The traditional Kalamkari art form involves hand painting or block printing cotton fabrics with natural dyes. It originated in India as early as the 10th century through Persian and Indian trade relationships. Two main styles developed - the Srikalahasti style from Andhra Pradesh focuses on Hindu mythology themes using freehand drawing, while the Machilipatnam style from Golconda was influenced by Persian motifs using carved blocks for outlines followed by freehand details. The traditional multi-stage process involves preparing, bleaching, and repeatedly dyeing and washing the fabric with plant-based dyes to create designs in different colors.

1. The Traditional Kalamkari
BY-KINJAL RATE

2. INTRODUCTION
• Kalamkari is the earliest and one of the most complex techniques of fabric printing using vegetable dyes
and minerals.
• Kalamkari or Qalamkari is a type of hand-painted or block-printed cotton textile, produced in parts of
India. The word is derived from the Persian words kalam (pen) and kari (craftmanship), meaning drawing
with a pen. The craft made at Pedana near by Machilipatnam in Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh, evolved
with patronage of the Mughals and the Golconda sultanate.
• Kalamkari was most likely derived from the trade relationships between Persian and Indian merchants as
early as 10th century CE. Portuguese merchants called this kind of fabric printing “Pintado”. The Dutch
called it “Sitz” and the British found it easy to call this textile printing technique “Chintz”.

3. HISTORY
• In ancient times, groups of singers, musicians and painters, called chitrakattis, moved village to village to
tell the village dwellers, the great stories of Hindu mythology. They illustrated their accounts using large
bolts of canvas painted on the spot with simple means and dyes extracted from plants.
• . The Mughals who patronized this craft in the Coromandel and Golconda province called the practitioners
of this craft "qualamkars", from which the term "kalamkari" evolved.
• Kalamkari art has been practiced by many families in Andhra Pradesh and over the generations has
constituted their livelihood. Kalamkari had a certain decline, then it was revived in India and abroad for its
craftsmanship.
• It is traditionally hand painted or block
printed on cotton fabric with vegetable dyes. The painted style grew around the Hindu
temples and depicted images of deities and scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata
(mythological epics). The practice of hand painted kalamkari is currently concentrated in
a village called Sri Kalahasti in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India

4. STYLES OF KALAMKARI
1. Sri Kalahasti Style:
• The Kalahasti tradition which developed in the
temple region mostly concentrated on themes
form Hindu mythology, epics (Ramayanacing the
Srikalahasti style of kalamkari art continue to make
use of the traditional dyeing technique, inherited
from their ancestors. Srikalahasti is a small temple
town found in the Chittoor district in Andhra. The
main design inspiration for the Srikalahasti style is
‘hindu mythology’.
• The Srikalahasti style is characterized by one very
important feature: free hand drawing. The
procedure begins with the craftsman treating the
cotton cloth using mordant and sketching the
design outline with black colour or ‘kasami’. The
only other colours used for filling the outlined
sketch are those obtained from natural plants:
indigo, green, red and vibrant yellow. Therefore,
every piece of the kalahasti kalamkari art is quite
unique and absolutely authentic!

5. 2. Masulipatnam Kalamkari:
• Owing to Muslim rule in Golconda, the
Masulipatnam Kalamkari was influenced by
Persian motifs & designs, widely adapted to suit
their taste. The outlines and main features are
done using hand carved blocks. The finer details
are later done using the pen. The
Machilipatnam style of kalamkari is different
from the kalahasti style because it is not exactly
‘pen craft’. While creating kalamkari art using
the Machilipatnam style, the craftsman creates
his sketch and its key design features with the
help ofhand-carved blocks. These blocks
continued to be used repeatedly for many years
and by different craftsmen.
• Kalamkari art is known for its beautiful colour
patterns that flow through a variety of different
themes. You can often spot figures of women in
yellow, demons in green and red and Gods in
shades of blue. Lotus motifs tend to be the most
common background for these prints.
• In the kalamkari printing technique, the
craftsman first decides on the fabric and
colours. The chosen cloth is then bleached using
either cow or goat dung. It is further treated
with a milk and myrobalan

6. Kalamkari in process
STAGE 1- Mill made fabric (Grey coloured) is used for printing.
STAGE 2- Natural bleaching (with cow-dung and plain cold water) is done for removing the starch in the fabric.
STAGE 3- Bleached fabric is dyed in Myrobalam mix which helps in preparing the fabric for block printing.
STAGE 4 -Blocks are used for printing the outer sketch (outlines / borders) as per the designs visualised.
STAGE 5- Fabric printed with the outline blocks is washed in the running water and subsequently the second
block with a particular processed natural colour dye is used for printing as fillers in the design, based on
the color / design.
STAGE 6- With the second printing, the fabric is soaked in the boiling water with Jorgy leaves and Anar and
then washed in the running water.
STAGE 7 -Depending upon the design and number of colours to be applied, the same process as in Stage 6 is
continued.
STAGE 8- Fabric is soaked again in the boiling water with Jorgy leaves for getting additional colours.
STAGE 9- Fabric is finally washed in the running water with Alum (for color-fixing) and then dried in the hot sun.
STAGE 10 -Till the final stage, after every wash, the fabric is to be dried in the shade and not in the hot sun

8. MOTIFS