Crafts / Kalamkari

Kalamkari

State: Andhra Pradesh
Material: Cotton · Natural dye
Rarity: Popular

A pen, plant dyes and twenty-three washing steps

About

Cotton cloth drawn with a bamboo pen and coloured with natural dyes, from temple narratives of Srikalahasti to the block-printed tree of life of Machilipatnam.

Kalamkari means pen work, from the Persian words kalam, pen, and kari, craftsmanship. It is a textile art of Andhra Pradesh in which cotton cloth is drawn or printed and coloured only with natural dyes. There are two main styles: the hand-painted Srikalahasti style, in which a pen is used for freehand drawing and filling colour, and the block-printed Machilipatnam style, also called Pedana kalamkari.

The Srikalahasti style grew in temples and is rich in religious subjects. Its artists painted scrolls, temple hangings and chariot banners showing gods and scenes from the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas. The Machilipatnam style is based on repeated patterns, usually Persian-inspired, such as interlacing leaves, flowers, lotuses, creepers, birds and the tree of life.

Kalamkari is made into sarees, dupattas, bedspreads, curtains, wall hangings and scarves. It is a craft of families and workshops, and the process involves many steps, from preparing the cloth to washing out the dyes, all done by hand.

How it’s made

Kalamkari starts by preparing the cotton so that it will take the dye. The cloth is steeped in a solution of astringents, such as myrobalan (a fruit used as a natural tannin), and in buffalo milk, and then dried in the sun. This treatment also helps the dye to fix and remove the smell of the milk.

In the hand-painted style, the artist draws the outline with a kalam, which is a pointed stick of bamboo or date palm with a bundle of fine hair at the tip, soaked in a mixture of jaggery and water. Dyes are made from roots, leaves, flowers and minerals such as iron, alum and tin: black from iron and jaggery, red from the alizarin of madder with an alum mordant, blue from indigo, and yellow from myrobalan flowers. In the traditional method, the cloth is washed repeatedly between stages, and parts are covered with wax to keep them from taking the indigo.

In the block-printed style, carved wooden blocks are used to apply the mordant and the outline, and the finer details and some colours are then filled in by hand with the kalam. The traditional process involves about twenty-three steps in all, including repeated washing, boiling and sun-drying.

Key features

Drawn with a kalam, a bamboo or date-palm pen with a hair tip
Only natural dyes: iron, madder, indigo, myrobalan
Cotton cloth prepared with astringents and buffalo milk
Two styles: hand-painted Srikalahasti and block-printed Machilipatnam
Temple narratives, tree of life, lotus and creeper designs
Many stages of washing, mordanting and dyeing
Both styles registered as Geographical Indications

History

Painted and dyed cloth has been made in India for a very long time. Kalamkari as a name comes from the time of the Golconda sultanate, whose rulers patronised the craft, and the style grew in the Coromandel region around Masulipatnam (Machilipatnam). It became popular in south India during the Vijayanagara empire, and temple painters made large cloth panels telling stories from Hindu mythology, similar in spirit to the scroll paintings used by wandering storytellers.

The two styles developed differently. In Srikalahasti, near the temple town, painters worked for the temples and for travelling storytellers called chitrakattis. In Machilipatnam, the Persian influence under Golconda and Mughal patronage shaped a block-printed style, with plant, flower and bird patterns instead of images of gods.

In the twentieth century, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, the first chairperson of the All India Handicrafts Board, helped revive and popularise the Srikalahasti style. Both the Srikalahasti and the Machilipatnam styles are registered as Geographical Indications. Today the craft is also used in modern clothing and home furnishings, and some products are printed rather than painted.

Facts

Pen work The name means pen work. Kalamkari comes from the Persian kalam (pen) and kari (craftsmanship). The name became popular under the Golconda sultanate.
2 styles Painted and printed. The Srikalahasti style is drawn and filled by hand with a pen. The Machilipatnam or Pedana style uses carved wooden blocks and plant-dyed colours.
23 steps A long process. The traditional process involves about twenty-three steps, including steeping in astringents and buffalo milk, mordanting, dyeing and repeated washing.
GI x 2 Two registered styles. The Srikalahasti style and the Machilipatnam style are each registered as a Geographical Indication from Andhra Pradesh.

Market

Sarees, dupattas and home furnishings

Kalamkari is sold as sarees, dupattas, blouse pieces, bedspreads, wall hangings, scarves and stationery, and is popular as a design style. Many cheaper pieces are screen printed or digitally printed 'kalamkari-style' fabrics with synthetic dyes. Hand-painted, natural-dyed work shows small irregularities, softer colours and a faint natural smell, and costs much more.

Sustainability

Natural dyes, but heavy on water

Natural dyes from plants and minerals avoid synthetic chemicals, but the process uses much water for washing and takes time. Look for cotton and natural-dye kalamkari from cooperatives that manage their water and effluent responsibly.

Products

Kalamkari sarees: Hand-painted or block-printed on cotton or silk
Dupattas and stoles: Popular, lighter-weight pieces
Bedspreads and wall hangings: Large panels, including tree of life and temple scenes
Table linen and napkins: Block-printed small home items
Scarves and bags: Everyday accessories with kalamkari patterns

Words to know

Kalam: The pen: a pointed bamboo or date-palm stick with hair at the tip.
Mordant: A metal salt, such as alum or iron, that makes natural dye stay on cloth and brings out its colour.
Myrobalan: A fruit used to prepare the cloth; its dried flowers are a source of yellow dye (called aldekai in Telugu).
Chitrakatti: A wandering storyteller-painter who used cloth to narrate stories.
Pedana: A town near Machilipatnam known for block-printed kalamkari.
Srikalahasti: A temple town known for the hand-painted style.

Try it yourself

Kalamkari Napkin · Intermediate · 2 - 4 hours (plus drying)
Kalamkari Bag · Advanced · 6 - 10 hours (over 2 days)