Andhra Pradesh is a center of the arts of Kuchipudi dance, melodious songs, and various crafts, of which Kalamkari is one of the most significant arts. Kalamkari was first used to portray scenes from sacred texts such as the Mahabharata, Ramayana and Bhagavatam. This style flourished in temples cantered on creating unique religious identities, appearing on scrolls, temple hangings, chariot banners as well as depictions of deities and scenes taken from the Hindu epics.
Deriving its name from the word ‘kalam,’ which means pen, ‘Kalamkari’ refers to a particular, intricate style of hand-painting onto cloth.
Kalamkari paintings are created using bamboo or date palm sticks pointed at one end and bundle of hair at other end to work as brush or 'kalam'. Kalamkari paintings were done using vegetable colours, depicting mythological scenes, floral motifs, trees of life, birds, animals, etc. The artists were inspired by temple architecture and its surroundings, the natural beauty of mountains, and the natural resources of Andhra Pradesh.
There are two types of Kalamkari painting:
Srikalahasti, which is the freehand drawing style, and
Machilipatnam, which is the block-printing technique.
The process of Srikalahasti style begins with the artists treating the cotton cloth with the help of mordant and drawing the design outline with the colour black. This is also called kasami. To fill in the images that have been outlined with a bold black colour, naturally obtained dyes of green, mustard yellow, red and indigo.
Kalamkari painting
