmeric is used for extracting yellow color.

Orange/Red: This color is made by using flowers from the tree of Palash, this flower is also used for making colors for playing Holi which is North Indian festival celebrates in India also.

Violet: This color is made by using Natural Indigo crystals, these crystals are finely powdered and boiled to make a fine thin solution, the amount of indigo used for making the solution gives the result of dark color or a light color so, in order to make fine color, makers will measure the contents.

These are the techniques used to make colors of Kalamkari

Techniques

The Kalamkari design artwork is generally printed on cotton, silk, and jute. Making Techniques includes the following steps

First, the cloth is washed and dried to remove dirt and starch, cotton used for kalamkari is initially treated with a solution having cow dung and bleach. After soaking the fabric in this bleach solution for some hours, then fabric gets a uniform off-white color after acquiring off-white color, again this cotton fabric is soaked in a mixture solution of cow milk and myrobalans, this immersion will avoid blur of dyes on the fabric when it is painted with Natural dyes after this immersed fabric is washed off in order to get rid of the smell of buffalo milk. By completing the washing process for twenty-three times making techniques reaches the first stage, the fabric is dried under direct sunlight.

once the fabric is made ready for painting, craftsman sketch patterns, and designs on the fabric, kalamkaris use 'tamarind stem' to sketch outlines on the cloth and later a pen which is made up of a Bamboo stick, cotton, and sponge is used to paint the beautiful designs of Krishna Raasa-Leela and Indian God/Goddesses and scenes from Hindu Mythological epics.

The outer line and background of the design on the fabric are painted with only red and black color after painting this colors the fabric is left aside for the purpose of drying and left it to dry for a day, after drying cloth is washed in water in order to remove excess colors on the cloth. The entire cloth is red dyed by putting it in a boiling vessel which contains a red color solution. The cloth is laid on the river sand to spread the colors evenly spread cloth is treated with sprinkled water and exposed to sunlight.

After the cloth is soaked in milk solution in order to prevent the spreading of colors on the cloth. Fat content present in the milk acts as a wax material and prevents spreading.

Finally, the cloth is painted with Golden and Blue colors leftover areas, after it is washed and dried in order to finish the making of kalamkari cloths.

Machilipatnam

                                  

It Is A City Of Krishna District Of Andhra Pradesh Of The Indian State, It Is Also Known As Masulipatnam Or Bandar. This City Is The  Administrative Headquarters For Krishna District, It Is A Municipal Corporation. From The 16th-Century Machilipatnam Ancient Port Is Served As Settlement Of European Traders, In The Seventeenth Century, It Was The Most Trading Post For British, Dutch, And French.

Machilipatnam Port Is Situated On Southeastern Or Coromandel Cost Of India, A Lightweight Cotton Cloth Was Traded By Greeks From This Town Port, Muslin Is The Main Source Of Income For The People Living In The Town, From The 15th To 17th Centuries, This Port Is Served As The Principal Seaport For The Golconda Kingdom.

Climate Of Machilipatnam

Due To Southwest Monsoon, This Area Gets Most Of Its Annual Rainfall, It Has A Tropical Grassy Plain With Hot Summers And Moderate Winters,

Arts And Handicrafts In Machilipatnam

There Are Many Handicrafts Among Them KALAMKARI Is The Most Emerging Art Form Of Textile.

Kalamkari Is Handcrafted Dyed Block-Painting Of A Fabric, This Textile Is Mainly Produced At Pedana Village Near Bandar At Present Only Masulipatnam And Srikalahasti Kalamkari Are In Existence. Kalamkari Textile Produced In This Area Exported To Overseas Markets.

Another Handcraft Saw In This Area Was Boat Building And Fishing. Through These Many People Living In The Port Area Leading Their Livelihoods.

It Is Famous For Imitation Jewellery Which Is Known As "CHILAKALAPUDI JEWELLERY"

                                

Famous People Of Machilipatnam

Pingali Venkayya- Freedom Fighter

Nalluri Moses Mohan- Best Teacher In Ap Who Wins First National Award Winner

Mutnuri Krishna Rao- Journalist, Freedom Fighter

UG Krishnamurthy- Great Philosopher

Delicious Dishes

In Machilipatnam A Wide Range Of Seafood Is Available Because Of The Presence Of  Seashore Items Like A Variety Of Fishes, Crabs, And Snails Are Available, And Another Famous Delicious Sweet Dish Known For Laddu Which Is Also Known As “Bandar Laddu”

                                       

Srikalahasthi

Name Srikalahasthi means Sri(Spider), Kala(Snake), Hasti(Elephant) this name came into existence with the story that these three creatures together worshiped Shiva Lingam and attained moksha,  it is a holy town in Chittoor district  of Andhra Pradesh of the Indian state, this town is a part of Tirupati urban Revenue Division, urban development authority, srikalahasthi town is situated near the banks of "SWARNAMUKHI" River.

Srikalahasthi town has a famous temple of Lord Shiva which is one of the most famous and ancient temples of Lord Shiva, it is believed that the people who are suffering from  various doshas can get here and solved their problems by doing Shanthi poojas, and get revealed of these doshas  this temple was originally built during Pallava rule, but the current infrastructure was built by kulothunga 1,2,3 in the 11th century who were chola kings.

During Tamil Sangam dynasty, the works of Tamil poet named Nakeerrar, have references to the temple proving its existence, Nakeerrar, and another famous poet wrote countless poems praising Srikalahasteswara.

During the 16th century, Srikrishna Devaraya of Vijayanagara dynasty built a huge Hundred pillar Mandapam which is an important feature of this holy place.

Arts And Economy

Srikalahasti economy depends mainly on Agriculture and Tourism besides this it became the production hub for famous handy dyed painted fabric textile which is known as Srikalahasthi Kalamkari, main crops which are grown in Srikalahasti are Paddy, wheat, Sugarcane, And Groundnuts.

Pilgrims who are visiting Thirumala also visits Srikalahasthi lord Shiva temple which earns economy for the town in the form of tourism. Srikalahasthi kalamkari is one of the major sources of the economy for this town in India there are only two production hubs for kalamkari textiles one among them is Srikalahasti.

which produces textiles having hand dyed and painted cloth fabric having motifs of epics and patterns of Hindu mythological designs.

Chitrakattis

The word chitrakattis is a combination of two words Chitra means Picture and Katha means a story, with this word chitrakathi has emerged, one who narrates visual stories with paintings, it is identified in three forms Leather shadow puppets, stringed wooden puppets, and picture stories.

Many many years ago, once upon a time, a team of singers, painters, and musicians moved from one village to another village to perform the stories of Indian Mythology in the form of street play to lead their livelihoods by earning money from these street plays. People who earn income from this plays as known as Chitrakattis.

These artists attract their audiences with the stories from the epics of Ramayana, Mahabharatha, a crowd of people gathered there to see their performance and there are examples of people who travel along with them for long distance to see their performances at different places.

These stories were illustrated using primary dyes extracted from plant sources, and these episodes were painted on large cloth fabrics, these painted fabrics later known as KALAMKARI art which is inspired and originated from these Chitrakattis innovation. During Mughal era, Kalamkari art was used for tents, hangings, and bedsheets

Later on, these artists thought to improve and develop their entertainment through attractive means, so they got a brilliant idea to heighten the excitement in their audience by performing their plays with the help painted sketches of motifs belonging to Hindu mythology, they had a huge painted panel to bring liveliness for their plays.

This innovation brought in the audience by the herd, from the far and near. Huge shafts of canvas painted with basic and natural vegetable dyes, people were in wonder state at this spectacular display of artwork, picture after picture of gods, natures from these paintings on cloth is the origin of Kalamkari art which is hand dyed painted or block printed fabric textile forms.

Natural Dyes

                                    

Natural Dyes are colors or dyes which are commonly extracted from plants sources, herbs, and flower petals by following eco-friendly methods for preparation.

The art of making natural dyes in India is one of the oldest practice of people to bring beautiful appearance to the clothes and fabrics. In earliest days dyes were made by berries and fruits, with gradual development and experimentations vegetable dyes acquired high yields in popularity and practice,

in ancient times India was expertise in natural and vegetable dyes production, there are also mentions to dyes and their use in "Arthasastra of Kautilya".

Nearly 1400 years ago the cave painting of Ajanta gives evidence to the use of printed and dyed costumes, India had owned exclusive production of painted and hand dyed printed fabric textiles.

In the 19th century  discovery of chemical dyes in the west had shown an aggressive impact on  these dyes, so that the use of natural dyes gradually declined which were more expensive and  needs extra manpower and more time consumption for production when compared to chemical dyes, nowadays there  are only a few areas which  are using these dyes for painting and coloring of fabrics.

Some chemical dyes are found very hazards to the skin and lungs which affect human life, therefore environmentalist started researching for natural dyes which are eco-friendly and biodegradable which create no harm to the human life. So the use of natural and vegetable dyes are coming into existence.

Basic Sources Of Vegetable and Natural Dyes

Basic sources of Vegetable and Natural Dyes are plant sources like roots of dye yielding plants, herbs, leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, and stems.

Dyes used for printing and painting are Lac(REDDISH SHADES), Black myrobalan(Harda), Indigo Blue(BLUE), Kamala Dye(YELLOW), Pomegranate(YELLOW SHADES), Walnut(BROWN), Tamarind Tree(Mali), Manju Phal(CREAM AND GRAY), Madder(RED, PINK, ORANGE SHADES), Alizarin(PINK, RED, PURPLE SHADES) .

Dyes

Dyes

Dye is a Colored Substance that has an accord with a substrate to which it is being applied. This is generally applied in a liquid solution and may require acid to improve its fastness on the fiber, these are usually soluble in water.

Both pigments and dyes are colored because they absorb only a few wavelengths of visible light, pigments are insoluble, there are two important types one is Natural and another one is synthetic. The first synthetic one Mauveine as discovered by William Henry Perkin in 1856

Natural

Natural dyes are mainly extracted from plant sources like roots, leaves, herbs, seeds, and flowers, in early days people use natural dyes to paint their clothes using common, locally available materials, plant-based ones like woad, indigo, saffron, and madder were raised commercially and these are important trading goods  in the economies of Asian and European countries.

Synthetic

Synthetic ones are man-made and these are made by using petroleum products and in sometimes a combination of mineral-derived components, many thousands of synthetic ones are being prepared till now, but people which are looking for health-conscious prefer natural dyes than synthetic ones because of the harmful substances present in its preparation.

Types

According to their solubility and chemical properties, these are classified into many types

Acid ones, Basic ones, Vat ones, Mordant, Reactive ones, Disperse, and food.

Acid: these are water-soluble anionic dyes which are applied to fiber like silk, wool, nylon.

Basic: these are water-soluble cationic ones, these dyes are used in coloration of paper. acetic acid is added to the dye bath.

Mordant: this requires acid to improve its fastness when it is applied to the cloth fabric, against water, light.

Vat: these are essentially insoluble in water and incapable of dyeing fibers directly.

Reactive: these are capable of directly reacting with the fiber substrate.