Srikalahasti Pen Work Kalamkari Chanderi Silk Handpainted Zari Border Dupatta with Tassels
The Srikalahasti style of kalamkari, wherein the "kalam" or pen is used for free hand drawing of the subject and filling in the colors, is entirely hand worked. This style flowered around temples and their patronage and so had an almost religious identity - with scenes taken from the Hindu epics like Ramayana, Mahabharta, Purans and many more.Srikalahasti Kalamkari is a style of Kalamkari work which involves dyed hand-painting of a fabric. It is produced in Srikalahasti of Tirupati district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. One of the reasons that is attributed to the roaring success of Kalamkari in the town of Srikalahasti, is the presence of the river Swarnamukhi which is known for its clean water. A completely natural-dye-based painting technique, Srikalahasti Kalamkari owes its differentiating personality style to the colours used. The mellow colours, so intrinsic to their designs, are absolutely sourced naturally. Red, yellow, and blue, for instance, are extracted from Indigo leaves. Black on the other hand is achieved by bringing together jaggery and iron with water. Perhaps the veterans of Kalamkari just knew where to look, to make life and living the most colourful. the original Srikalahasti Kalamkari style is completely handmade throughout its process. The foremost step is to source the cotton or chanderi fabric from the market, following which the starch and dirt are washed. After drying the cloth, it the primed for what is perhaps considered the most unique part of the process – soaking the cloth for two hours in milk that is mixed with a powder made from Myrobalan. The milk-soaked cloth is then dried before it is ready for painting. Like every handmade design begins with outlining, Srikalahasti Kalamkari is no different too. With the use of a burnt tamarind stick, a basic outline of the design is sketched, following which a pen made of a bamboo stick – also known as a Kalamkari pen –with the help of cotton and sponge, is used to define black-er and better outlines.
- Colors tend to bleed in washing
- Handwash coloured garments separately in cold water
- Silk,Chanderi and Woolen garments only to be dry cleaned
- Do not soak or bleach any garment
- Do not dry coloured fabric in direct sunlight
- Cotton fabrics can shrink by 5% on washing
- LENGTH is 2.25m to 2.5m
- WIDTH is 0.90m to 1m
