Craft Studies

PHULKARI :
THE HAND
EMBROIDERY
Assignment - 1

Shubhra Gaur
PHULKARI
PHULKARI PHULKARI :
HAND EMBROIDERY OF PUNJAB PHULKARI
EMBROIDERY

CONTENTS
03 Origins and History
04 Material and Techniques
05 Motifs & Color
06 Process
07Usage
09Geographical location
Craft Presentation
Craft Studies
Craft Presentation
i Craft Studies
PHULKARI
PHULKARI
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Origin and History The embroideries were a mere reflection of their life. Things that they see,
Phulkari embroidery has been popular since 15th century. Phulkari came from Iran
observe, vegetables that they eat animals that they owned were embroidered.
where it is known as Gulkari some feel it came from Central Asia along with Jat Tribes Every woman had her own way representing
who migrated to India and settled in Punjab Haryana and Gujarat. There is reference of
Phulkari in Vedas, Mahabharata, Guru Garanth Sahib and folk songs of Punjab. In
Punjab, Patiala is the main hub of Phulkari embroidery.

Phul means flower and Kari means work. It is an intricate needle work,
along with bright colored threads mainly red, blue, orange, green, etc.

The Phulkari is more than just clothing, its a part of an ethos steeped in social
and ritualistic tradition.

Technique and patterns of Phulkari were not documented but transmitted by

word of mouth. Hence, each regional group was identifiable by its unique
embroidery work. The tradition of Phulkari was often associated with the Sikh
heritage but as it also shared with Hindus and Muslims, it happens to be more
geographically specific than religious specific.

Phulkari has been mentioned in the famous, Punjabi folkiare at Heer Ranjha (a
love Tale) by Waris Shah whose ancestors migrated to India from Iran. Its
present m form and popularity goes back to 15th Century, during Maharaja Golden Temple
Ranjit Singhs Reign.

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Material and
Techniques
Embroidery work was invariably made on a plain cotton fabric (khaddar) whose
thread was manually spinned, loomed and dyed with natural pigments.

The actual embroidery was done with a Pat, the Punjabi word for untwisted
floss silk yarn was sourced from china or Afghanistan, and then dyed in Jammu
and Amritsar

The embroidery is done for most part upon khaddar os irregular thickness,
generally with between 10-12 wrap threads per cm.

Khaddar was woven in narrow stripes and stiched together for required width.

Designs and symmetries are created by embroidering from the back face of the
cloth Hence, it was easy to embroider the fabric first and then dye the base
fabric(with such a preparation that the silk thread does not get colored ) so that
the wraps and wefts on the lighter color are clearly visible.

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Motifs
Women developed various motifs with inspiration from vegetables ,flowers,
animals they had. Karela , gobhi, dhaniya, mirchi bagh. Every thing was
inspired from the daily life.Leheriya bagh, Mor bagh etc. Most common and
beautiful are inspired from wheat/barley stalks. Recent new motifs are
parantha (originally eight colors), Kanchan design, Butti design.
Colors
The most favored color is red and its shades, because Bagh and Phulkari are
used during marriage and other festivals. Red is considered auspicious
by Hindus and Sikhs. Other colors are brown, blue, and black, white. White was
used in Bagh by elderly ladies. Silk thread in strands came
from Kashmir, Afghanistan and Bengal. The best quality silk came from China.
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Process
Types of Phulkari
There are mainly two types of Phulkari :

BAGH Bagh literally means garden of flowers, and the term distinguishes
the flowered Phulkari is that the embroidery is so profuse that the ground color
is no longer visible thus the embroidery becomes the fabric itself.

CHOPE Chope is usually embroidered in the borders. It is gifted to the bride

by her grandmother during her wedding. The Chope is embroidered straight
with two sided line stitch which appear same on both sides. Unlike Phulkari and
bagh where a variety of colors are used, Chope is generally embroidered with
one color( Golden or yellowish g olden mostly).

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Usage / Products
Earlier

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Contemporary

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Geographical Location

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Bibliography
www.kunstpedia.com

www.craftrevival.com

www.dsource.in

www.inheritage.biz

Books :

Hand Made in India

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