The Craft of Phulkari PDF

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PHULKARI  Rumika Sharma MFM/20/48 NIFT Mumbai

“ The craft of phulkari has been very close to my heart. I live in Amritsar, Punjab and grew up visiting bazaars full of colourful phulkari dupattas. The vibrant patterns and motifs have always amazed me. Like any other family in Punjab, my mom, sister and me, value and love wearing phulkari shawls, suits and duppattas at celebratory occasions. I am glad that I got this opportunity to reasearch more about this centuries old craft.” -Rumika Sharma

PHULKARI  The folk embroidary of Punjab The word Phulkari comes from two Sanskrit words “phul” which means flower and “kari” which means work. Taken together, Phulkari means ‘flower work’.

History & Origin  This exceptionally beautiful embroidery is believed to have come from the lands of Persia.

Not much is known as to where and how it began. More than an era ago, some say that it came along with the Muslim Persians as they migrated to Lahore, Pakistan. The intriguing and extraordinary style of embroidery came into being somewhere in South-east Punjab. Others think that it came from Central Asia along with the Jat tribes who migrated to India and settled in Punjab, Rajasthan and Saurashtra areas of Gujarat. The earliest mention of Phulkari is made in the famous literary Ballad of Hir Ranjha. The earliest available article of embroidery is a rumal, the kerchief, embroidered during 15th century by the sister of Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

Women Oriented Proficiency

In today’s time as well, Phulkari is majorly hand embroidered by women.

The traditional Phulkari was always woven by the women for their own use. They crafted it for everyday use and also the best of pieces were kept securely for the auspicious occasions like the weddings and dowry, which would be use by the girl after marriage for herself. The traditional Phulkari was always woven by the women for their own use. It clearly meant Phulkari was not for sale. In the 19th century, a wide spectrum of social positions were being held by the Punjabi women, where they stitched, wore, exchanged, purchased, inherited and hoarded Phulkari.

Silk Thread & Khadi Cloth Phulkari is traditionally done on khadi cloth with simple darning stitches using the hand spun silk floss yarn called the ‘pat’. The stitch is done through single darn thread and the simple adept to hands make it one of the most sought after embroidery craft. Shading and variation is often obtained by using horizontal, vertical or diagonal stitches.

The Process This unique method of the embroidery is worked on the inner side of the cloth and the pattern takes shape on the upper side. The pattern is controlled by the counting of the thread. The needle picks up only one thread at a time as so to make the back of the pattern well defined with single lines of color in extremely fine stitches. In front the stitch ranges from ½ to 1/4cms in size.

In its initial years, Phulkari was directly embroidered on the cloth without any traces. Now another method is used where patterns are first block printed on the cloth and then embroided.

Varieties of Phulkari: Bagh  Over the years this embroidery became heavy and more complex and the heavily embroidered odhinis came to be known as bagh (literally garden). The embroidery covers every inch of the entire base material so that the cloth is completely invisible. Done without a frame, seated, usually with one leg tucked underneath her, the embroiderer would fill the rectangular field within square or triangular grids. In the case of baghs, the embroidery took many months, often years. The right side of the fabric was covered with muslin or a thinner cotton cloth to protect it from dirt and dust.

Bagh

Belan Bagh

Moon Bagh

Vari da Bagh

Another ceremonial bagh, often described as a Moon bagh, the maroon khaddar base is covered in circular clusters of stylised white barley grains. The clever method of embroidering in vertical and horizontal strips within the grid creates the visual sensation of glimmering fields of barley in moonlight.

The colours used in borders are ‘complimentary to the main field’ and the ‘preferred’ colour combinations. However, the combination of pink, purple, light green, orange and white in diamond shapes or squares along the edges of borders is a recurring pattern.

Suber Phulkari This Phulkari is worn by the bride during the marriage ceremonial rites. There are five motifs crafted, one at the center and four at the corners. It is heavily decoratedand comprisesof delicate designs.

Sainchi Phulkari Sainchi literally means ‘figuring a design’. In this Phulkari, motifs were represented from the rural life of Punjab with embroidery. Sainchi was the specialty of the Malwa religion and of the Bhatinda and Faridkot districts of Punjab. It was the only Phulkari in which designs were traced with black ink before starting the embroidery. Human figures, animals and birds were used as motifs for the Sainchi Phulkari.

Darshan Dwar Darshan Dwar apparently is a gate of any Indian religious place of worship that offers a clear view to the deity. Unlike other phulkars, this particular one was not made for people’s use, but primarily for the temples as an offering to express gratitude to the Gods after one’s wish had been fulfilled.

Chope Phulkari Phulkari is embroidered on the borders and edges of this red colored cloth of ‘Chope’ and is presented to a bride by her grandmother. The bride’s maternal grandmother gifted Chope embroidery as soon as her granddaughter was born. The Holbein stitch was used instead of the darning stitch which has the specification of creating same designs on both sides of the cloth. Chope was wrapped around the bride after she took the ritual bath before the wedding ceremony, as Chope had its towering importance of being much bigger than that of Phulkari.

Nilak

Ghunghat Bagh It is also known as Sari-Pallau, essentially used to cover the head as a symbol of respect for elders. The embroidery is done on the small borders in four sides. Adding on to the vividness a large triangular motif is embroidered at the center of each side.

A black and a navy blue shawl with crimson and yellow embroidery wore for casual use.

Saloo Salu or Saloo Phulakri depicts the rural life where, motifs are traced before embroidering. The various activities of rural life are depicted such as household chores of housewives and agricultural process, smoking hukka , guests having sharbat, wrestlers practicing wrestling, pounding, churning, grinding, spinning, weaving and so on. The embroidery is known as the Sainchi Phulkari.

Baawan Bagh “Baawan” means “fifty-two “ in Hindi & Punjabi languages. It refers to the mosaic of fifty-two different patterns which adorns the piece with 52 numbers of patterns or more. Baawan bagh Phulkari was in fact a display of samples used by professional embroiderers to show their skills and design patterns they could offer to their clients. This clearly clarifies why Bawan is the rarest of all the bagh and phulkari`

Til Patra The embroidery is done on inferior quality cotton and is sparsely dotted along like sesame seeds. The sesame seeds were meant for customary presentation to the attendants and domestic servants on auspicious and festive occasions.

Meenakari Bagh (or “Ikka Bagh”) Bagh, often made of gold and white coloured pat, decorated with small multicolored lozenges referring to enamel work (meenakari) or to “diamond” playing cards’.

Panchranga Bagh Meaning “Five colours”, this bagh is decorated with chevrons of five different colours, similar to the pieces of satranga (“Seven colours”) Bagh.

Kaudi Bagh

Among their patterns, these bagh include chains of small white squares representing stylized cowries (sea animal having a bright colored shell). They were once used as currency in the ancient times; the shells have now lost all of their value and are being made into ornaments as a sign of modesty. These shells form a shape of the female symbolizing fertility. Kaudi phulkari were often worn by women wanting to become pregnant and further increasing the family.

Surajmukhi Surajmujkhi, the sunflower, refers to the main pattern of this phulkari. From a technical point of view this phulkari is unique as it is the only one that mixes in equivalent proportions with the Holbein stitch (used for making chope phulkari) and the regular darning stitch.

Thirma

Thirma phulkari from the North Punjab was shared by Hindu and Sikh traditions and appreciated too by the collectors is well-known by its white khaddar called Thirma, a symbol of purity. It was worn by elder women and widows but, at times, this choice of white coloured khaddar was also made for esthetical reasons.The pat was generally chosen in a range of bright pink to deep red tones. Cluster stitched flowers, wide triangles covering the forehead as well as chevron darning stitch surfaces were very common thirma patterns. This Phulkari has completely wiped out at present.

Chamba Is a fusion work of Phulkari and is characterized by an intricate design of wavy, stylized leaves and flowers. It may also contain designs inspire from day to day life and the fauna of chilies, peacocks, diamonds, sunflowers, etc. As one can see in the picture at right , Chamba rumaal, a handkerchief, named as the Das Avatar, c.19th century A.D

Motifs: Geometrical motifs

Triangles, squares and vertical and horizontal lines with changing directions and the darn stitch with various color combinations. The subject matter of Phulkari comprised of flowers, animals and human forms and many other things made with geometrical patterns

Floral motifs Genda (marigold), Surajmukhi (sun flower), Motia (jasmine) and Kol (lotus flower) were commonly used for Phulkari and Bagh. Sometimes, the field of phulkari was embroidered with small patterns called “Butian”. Among the different fruits, santaran (orange), anar (pomegranate), nakh (pear), bhut (muskmelon), mango slice, and chhuare (dried dates) were used as motifs for a Phulkari. Among the vegetables, women used replicas of karela (bitter guard), gobhi (cauliflower), mirchi (Chili) and dhaniya (coriander).

Birds & Animals motifs In a “sainchi phulkari”, human forms, animals and birds were used. The most common animal motifs are the cow, buffalo, goat, camel, horse, elephant, snake, fish, tortoise, pig, rabbit, frog, cat, rat, donkey, squirrel and lion. Among the bird motifs, the peacock, parrot, sparrow, crow, owl, hen, and pigeon were the most popular.

Jewelry motifs items like the necklace, Kangan, Karanphool and Jhumka, different types of earrings, guluband different types of bracelets, nose rings, Tikka, Shingar Patti, Phools, and Rani Har with a pendant. All these articles were embroidered in a yellow colored thread to show they were made of gold.

House-hold articles motifs

Similarities

Articles from the kitchen were also used as motifs. These included the velana (rolling pin), gadava (brass urn) half filled with water, and ghara (pitcher) etc.

Motifs similar to the ones found in Phulkari are also found in Kashida of Bihar and some of the embroideries of Rajasthan.

Miscellaneous motifs Other Phulkari motifs were taken from rural life, For example, Shalimar, Charbagh and Chaurasia Bagh depict the Mughals and other gardens. Bagh that was embroidered with a red and yellow colored flower was called Asharfi (mohur or gold coin) Bagh. “Ike” (ace of diamond design) came from playing cards. There were Dhoop Chhaon (sun light and shade), Lahriya (waves), Patedar (stripes), Chand (moon), Patang (kite), Saru (cypress tree), Pachranga (five coloured), Satranga (seven coloured), Dariya (river) and Shisha (mirror) patterns as well.

The stitches:  Darn, Dandi (stem), Herringbone, Satin, Straight, Back, Running, Blanket, Split, Cross, Chain, Lazy daisy, Whole, Fish, French (Bullion), as we further see, form up Phulkari bringing multiplicity in the desings & patterns.

Dandi Stem Stitch

Herringbone Stitch

Satin Stitch

Straight Stitch Back Stitch

Blanket Stitch

Split Stitch

Cross Stitch

Chain Stitch Lazy Dazy Stitch

Fish Stitch Whole Stitch

French (Bullion) Stitch

Phulkari Dupattas in the market:

Baagh Jaal

Baarik Jaal

Gold & Silver (Sohna Chandi)

Kanchan

Parontha

Chaukkhra

Conclusion With a lot of Indians living abroad, the craft of Phulkari is recognised worldwide. Many fashion designers have incorporated this craft into their collections. Although traditional Phulkari is losing its original form; many NGOs are working on to revival it. By organizing special training programs, fairs, exhibitions and competitions, the government has been working towards the promotion of Phulkari....