India has always shown its rich culture through their art and craft. The intricate work from the Indian craftsmen actually tells the story of how passionate they are for their work. One of the most beautiful prints is the Kalamkari print. The name Kalam refers to pen and Kari to craftsmanship, it is a type of hand printed and hand block printed cotton textile. The hand painting is done with tamarind pen, using natural dyes. The motifs drawn in Kalamkari are peacocks, flowers, paisleys and also divine characters from Ramayana and Mahabharata which tells the historical stories. This story telling print’s beauty enhances more by using a earthy colours like mustard, indigo, rust, green and black.
Klamakari art initially was a religious painting ,telling the story of Hindu deities.The journey of this art form started from mughal dynasty and is presently resting in Andhra Pradesh.
Kalamkari art required a lot of intricate work and was very tedious for the craftsman, hence it slowly lost its charm. The art was almost coming to an end, until the new generation saw the spark in this amazing art and brought it back. The Kalamkari sarees, blouses, dresses are really in trend nowadays. Many fashion designers enhanced their collection by using Kalamkari as their prints in different ways without any restriction as they know the importance of our Indian art. The designers such as Ritu Kumar, Anita Dongre, Rohit Bal and many more are using Kalamkari and more Indian prints in their designs and setting a trend ,which is being appreciated by this generation.
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