Kalamkari = kalam + kari
kalam means pen and kari means craftmanship, so Kalamkari means drawing with pen. But here I'm not discussing about pen/pencil drawing, but I want to tell you all about this truely amazing textile-printing technique.
This craft started at Machilipatnam in Andhra pradesh (India) during the Mughals and Golconda Sultanate. There are two styles of this art: one Srikalahasti Style, and the other Machalipatnam Style. Kalamkari art has been practised by many families in Andhra Pradesh and has constituted their livelihood.
It refers to a method of painting natural dyes onto cotton or silk fabric with a bamboo pen or kalam, using only natural dyes. This style includes flowers around temples and their patronage and have had areligious identity - scrolls, temple hangings, chariot banners, depicted deities and scenes taken from the great hindu epics - Ramayana, Mahabarata, Puranas and the mythological classics.
Technique
The cotton fabric gets its glossiness by immersing it for an hour in a mixture of myrabalam (resin) and cow milk. Contours and reasons are then drawn with a point in bamboo soaked in a mixture of jagri fermented and water; one by one these are applied, then the vegetable dyes. After applying each color, the Kalamkari is washed. Thus, each fabric can undergo up to 20 washings. Various effects are obtained by using cow dung, seeds, plants and crushed flowers.
kalam means pen and kari means craftmanship, so Kalamkari means drawing with pen. But here I'm not discussing about pen/pencil drawing, but I want to tell you all about this truely amazing textile-printing technique.
This craft started at Machilipatnam in Andhra pradesh (India) during the Mughals and Golconda Sultanate. There are two styles of this art: one Srikalahasti Style, and the other Machalipatnam Style. Kalamkari art has been practised by many families in Andhra Pradesh and has constituted their livelihood.
It refers to a method of painting natural dyes onto cotton or silk fabric with a bamboo pen or kalam, using only natural dyes. This style includes flowers around temples and their patronage and have had areligious identity - scrolls, temple hangings, chariot banners, depicted deities and scenes taken from the great hindu epics - Ramayana, Mahabarata, Puranas and the mythological classics.
Technique
The cotton fabric gets its glossiness by immersing it for an hour in a mixture of myrabalam (resin) and cow milk. Contours and reasons are then drawn with a point in bamboo soaked in a mixture of jagri fermented and water; one by one these are applied, then the vegetable dyes. After applying each color, the Kalamkari is washed. Thus, each fabric can undergo up to 20 washings. Various effects are obtained by using cow dung, seeds, plants and crushed flowers.
