HAND & BLOCK PRINTED TEXTILES

KALAMKARI OF ANDHRA PRADESH

KALAMKARI OF ANDHRA PRADESH.

INTRODUCTION
Kalamkari: kalam means pen and kari means work, literally pen work. Hand painting as well as block printing.

Done with vegetable dyes.

Can be dated back to 3000 years

Major centers in Andhra Pradesh: Machilipatnam and Srikalahasti

HISTORY
Kalamkari craft is very old. Reached its peak point in the Golconda sultanate, Hyderabad, in the middle age. Golconda ruler, Qutab Shahi wanted a strong trade relationship with Persian Empire. Southeast Asian and Indonesian markets demanded Indian textiles for ritual and ceremonial use. Machilipatnam became famous easy export of goods from Bandar port.

TWO DISTINCTIVE STYLES OF PAINTING

SRIKALAHASTI

MACHILIPATNAM

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO STYLES OF PAINTING

PARAMETERS
WORK METHOD

SRIKALAHASTI
WITH PEN OR BRUSH

MACHILIPATNAM
HAND BLOCK PRINTING INDIGO BLUE IS USED AS SECONDARY COLOR PERSIAN & BRITISH MOTIFS(BUDS, FLORAL, LEAVES)

COLORS

INDIGO BLUE IS NOT USED

MOTIFS

FROM MYTHOLOGICAL TALES, IMAGES OF GODS & GODESSES WALL HANGINGS & DECORATIVE ITEMS

END PRODUCTS

GARMENTS, UPHOLSTERY & LIFESTYLE PRODUCTS

SRIKALAHASTI STYLE.
Temples are the major inspiration. The art can be predominantly seen in scrolls and wall hangings. It richly displays episodes from the Puranas, Mahabharata, Ramayana, and other Mythological stories. The motifs are restricted to Gods such as Krishna, Brahma, Ganesha, Durga, Lakshmi, Rama, Shiva and Parvathi.

SRIKALAHASTI PAINTINGS

MACHILIPATNAM STYLE.
Machilipatnam or Masulipatnam designs are Iranian in character with intricate and delicate forms. The old traditional block prints with Persian motifs like trees, creepers, flowers and leaf designs are used. This style of Kalamkari is mainly done on bed covers, curtains and also garments. In the 19th century, reached its peak and even today it is largely produced for Indians and foreigners.

MACHILIPATNAM PAINTINGS

UNIQUENESS OF KALAMKARI
Use of natural dyes. Intricate and delicate Persian motifs Traditional blocks of teakwood used. Perfect harmony and distribution of colors. Natural dyes extracted from bark, flower and root are used.

PATTERNS AND MOTIFS USED

Inspired from Persian art Mainly floral motifs and paisleys In case of durries, geometric motifs are used

GEOMETRIC

FLORAL

 Different forms of the lotus flower, the cartwheel, parrots & an interlacing pattern of leaves and flowers. Animal forms and floral motifs - Middle-Eastern market. Tree-of-life bedcovers and dress material painted for the European market.

TREE OF LIFE

PEACOCK

BLOCKS USED
Block made of Teak wood: - Medium weight yet strong. - Remains stable in erratic weather conditions. - Can withstand heavy beating due to inherent strength. Types of blocks based on end use: - Outline block Massa, Reiki - Filling block Datta - Background block Gadh, Kappu

WOODEN BLOCK

 Types of blocks based on material: - Wooden block - Nail block - Wax block

WAX BLOCK

NAIL BLOCK

TOOLS AND EQUIPMENTS REQUIRED FOR KALAMKARI

earthen pots plastic buckets/drums copper vessels nylon brush color tray squeezer printing table construction: neem or teak wood pen hammer

PROCESS FLOW CHART FOR KALAMKARI

GREY CLOTH CUTTING NATURAL BLEACHING MYROBALAM TREATMENT PRINTING

WASHING
BOILING STARCH APPLICATION PAINTING ALUM TREATMENT WASHING WITH SOAP

GREY CLOTH CUTTING

Batches of 100 metres or above are purchased from textile mills It is then cut into pieces of length varying from 10 -15 metres.

GREY CLOTH

NATURAL BLEACHING
Pieces are beaten on stones and washed and spread on floor with grass and water. All pieces kept overnight. Beating and spreading operations repeated next day morning. All pieces washed well and dried by afternoon.

MYROBALAM TREATMENT
Myrobalam seeds are powdered and about 25.30gms of the powder is soaked in per litre of water overnight. The juice is extracted in which the bleached cloth is soaked uniformly for 25-30 mins. The cloth is squeezed by hand & allowed to dry in sun. The treatment is given so that the colors adhere to the cloth.

MYROBALAM SEEDS MYROBALAM SOLUTION

PRINTING
The first step is the printing of the design outlines using wooden blocks. Black color is used for the outlines. After applying black color on the outlines, the alum paste is used on the cloth for getting red color wherever required.

OUTLINE WITH BLACK COLOR

FOR OBTAINING BLACK COLOR

Removal of rust iron pieces -Heating with cow dung - scrubbing with bricks

Preparation of mixture (iron + jaggery + water)

RUST IRON PIECES

Left in closed earthen pots for 21 days (stirred once in a week) JAGGERY Solution + gum left for 1-2 days

Stirred, filtered and ready to use MIXTURE IN POT

FOR OBTAINING RED COLOR

Roots of madder plant(powdered)

Alum + water + alizarin(powdered madder roots)

ROOTS OF MADDER PLANT

Preparation time: 3-4 hrs

Ready to use
COLOR OBTAINED FROM MADDER

FOR OBTAINING BLUE COLOR

Water + crushed Alta seeds Added to the dye tank

Water boiled in a separate container, cooled overnight & added to the dye tank INDIGO DYE CAKES

Paste + water + indigo dye cakes added to the tank

Contents stirred & kept for a day

Lime is added & stirred

LEAVES OF INDIGO PLANT

FOR OBTAINING YELLOW COLOR

Boiling of myrobalam flowers in water to soften them

Cooling of solution

Filtering of solution

Addition of alum MYROBALAM FLOWERS Stirring the solution

WASHING
The printed cloth is washed in flowing water or in a pond with fresh water. Cloth is then squeezed and dried. All mordants should be removed.

BOILING
Depending on the colors/shades required, the dried cloth is boiled in copper vessels. Washed well to remove impurities. Left for drying. Time: 45 mins for boiling.

STARCH APPLICATION
Starch Solution( boiled rice water + fresh buffalo milk To provide stiffness to the printed cloth. It avoids spreading of second color paint.

COLOR PAINTING
Color is applied using brush (kalam) made up of date palm sticks. It is applied randomly between the motif /designs. Green color is obtained when painting over indigo.

ALUM TREATMENT
To fix the yellow color permanently on the cloth. The fabric is dried after treating with alum.

TREATMENT OF CLOTH WITH ALUM

WASHING WITH SOAP

Last and the final process. The cloth is soaked in soap water and then washed carefully. It is dried in sunlight.

WASHING OF CLOTH

DRYING OF CLOTH

PRODUCT RANGE
Dress material Mens kurta Cushion Handkerchief Durries Home furnishing etc.

VARIETY OF PRODUCTS

PRODUCT RANGE

VARIETY OF PRODUCTS

CONCLUSION
Targeted markets are both export as well as domestic market. Local markets include Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai. Overseas exports include U.S, U.K, China, Japan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh. No means of advertisement.

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