2. INTRODUCTION
The traditional folk art of Bengal is
famous as Kantha, which means
„patched cloth‟. The special
significance of kantha is quilting.
The use of kantha is popular in
kantha sarees traditionally worn by
women in west Bengal. but any
garment or cloth with kantha
embroidery, predominantly having
a border of decorative running
stitch motifs, may be called a
kantha garment.
3. ORIGINof KANTHA
Kantha is perhaps the oldest forms
of Indian embroidery. The thought
behind this needlework was to
reuse old clothes and materials
and turn them into something
new.
Kantha work is approximately 500
years old, and there is a myth
surrounding it which points out
that Lord Buddha and his disciples
used old rags with different kinds
of patch work to cover themselves
with at night, and this gave the
kantha embroidery its origin.
4. MOTIFS
Portuguese and European
traditions have a great influence on
the motifs of kantha.
There were also scenes from day to
day life scenes from the epics,
peacock, temple, hukka, jewelery.
Some other motifs like thunderbolt
and swastik are also used. The
spiral represent the eternal life
cycle.
5. INNOVATION
Kantha embroidery has definitely
taken the fashion industry by
storm. Sharbari Datta, an Indian
fashion designer, has displayed
beautiful ensembles of Kantha
work, along with other Indian
traditional embroideries, in several
of her fashion shows.