Bengaluru: A lone family in a tiny town near the coast of Andhra Pradesh is standing as a sentry, guarding the ancient craft of hand-block printed Kalamkari.
Kalamkari is an ancient fabric tradition that comes in two forms, one printed through intricate hand blocks and the other hand painted.
In Pedana, a small town near the port city of Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh, the printing tradition of Kalamkari is in vogue, but the hand blocks are mostly missing, thanks to the modernisation of the industry and the introduction of screen printing. This has not only destroyed the tradition and impacted the livelihood of thousands of artisans, but is also causing havoc to the local environment.
However, one family, led by the 54-year-old award-winning artisan Pichuka Srinivas, is holding fort with his enterprising efforts. He is not only keeping the tradition alive but his efforts have also brought international fame to the craft.
“Kalamkari hand-block printing tradition has existed in this region for centuries, but it was primarily based in Machilipatnam. When the craft was struggling to survive in the city for a variety of reasons, my father Pitchuka Veera Subbaiah popularised it in Pedana and locals quickly took to the profession,” said Srinivas, who now runs a small scale industry, employing dozens of skilled artisans.
His family run small scale enterprise is now popular with fashion students, global fashion circuit and internationally renowned designers such as Mary Bergtold Mulcahy.
“It was my father’s dream to take this art to the world, because he realised that the local demand for such high value and high cost artisanal work is limited and would eventually die down. Kalamkari was always known globally but as crafts in India suffered, its popularity also suffered. He would often say that our craft needs to be known internationally for it to sustain and find its real value,” added Srinivas, who fulfilled his father’s dream by taking Kalamkari to the global stage.
Lone battle
But, it was not an easy path. For years Srinivas struggled alone. It was a lone battle. But, he never gave up the dream. In fact, he kept refining his skills and challenging himself in diversifying the craft.
He participated in exhibitions and fairs and as technology evolved and the Internet arrived he took help of the new tool to reach out to the larger world. It worked!
“Internet really helped me in connecting with the right people who would value our craft and efforts. It has been a two way traffic. We learnt new techniques and designs while catering ti the demand for our traditional designs. Now, most of our customers are foreigners,” said Srinivas, who has now established India’s first exclusive Museum of Kalamkari in Pedana, right above his office-cum-residence.
Though, the appreciation for his work is blossoming internationally, in the local market he is fighting a stiff battle with dozens of commercial establishments who are cashing in on the popularity of Kalamkari.
“Most of the industry is indulging in malpractices. They are not following the tradition. They are screen printing the designs. They are using chemicals for dyeing and treating the fabric. These practices are also affecting our local environment, as the washing of the chemically-dyed fabric in the local water bodies is destroying the ecosystem. This has also impacted the livelihood of thousands of artisans who can’t find work now due to the introduction of printing machines. Our battle is multi-pronged and we will continue to fight for our tradition,” said Srinivas, who hopes to draw the attention of the authorities to regulate the industry.
However, now Srinivas is not alone in this battle. He has the support of his BTech graduate son Varun, who has joined the enterprise full time.
Introducing new energy and ideas into the tradition, scaling up the scope and profile of the work and increasing the outreach through technology, Varun has now made popularising traditional Kalamkari his life’s mission.
“Following my graduation in 2014, I had the choice of joining a multi-national company for a high-paying job, but I chose to join our ancestral business instead, as I was keen on helping my father in his battle,” said the 30-year-old, who is now the third generation artisan in his family pursuing this tradition.
As a young boy, Varun saw his father struggling with his work and he was never interested in joining the tradition. However, one day the realisation dawned on him that if he didn’t add strength to his father’s efforts the tradition would fade away.
“One day when I came back from college, I saw some beautiful fabrics and prints and that’s when I fell in love with Kalamkari. Something struck a chord in me and I started taking interest,” said Varun, who now helps his father not only run his growing business with an international clientele, but also manages the Museum of Kalamkari.
Medieval tradition
Handmade or machine-made, Pedana is now famous for the Kalamkari fabrics, and part of the credit goes to the Pichuka family.
However, the small town was not always famous for this traditional craft.
The tradition was borrowed from the historic town of Machilipatnam, where Kalamkari thrived for centuries.
Machilipatnam has always been a thriving port city, first rising to prominence as the primary port of the medieval Qutub Shahi Kingdom of Golconda. During the colonial period, it is was the key trading port, changing hands between the Portuguese, Dutch, French and British administrations.
Originally developed through the Qutub Shahi and Mughal influence, hence the Persian name Kalamkari, which is the combination of two words - ‘Kalam’ meaning pen and ‘Kari’ meaning craft.
Though, the Machilipatnam/Pedana tradition of Kalamkari involves hand block printing, in the initial stage the design is drawn on paper (hence the reference to Kalam) and then wooden blocks are carved by highly skilled artisans to replicate the paper design. The blocks are then dipped into natural dyes made of vegetables, fruit peels, flower petals and roots.
Kalamkari is an intricate craft with artisans working over 16 days through a range of steps to complete a piece of fabric.
Apart from block printing, which is the mainstay of the craft, the work involves bleaching, boiling, creating natural dyes, washing the fabric in flowing streams, soaking as well as herbal treatment, washing and sun-drying after every step.
A GI (Geographical Indication) tagged tradition, currently Kalamkari prints are used to create a variety of products including sarees, dress material, dupattas, blouses, curtains, bedsheets, pillow covers etc.
It’s an imprint that has survived through vagaries of time for over five centuries, will it survive the onslaught of modernisation? It’s a question that the authorities, artisans and customers should together answer.
— Shafaat Shahbandari is a freelance journalist based in Bengaluru and Founder-Editor of Thousand Shades of India
