Srikalahasti Kalamkari is a style of

Kalamkari ''Kalamkari'' is a type of hand-painted cotton textile produced in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Only natural dyes are used in ''Kalamkari'', which involves twenty-three steps. There are two distinctive styles of Kalamkari art in India � ...

work which involves

dyed Dyeing is the application of dyes or pigments on textile materials such as fibers, yarns, and fabrics with the goal of achieving color with desired color fastness. Dyeing is normally done in a special solution containing dyes and particular ...

hand-painting of a

fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not t ...

. It is produced in

Srikalahasti Srikalahasti is a holy town in Tirupati district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the revenue division of Srikalahasti mandal & Srikalahasti revenue division. It is a part of Tirupati Urban Development Authority, wh ...

Tirupati district Tirupati district () is one of the twenty-six districts in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and one of the eight districts in the Rayalaseema region of the Andhra Pradesh state. The district headquarters is located at Tirupati city. Tirupati ...

in the

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepen ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

. It was registered as one of the

geographical indication A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town, region, or country). The use of a geographical indication, as an indication of the product's source, ...

from Andhra Pradesh, under

handicraft A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

goods by ''Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999''. GI Application for Srikalahasti Kalamkari was filed by Kalamkari Artisans Revival and Upsurge for National Acclaim (KARUNA).

History

The Kalamkari had its existence during the period of

Vijayanagara Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana and Maharash ...

Kalamkari work

The Srikalahasti style of Kalamkari is one of the two styles of Kalamkari works present in India, with the other being, Machilipatnam style. ''Kalam'' in

persian language Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and ...

means ''Pen'' is used for hand drawing and coloring. The usage of pen involves two types, one for drawing made from

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, but ...

, the other for coloring. The coloring process involves usage of only

natural dyes Natural dyes are dyes or colorants derived from plants, invertebrates, or minerals. The majority of natural dyes are vegetable dyes from plant sources—roots, berries, bark, leaves, and wood—and other biological sources such as fungi. Archaeo ...

which are extracted from flowers and vegetables. All together the entire process involves seventeen steps like block making, cloth treating, printing, washing etc. The Srikalahasti style is used mostly to narrate the religious myths and epics stories on the fabric and also the saris of this style are most notable for its borders and pallu.

Promoting art

''Sri Venkateswara Institute of Traditional Sculpture and Architecture (SVITSA)'' of

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is an independent trust which manages the temples including the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in Andhra Pradesh. The trust oversees the operations and finances of the richest and the most visited religious cent ...

offers a professional course on ''Kalamkari painting'' for developing new artists. The Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board took initiative to promote the historical art, solve the industrial challenges, training skilled human resources and to improve revenue generation through exports.

References

{{Reflist Geographical indications in Andhra Pradesh Textile arts of India Tirupati district

History

Kalamkari work

Promoting art

See also

References