Kalamkari (Telugu: కలంకారి) or Qalamkari is a type of hand-painted or block- printed cotton textile, produced in parts of India. The word is derived from the Persian words kalam (pen) and kari (craftsmanship), meaning drawing with a pen.
The Machilipatnam Kalamkari craft made at Pedana near by Machilipatnam in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh State, evolved with patronage of the Mughals and the Golconda Sultanate.
There are two distinctive styles of kalamkari art in India - one, the Srikalahasti style and the other, the Machilipatnam style of art. The Srikalahasti style of Kalamkari, wherein the "kalam" or pen is used for free hand drawing of the subject and filling in the colours, 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 great Hindu epics - Ramayana, Mahabarata, Purnaas and the mythological classics. This style owes its present status to Smt. Kamaladevi Chattopadhayay who popularised the art as the first Chairperson of the All India Handicrafts Board. Only natural dyes are used in Kalamkari and it involves seventeen painstaking steps.
The above text courtesy on Kalamkari paintings from the website of Wikipedia.org. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalamkari
Recently i received a book on Kalamkari alongwith some greeting cards on Kalamkari from Mr.Srinivas Krothapally of Chroma Academy as a gift.
Srinivas sir thank you very much for sending me a copy of your book and greeting cards as a gift and also many thanks for sharing your beautiful kalamkari images to me and giving permission for sharing them in my Heritage of India blog.
The Chroma Academy http://www.thechromaacademy.com/ began its activities in the year 2000 with the aim of being a nodal centre for promotion, development and training of motivated individuals who are keen to sustain and enrich our heritage. It is a place where one gains knowledge of basic skills in drawing old and modern methods of painting, whether drawing, sketching or painting. One can also pick up modern, traditional and abstract paintings and interact gainfully in modern trends. The ChromaAcademy is also a place of social interaction with like minded thinkers.
These are some beautiful Kalamkari images of Mr.Srinivas Krothapally of Chroma Academy,Chennai.
Please look into these beautiful kalamkari images as each of these image represent and share the rich art and cultural heritage of Kalamkari traditional designs and patterns.Further these beautiful images also explain the history of our Epics and Puranas which people need them in the current generation.
