How Kalamkari craft traveled from Srikalahsta to Thanjavur

150 year old Tapestry | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

When people think about Kalamkari, the first words coming to their mind are not Srikalahsta or Machilipatnam, not Karuppur or Tanjavur, although it also has its roots in later cities as art. “Kalamakari first found royal protection in Tamil Nadu in 1540, when Sevappa Nayak, the first hero ruler of Tanjavur, took a contingent of artists from Karuppur to the palaces and temples of Tanjavur,” Kalamkari, son of National Award-Vetor Kalamkari Artream, says Rajmohan. These artists were descendants of migrants from Andhra Pradesh, where Kalamkari was born.

Chitrapadam (‘Chitra’ is also known as Chitra and ‘Padam’, Tracing), was once used to portray stories as art Ramayana And this Mahabharata. It was later used to create palaces, temple hanging, panels for door frames, canopies, umbrella covers, door hanging and tubular hanging and even punishment for temple chariots. It eventually developed in wearable arts such as sarees and dupatus, and utility items such as bags and bookmarks.

Touch of modernity

A Kalamkari art work made by Rajmohan. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

As Rajmohan shows us the works of his ancestors, including a tapestry, which is more than 400 years of age, he says, “I re -make old pieces with a touch of modernity, yet try to keep the functioning adopted by my ancestors alive. For example, he uses the same day. Provides people. “Handmade pen or Kalam that they use are prepared with bamboo and tamarind twigs. While bamboo twigs are used, as it is, tamarind is burnt and covered in the soil overnight before use.

Rajmohan’s family has now been practicing Kalamkari for more than 800 years. A BFA graduate, who also studied filmmaking from MGR Film Institute, Rajmohan learned Kalamkari art from his father. “There were no formal classes, I learned by looking at him. My son also learns”, he says. “The form of art has gradually disappeared in ambiguity. When royalty was abolished in India, protection disappeared, and with it, many artists’ livelihoods. They were given land and money, but there was no means of learning another business, and so he shares”, he shared.

Family tradition opposed

Artisans working in Kalamkari unit, run by Rajmohan. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Lakshmi Narayanan keeps art alive in a different way, not far away from Rajmohan’s residence. “This is an endangered art,” says Lakshmi Narayanan, who runs a unit with Kalamkari workers in her two -storey house. Narayanan, whose family has been practicing the art form that has been receiving the GI (geographical signal) tag for more than 400 years, explains how motifs and colors set Kalamkari’s Karuppur style in addition to the Srikalahali style. Narayanan, who started working as a Kalamkari artist at the age of 15, feels that the market remains uncertain even today as handmade items are gradually appreciating customers. “We wait for more than 20 days for profits to get into our way. And if there is a small error, we lose ₹ 17,000 or also ₹ 20,000-that can be the cost of a fully working Kalamkari saree” she shares.

“People who buy it need to understand the amount of work that goes to make a saree or even a scarf. First, the design is detected using a charcoal. After that it is treated with a mixture of cow’s milk, starch and dried. Then, we fill in black, wash and dry it; He said, “Black rusted is taken from iron, turmeric yellow and cinnamon is taken from red color.” A single saree can take 15 to 20 days depending on the intensity of the design. “Sales are mostly through Word-of-Mouth,” they say. “Sometimes, boutiques contact us, but spatitally. We are the only families in this village that makes Kalamkari products commercially and sells,” they say and say that their two sons (still studies) will eventually lift the craft.

Now, with cool perseverance, both Rajmohan and Narayan ensure that this endangered art is not forgotten. They are not only preserving a technique, but a tradition that passes through generations.