KALAMKARI PROCESS
The process of making Kalamkari involves 23 steps. From natural process of
bleaching the fabric, softening it, sun drying, preparing natural dyes, hand paint-
ing, to the processes of air drying and washing, the entire procedure is a process which
requires precision and an eye for detailing.
K
Cotton fabric used for Kalamkari is first treated with a solution of cow dung and bleach. After
keeping the fabric in this solution for hours, the fabric gets a uniform off-white color. After this,
alamkari or qalamkari
the cotton fabric is immersed in a mixture of buffalo milk and Myrobalans. This avoids smudging of
is a type of hand-
dyes in the fabric when it is painted with natural dyes. Later, the fabric is washed under running water
painted or block-
to get rid of the odor of buffalo milk. The fabric likewise, is washed twenty times and dried under the sun.
printed cotton textile,
Once the fabric is ready for painting, artists sketch motifs and designs on the fabric. Post this, the Kalamkari
produced in parts of
artists prepare dyes using natural sources to fill colors within the drawings.
India and Iran. Its name originates
Incorporating minute details, the Kalamkars use ‘tamarind twig’ as pen, to sketch beautiful motifs of Krishna
in the Persian , which is derived
Raas-Leela, Indian god and goddesses like Parvati, Vishnu, Shri Jaganath; designs of peacock, lotus; and
from the words qalam (pen) and
scenes from the Hindu epics like Mahabharata and Ramayana.
kari (craftmanship), meaning
drawing with a pen. Only natural
dyes are used in kalamkari and it
involves seventeen steps.
There are two distinctive
styles of kalamkari art in India.
The Srikalahasti style and
the Machilipatnam style. The
Srikalahasti style of kalamkari,
wherein the “kalam” or pen is
used for free hand drawing of the
subject and filling in the colors, is
entirely hand worked. This style
flowered around temples and their
patronage and so had an almost
religious identity - scrolls, temple
hangings, chariot banners and the
like, depicted deities and scenes
taken from the Hindu epics-
Ramayana, Mahabarata, Puranas
and the mythological classics.
This style owes its present status
to Kamaladevi Chattopadhayay
who popularized the art as the
first Chairperson of the All India
Handicrafts Board.
The Machilipatnam Kalamkari
craft made at Pedana near by
Machilipatnam in Krishna district,
Andhra Pradesh, evolved with
patronage of the Mughals and the
Golconda sultanate. 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. In the same way, one
found in the Hindu temples large
panels of kalamkari depicting the
episodes of Indian mythology,
similar to the stained glasses of the
Christian cathedrals.
As an art form it found its peak in
the wealthy Golconda sultanate,
Hyderabad, in the Middle Ages. 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.
 Painting is done with fingers, twigs, brushes, nib-pens,
and matchsticks, using natural dyes and pigments, and
is characterized by eye-catching geometrical patterns.
Madhubani art has five distinctive styles, namely, Bharni,
Katchni, Tantrik, godna and kohbar. In the 1960s Bharni,
Kachni and Tantrik style were mainly done by Brahman
and Kayashth women, who are ‘upper caste’ women in
India and Nepal. Their themes were mainly religious and
they depicted Gods and Goddesses, flora and fauna in
their paintings. People of lower castes includes aspects
of their daily life and symbols, story of Raja Shailesh [
guard of village] and much more, in their paintings. But
nowadays Madhubani art has become a globalised art
form so there is no difference in the work of artists of
the region on the basis of caste system . They are work-
ing in all five styles. Madhubani art received international
and national attention.
MADHUBANI ART
Madhubani paintings mostly depict the men & its
association with nature and the scenes & deity from
the ancient epics. Natural objects like the sun, the moon,
and religious plants like tulsi are also widely painted, along
with scenes from the royal court and social events like
weddings. Generally no space is left empty; the gaps
are filled by paintings of flowers, animals, birds, and even
geometric designs. Traditionally, painting was one of the
skills that was passed down from generation to generation
in the families of the Mithila Region, mainly by women. It
is still practiced and kept alive in the institutions spread
across Mithila region. Kalakriti in Darbhanga, Vaidehi in
Madhubani, Benipatti in Madhubani district and Gram
Vikas Parishad in Ranti are some of the major centers of
Madhubani painting which has kept this ancient art form
alive. Madhubani art is a highly practiced painting forms in
India and is also a painting forms researched upn.
"Traditions remains alive only when we struggle with it. "
- Mieczyslaw Jastrun
Madhubani painting/Mithila painting was traditionally
created by the women of the Brahman, Dusadh and
Kayastha communities in Mithila region in India. It
originated from Mithila region and Madhubani district
of Bihar became the major export centre of these
paintings, hence, it is popularly called Mithila painting or
Madhubani painting. This painting as a form of wall art was
practiced widely throughout the region; the more recent
development of painting on paper and canvas mainly
originated among the villages around Madhubani, and it is
these latter developments led to the name Madhubani
art being used alongside the name “Mithila Painting.” The
painting was traditionally done on freshly plastered mud
walls and floors of huts, but now they are also done on
cloth, handmade paper and canvas. Madhubani paintings are
made from the paste of powdered rice. The brush used
for Madhubani paintings of Bihar was made of cotton,
wrapped around a bamboo stick. The artists prepare the
colors that are used for the paintings. Black color is
made by adding soot to cow dung; yellow from combining
turmeric (or pollen or lime) with the milk of banyan leaves;
blue from indigo; red from the kusam flower juice or red
sandalwood; green from the leaves of the wood apple
tree; white from rice powder and orange from palasha
flowers. There is no shading in the application of colors. A
double line is drawn for outlines.
 HEAVEN
SHALIMAR BAGH
TULIP GARDENS
Srinagar is the largest city and
the summer capital of the Indian
state of Jammu and Kashmir. It
lies in the Kashmir Valley on
the banks of the Jhelum River,
a tributary of the Indus, and
Dal and Anchar lakes. The
city is famous for its gardens,
EMBROIDERY WORK waterfronts and houseboats.
It is also known for traditional
Kashmiri handicrafts and dried
fruits. The city is located on
both the sides of the Jhelum
River, which is called Vyath
in Kashmir. The river passes
through the city and meanders
through the valley, moving
onward and deepening in the
Dal Lake. The city is famous for
its nine old bridges, connecting
the two parts of the city. There
BOATING are a number of lakes and
swamps in and around the
city. These include the Dal, the
Nigeen, the Anchar, Khushal
Sar, Gil Sar and Hokersar.
Hokersar is a wetland situated
near Srinagar. Thousands of mi-
gratory birds come to Hokersar
from Siberia and other regions
in the winter season. Migratory
birds from Siberia and Central
Asia use wetlands in Kashmir as
their transitory camps between
September and October and
again around spring. These wet-
lands play a vital role in sustain-
ing a large population of winter-
ing, staging and breeding birds.
Hokersar is 14 km (8.7 mi) north
of Srinagar, and is a world class
wetland spread over 13.75 km2
(5.31 sq mi) including lake and
marshy area. It is the most acces-
EARTH
sible and well-known of Kash-
mir’s wetlands which include
Hygam, Shalibug and Mirgund.
A record number of migratory
birds have visited Hokersar in
recent years.
Birds found in Hokersar—Mi-
gratory ducks and geese which
include brahminy duck, tufted
duck, gadwall, garganey, grey-
lag goose, mallard, common
merganser, northern pintail,
common pochard, ferruginous
pochard, red-crested pochard,
ruddy shelduck, northern shov-
eller, common teal, and Eur-
asian wigeon. Srinagar is one
of several places that have been
called the “Venice of the East”
or the “Kashmiri Venice”Lakes
around the city include Dal
Lake – noted for its houseboats
– and Nigeen Lake. Apart from
Dal lake and Nigeen lake city is
also famous for wular lake and
manasbal lake to the north of
srinagar. Wular lake is one of
the largest fresh water lakes in
Asia.
The floating vegetable market
on Dal Lake, the only one of its
kind in India
Dal Lake and the shikaras.
Srinagar has some Mughal gar-
dens, forming a part of those
laid by the Mughal emperors
across the Indian subcontinent.
Those of Srinagar and its close
vicinity include Chashma Sha-
hi (the royal fountains); Pari
Mahal (the palace of the fair-
ies); Nishat Bagh (the garden of
spring); Shalimar Bagh; the Na-
seem Bagh.
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the natural, physical,
or material world or universe. “Nature” can refer to the
phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general.
The study of nature is a large part of science. Although
humans are part of nature, human activity is
often understood as a separate category
from other natural phenomena.The word
nature is derived from the Latin word
natura, or “essential qualities, innate
disposition”, and in ancient times,
literally meant “birth”.Natura is a
Latin translation of the Greek word
physis, which originally related to the
intrinsic characteristics that plants,
animals, and other features of the world
develop of their own accord. The concept
of nature as a whole, the physical universe, is
one of several expansions of the original notion;
it began with certain core applications of the word by pre-
Socratic philosophers, and has steadily gained currency ever
since. This usage continued during the advent of modern
scientific method in the last several centuries. Within
the various uses of the word today, “nature” often refers
to geology and wildlife. Nature can refer to the general
realm of living plants and animals, and in some cases to
the processes associated with inanimate objects–the way
that particular types of things exist and change of
their own accord, such as the weather and
geology of the Earth. It is often taken to
mean the “natural environment” or
wilderness–wild animals, rocks, forest,
and in general those things that
have not been substantially altered
by human intervention, or which
persist despite human intervention.
For example, manufactured objects
and human interaction generally are
not considered part of nature, unless
qualified as, for example, “human nature”
or “the whole of nature”. This more traditional
concept of natural things which can still be found
today implies a distinction between the natural and the
artificial, with the artificial being understood as that which
has been brought into being by a human consciousness or a
human mind. Depending on the particular context, the term
“natural” might also be distinguished from the unnatural.