Kalamkari

“Kalamkari” is derived from two words kalam and kari, kalam means pen and kari means craftsmanship. There are two styles of Kalamkari: Srikalahasti and Machilipatnam, both from the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Srikalahasti style also known as Pen Kalamkari, involves drawing and hand-painting mythological stories on fabric. Machilipatnam style, also known as Block Kalamkari, involves hand block printing with natural dyes on fabric. We are excited to bring to you the wonderful craft of Block Kalamkari (which we’ll refer to as just Kalamkari hereon).

This craft originated in the coastal region of Machilipatnam and currently also practiced in its nearby town Pedana in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh. Kalamkari evolved under the patronage of the Mughals and in the later years, the Golconda sultanate. Kalamkari fabrics also formed a major part of trade of the East Indian Company. Highly skilled artisans have been practicing this craft for hundreds of years, making it stand the test of time.

Kalamkari involves a long and labour-intensive process of around 23 steps including washing, drying, printing, dyeing multiple times. But, the process begins with the crucial step of carving the wooden blocks. Intricate designs are first drawn and then hand-carved meticulously on teak wood blocks. Before being used for printing, carved blocks are soaked in oil. Oil softens the wood and adds strength so that the blocks don't break easily.

Blocks soaked in oil

Artisan recreating the design of an old block

Several blocks are used per fabric. Some are for background/base/body colours, some for borders/outlines and some are filling colours. The overlapping of prints with these blocks on the fabric results in the desired design. 

Two blocks used for the same design

Several blocks per design

The process of Kalamkari is somewhat similar to that of Ajrakh from Gujarat. But, the colours turn out different because of the difference in water in the two states. Also, their motifs and designs are distinguishable.

At the start of Kalamkari process, fabric is required to be bleached with cow dung and water so that the starch gets removed. It is then prepared for block printing by dyeing it in myrobalan mix. Hand block printing usually starts with either outline colours or body colours, and is then continued with filling colours as required by the design. Natural ingredients such as indigo, alum, alizarin, turmeric, jaggery, rust iron as well as local flowers, leaves, seeds are used to make dyes and mordants.

Body/background/base colour (red)

Outline/border colour (black)

Filling colour (orange)

After each step of block printing, the fabric needs to be washed in running water and dried in open air. The dried fabric is then boiled in a mixture of jagi leaves and alizarin. This step allows the desired colours to develop. Colour fixation also happens at this stage.

After this, the cloth is dried again and taken for second round of block printing followed by washing and drying. Depending upon the number of blocks and colours required, these steps are repeated. Final step is to wash the ready fabric in running water with alum and dry it in the sun.

Kalamkari is identified by its earthy shades and flowy floral patterns, almost giving a feel of a flowering vine.

This beautiful age-old craft is under threat because of the rise in the use of cheap chemical dyes as well as fast digital and screen-printing techniques. We get to see such fabric blatantly sold in markets as genuine Kalamkari. Artisans who are practising genuine traditional Kalamkari are working hard to protect their textile tradition. Not only their livelihood depends on it, but also, they feel this ancient craft must live on for generations to come.

In India, handmade textiles have been part of our lives for centuries. It would be unfortunate if people fail to value our textile heritage in the future and lose it eventually. Let us all make a conscious effort to keep it alive!