Phulkari

Loveye

mauja maan di
A reference to phulkari in literature comes from Guru Nanak Devji who wrote: "Kadd kasidha paihren choli, tan tu jane nari" (only when you can embroider your own choli with the embroidery stitch, will you be accepted as a woman)





It brings to mind several visions of the life of a Punjabi woman of yesteryears: embroidering her phulkari for her wedding and spinning cotton on a painted charkha; the elaborate ceremonies of her marriage with the wedding phulkari draped over her; going out to the fields with a pot of butter-milk and corn-flakes on her head, dressed in a full yellow skirt with a black kurta and richly embroidered phulkari covering her from head to knee; the birth of her sons and daughters and the beginning of embroidering phulkari for the distant but happy occasions of their marriages; and on her death, when she is lifted on a bier by her sons, covered with a red phulkari, the symbol of a happy end, of prosperity, of fulfilment.







The word phulkari literally means "flowered work". Its exact origin is not known. Sir Denzil Ibbetson in his Punjabi Ethnography, published in 1883, remarks that the tract where the best phulkari work was found was originally inhabited by Hindu Jats, who were afterwards conquered by Mohammedan tribes. Another conjecture is that the art was brought by Gujar nomads from Central Asia. It may also have some association with the gulkari of Iran which was practised there till very recently.


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According to Samarendranath Gupta, Principal, Mayo School of Art, Lahore, there was considerable difference between the Hindu and Mohammedan phulkari art. The difference, which was quite apparent, seemed to be sectarian. The Hindus, as a rule, had an Indian red and white ground cloth, the Mohammedans cared more for black cloth. The shades of the floss silk threads also differed. The Hindus mostly used white, bright orange, gold, deep brown-madder, deep purple, vermilion and crimson shades. Green was very rarely used, whereas the Mohammedan generally used green, gulnar, lemon, yellow and sometimes white. The Hindu work was usually characterised by pattern made up of regular curves and flowered designs. The Mohammedan work was generally ftill of regular geometrical figures, which had a Saracenic origin.
Mrs F. A. Steel was a great admirer of phulkari and was the first to write on this art in 1888. Accoding to her, the best phulkaris were produced in Hazara district. In a Punjab exhibition of 1882, Hazara phulkari was awarded the first place. It was also adjudged the best in the Indian Art Exhibition held at Delhi in 1903.



Phulkari was not exclusively meant for women; it served other purposes as well. Hindu and sikh scriptures, for instance, were kept wrapped in phulkaris. When a rare Janam-Sakhi manuscript on the life of Guru Nanak Devji was lent by the India Office Library, London, to the Government of Punjab for the inspection of the Lahore Sikhs, coverlets of phulkari were offered by the Sikh community with a petition that they might be employed to cover the sacred biography of the Great Guru.
When displayed in exhibitions held in Europe-the Great Exhibition of London in 1851, of Paris in 1855 and the Amsterdam International Exhibition of 1882-the beautiful phulkaris caught the fancy of Europeans, and demand for them grew in foreign markets. "Industrial and Mission Schools," observed J. L. Kipling, "began to produce Europeanised versions of phulkaris of quite astonishing hideousness."
A dealer once showed the pattern that had been furnished to him by a European trader and smilingly observed that it paid him to make such stuff, but he could not see what the people of the U.S.A. thought beautiful or found useful in those monstrosities in black, green and red. This is Self-explanatory. The craft was lost, never to be revived. Maybe the time has come to set up an exclusive museum of phulkari, the lost craft.






Process
Phulkari is traditionally done on a handspun khadi cloth with simple darning stitches using the un spun silk floss yarn called 'pat'. Single strand threads are used for the purpose. The simple stitches in the adept hands make it one of the most sought after embroidery craft. Shading and variation is often obtained by the using horizontal, vertical or diagonal stitches.

There are a variety of phulkari styles used for different occasions and purposes.

~~~The Chope, is red colored cloth with embroidered borders usually presented to the bride by her grandmother during a ceremony before the wedding.

~~~Vari-da-bagh (bagh of the trousseau) is also on a red cloth with golden yellow embroidery symbolizing happiness and fertility. The entire cloth is covered patterns smaller ones within the border and intricately worked in different colors.

~~~Ghunghat bagh or sari-pallau (covering for the head) has a small border on all four sides. In the center of each side, which covers the head, a large triangular motif is worked.

~~~Bawan bagh (fifty-two in Punjabi) has as many geometrical patterns.

~~~Darshan dwar (the gate offering a view of the deity) is usually for presentation in temples or to adorn the walls of the home when the Granth Sahib (holy book of the Sikhs) is brought to a house. The theme is a decorative gate.

~~~Suber is a phulkari worn by a bride during marriage rites. It comprises five motifs, one in the center and one each in the four corners.

~~~Chamba is a hybrid phulkari having a series of wavy creepers, stylized leaves and flowers.

Besides this, designs inspired by various day to day items, fauna and flora like sunflowers, peacock, red chilies, ace of diamonds and so on.




Using Colors

Bright colors were always preferred and among these, golden yellow, red, crimson, orange, green, blue, pink etc, were the popular ones.

For the embroidery, only a single strand was used at a time, each part worked in one color. Shading and variation were not done by using various colors of thread. Instead, the effect was obtained by the dexterous use of horizontal, vertical or diagonal stitches. This resulted in giving an illusion of more than one shade when light fell on it and when it was viewed from different angles.

To keep the embroidered part clean while working on the cloth, the finished portion was rolled and covered with a muslin cloth. Specially created designs varied from village to village or region to region in Punjab and were given suitable names descriptive of their form. While phulkari was used to ornament cloth, the bagh ensured that not even a square inch of the base cloth was visible.


Base Cloth
The cloth primarily used and preferred by the women, was the home-spun, locally woven and dyed khadi. It was strong, long-lasting, and cheap and served the purpose of keeping the wearer warm during winters. Another reason was that the embroidery involved the counting of threads while doing the straight darn stitch. The coarse weave made this task easier. In addition, the thick cloth did not pucker and pull and could be worked upon without a frame. Usually, pieces of small width, about 45 to 60 centimeters, were worked on separately and the two or three strips were joined together to form the required size.



Repertoire Of Motifs
Beginning with geometrical patterns, flowers and leaves, the repertoire of motifs was constantly enlarged. Birds, animals and human figures and objects of everyday use were inducted, along with vegetables, pots, buildings, rivers, the sun and the moon, scenes of village life, and other imagery. Phulkaris and baghs came to be embroidered in a stunning range of exquisite designs. In dhoop chaon, which literally means "sun and shade", an amazing interactive display of light and shade was created. The designs remained earthy and true to life. There was dhaniya bagh (coriander garden), motia bagh (jasmine garden), satranga bagh (garden of rainbow), leheria bagh (garden of waves) and many other depictions.

Today the most intricate and sought after phulkaris are the sainchi phulkaris, which bring scenes from rural Punjab to life. An incredible wealth of detail is embroidered onto cloth.


Reflecting Emotions
With time, the phulkaris became closely interwoven with the lives of the women of Punjab. The joys, sorrows, hopes, dreams and yearnings of the young girls and women who embroidered the phulkaris were often transferred onto cloth. Many folk songs grew out of this expressive combination of skills and intense feelings. So, it is that one hears a young woman, whose betrothed has not sent a promised message to her, murmuring sadly, softly, as she embroiders peacocks on a phulkari. It was not long before phulkari folk songs became a part of the famous, pulsating folk dances of Punjab - the gidda and the bhangra.

A Symbol Of Familial Ties
The women of Punjab created phulkari mostly for personal use. The cycle began with the young girl who followed her mother's chores and learned household work including this embroidery. When the girl got married, phulkari formed a part of her bridal trousseau. If a son was born to her, her mother would start preparing a vari da bagh, a gift she would present to her grand daughter-in- law.

The bagh was considered a symbol of marriage and among the wealthy families, sometimes up to fifty-one pieces of various designs were given to the bride. She, in turn, wore them for auspicious and ceremonial occasions. In some parts of Punjab, it was customary to drape the new mother with a bagh on the eleventh day after the birth of the child, when she left the maternity room for the first time.




Phulkari For Different Occasions
Phulkaris were also made for religious ceremonies or to be used at other festive times.

A phulkari is sanctified to be used as the canopy over the holy book of the Sikhs, the 'Guru Granth Sahib'.

For each different occasion, for each different setting, the versatile fingers and fertile imagination of the women of Punjab designed an impressive selection of phulkaris






NRIs flock to Patiala for princely phulkaris


For aficionados of the traditional Punjabi outfits, a visit to the ‘Darjiya Wali Gali’ in old Patiala is an absolute must. Here, tailors for generations have specialised in making Patialashahi Salwar and Kameej, and many NRIs who buy embroidered suits from Patiala prefer the masters’ stitch over any other.
The Princely state of Patiala, usually known for its handicrafts, jutis and parandis, now seems to be wooing the NRI Punjabis with their rich phulkari embroidered suits, stitched in the quintessential Patialvi style.
Carried out traditionally by women in the rural areas of Punjab, the intricacy and range of design and detail that the phulkari offers, has drawn a large number of craft lovers to Patiala. The prices of the art work have also gone up and now a hand worked phulkari can be yours for no less than Rs 10,000.
A big hit with the NRIs, the phulkari is catching up with the foreigners as well, who buy these not only for wearing purposes but also for the lucrative profits by selling them abroad.
Seeing the response it’s generated, it’s no surprise that connoisseurs of this exquisite handicraft often refer to Patiala as a paradise for the choicest hand-embroidered phulkari suits. “These are as beautiful as the people of this country, traditional, yet sophisticated like modern India,” said Gagandeep Ruby Dhaliwal, an NRI from UK who was quite taken to the craft.
Thanks to the rise in demand, the age old traditional embroidery has now gone hi-tech. Many export houses and boutiques now use computer designs and colours to stitch a pattern on to the suits. The tedious work is now complete in hours.
The exporters claim the machine-made embroidery has a longer life and is convenient to look after than the hand embroidered phulkari. “It is catching up fast in terms of business and technology has helped us cater to our NRI clients on time,” says owner of Makhan Singh and Sons, who export the suits to the US and the UK.
“However, with clients coming from outside the country and keeping in mind the universal liking, we have made some changes with the colours. Instead of garish bright colours, we now stock more subdued and sober shades, the pastel ones are in,” said another exporter, while adding, “but of course, we get orders for all kinds of phulkari designs.”




PSIEC Ltd. helps creative and skillful artists in Punjab by selling their handicrafts in the Showrooms at various places in India. It owns a chain of emporia which is famously called Phulkari in the major cities of Punjab (Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala), Chandigarh, Delhi and Kolkata. Phulkari Showrooms are a home to the best of the handicrafts in the world.



 

RUPIND3R

heaven's got a hitman
actually the bagh n phulkari are not the one n the same thing
the major distinguishing feature between baghs and phulkaris relates to the amount of embroidery. In phulkaris, the motifs are more or less regularly divided over the whole cloth, and large areas of ground fabric are visible. As a rule, the ends have quite different patterns from the centre and are often much more richly worked.


The motifs on a bagh, on the other hand, are embroidered so close to each other that the ground cloth shows as just a thin line around each motif. Also the ends of the bagh almost always pick up the motif of the main field.
any ways thanks for the hardwork n stuff
 
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