Embroidery - Designs of India

Art is a medium to inter link cultures and values. Thank god for today most of us believes in interweaving cultures especially for inventions and arts.

I wish to share what I know about art. And that’s why I find this medium best for me. Here I present a small introduction about India’s most favorite and bread earning art for women residing villages and under developed cities.

You can learn it latter. Right now just understand what it is. Pardon me if I use some regional words.

Embroidery

Embroidery is called as ‘Lok Bharat’ in our regions of Saurashtra. Bharat (Embroidery) is the ornamentation of the women of Saurastra in India.

To wearing a dress with the embroidery is the custom of the village women of Saurastra. Embroidery with different color clothes such as like green, red, yellow, blue, and white. They use white color mostly for the marriage functions. People of Jamnagar mainly use yellow color and in embroidery they make leaf, flower, peacock, parrot, and creeper. Men basically do not wear anything with embroidery but younger generation wear cap.

Women make design from white clay on black cloth and red chalk white cloth. They use glass instead of golden and silver colors in stitch and cotton thread and silk of different colors like white, yellow, red, green, pink, and blue.

There are fifteen to twenty traditional designs and ten to fifteen modern designs. Each designs has their own name such as like Chipiyavel, Parasi sadara, Fulvadi, vijalivel, popatvel, these are traditional designs while Panch thad, naganiyu, ratio, batmogro these are modern designs. They make these entire designs with cross-stitch. Kathi people make events of Mahabharata, Ramayana and Lord Krishna’s life in their stitch. The people of Saurashtra not only wear cloth with embroidery but they also do it for the home decoration and also to decorate their animal with nice cloths.

There are some traditional stitch such as Chain Stitch (Dori tanko), Herringbone Stitch (Deshi tanko), Button Stitch (Ganj tanko), Foss Silkstitch (ado fantiyo) and Leenkhiya, Javla, Mor pagala, etc, are kind of stitch.

Different Types of Embroideries Work:

Ganeshsthapna: Women draw this in traditional shape according to their own image. They make the entire family of Lord Ganesha. They generally make Ganesha’s two wives Riddhi and Siddhi, vehicle Rat, Ganesha’s food Laddu, and signs of Sun, Moon, Cow, Elephant, Horse and different types of plants and birds. They would like to do it only on white color cloth. First they give red or yellow border to the picture and than they make stitch inside of the picture with different colors.

Chakla: It has four sides four corner so it indicates four directions. It is the collection of beautiful nature of this world and also life of human being. Women do it most on blue, yellow and brown color. The size of Chakla is near 1.5 miters. Kathipibharat design’s Chakla are decorates with combination of round square and rectangles and triangles and flowers and life. While Kathicom’s Chakla design only with elephant, horse, lion, cow, dear, dog, women, tree, flower, and different stories.

Toran: People bound it at out side of the door. One can say that it is the door with carving on wood or Mattel the shape of Toran on cloth is basically rectangle. Its size is near four feet long and width is near eighteen inch. Designs on Toran are trees, birds and round shapes with round glass.

Todaliya and Takiya: People use Todaliya to decorate the wall. The shape of Todaliya is round and they make flower’s design on it. They make it as like cushion. And decorate it with fringe. Takiya is the same thing as like Todaliya.

Gujarat – Embroidery State of India

Let me tell you that if you are looking for origin and antique designs of embroidery, don’t forget to visit Gujarat.

Kutch is easily one of the world's finest centres for embroidery with various styles differing with the community and area-Rabari embroidery, Ahir embroidery, Sindhi embroidery, Banni embroidery, Mutwa embroidery, Ari embroidery, Soof embroidery-and some styles include mirror or bead inlay. Embroidery is also a major craft in Saurashtra and north Gujarat, specially beadwork embroidery seen in Gondal and other places in Rajkot district, and leather embroidery for mojdi footwear in Radhanpur. Besides fabrics, leather footwear is also embroidered in Banni region of Kutch district and Radhanpur in North Gujarat. Applique work, the process of stitching fabric patches together in beautiful patterns, is another major textile craft of Gujarat.

I believe that I have added some values to introduce embroidery and its designs. Wish you would try to make it or have it!