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Following are some of the ethnic embroideries of India. For the
styles that are not present on this website, you can refer to
the books.
Embroidery
of Bengal |
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Kantha: The Kantha of Bengal represents
the joyous self expression of the people of Bengal. Kantha
signifies a poor man's blanket made of old pieces of cloth
patched and sewn into a single big piece. For a Bengali
woman embroidery was not mere stitchery but a medium for
the manifestation of her creative urges aided by her imagination
and craftsmanship. |
Banjara
embroidery |
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Most of the Banjaras
of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh embroider beautiful
artifects using glass or mica cut into different shapes.
The silver glass used in the past was produced by blowing
glass into spheres and then breaking them into pieces of
the required size. This slightly convex glass was thought
to frighten away evil spirits. |
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Embroidery
of Gujarat and Rajasthan |
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Gujarat and the princely state of Rajasthan
on the western side of India and Sindh in Pakistan, are
the richest source of folk embroidery. Closed proximity
to Iran, the Middle Eastern countries, Central Asia, and
constant influx of nomadic migrants has greatly influence
the textiles as both in designing and techniques. |
Karnataka
embroidery |
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Kasuti embroidery
belongs to Mysore district of Karnataka state situated on
Western Southern part of India. It is a highly developed
embroidery, representing the art and culture of the Karnataka,
its spiritual urge and aesthetic sensibility. This embroidery
is done by housewives in the part of Maharashtra and Karnataka,
who make use of very simple stitchery. |
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Embroidery
of Punjab |
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Phulkari: Just as Bagh means garden,
Phulkari means Flower craft. The rich agricultural state
of Punjab and Haryana on Northern Western side of India
are quite prosperous and people are hardworking and cheerful.
This happy moods reflects in their embroideries such as
Phulkari Chaddar, Chop and Bagh. Phulkari work, mainly done
on Shawls. |
Kashmir
embroidery
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The beautiful valley
of Kashmir, is famous, largely, through the exquisitely
embroidered shawls because of its unmatched workmanship
on intricate traditional patterns. The embroidery of Kashmir
is very delicate and mainly has floral patterns. The fineness
and minute details of this embroidery style makes it extremely
expensive. |
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Embroidery
of Surat |
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There was a community of Chinese embroiders
living in Surat, south of Gujarat who produced work that
was completely Chinese in both designs and techniques, specially
for the Parsee market. Their embroidery was known as Chinai
work. Traditional sari and some distinctive Parsee garments
specially for women and children were embroidered in Chinai
embroidery. |
Fun
embroidery
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Today more and more
people are experiencing a strong desire to create new designs,
which are their own and exclusive. Hence the old designs
and techniques used by our great grandmothers are being
rediscovered with great interest inspired by the useful
but intricate designs many news designs are being created
using simpler techniques. |
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