Kalamkari: Wall panels to saris, how a Hyderabad-Tirupati organisation has kept storytelling alive

A nine-foot tall, 15-foot huge hand-drawn kalamkari wall panel, dyed in pure colors, clothes up Mamata Reddy’s workspace in Hyderabad. The wall panel incorporates a uncommon mixture of Shiva and Hanuman. Massive pictures of the 2 deities are flanked by 16 four-inch horizontal panels bearing smaller pictorial narration of tales of Shiva and Hanuman, interspersed with textual content. Mamata, founding father of the three-decade previous Kalam Creations that helps 45 artisan households in Tirupati, reveals that the wall panel is a labour of affection of 14 months.

This panel is proof that kalamkari artisans have saved the custom of narrating tales on fabric, alive. Kalamkari, whose origins might be traced to 3000 years, traditionally witnessed artisans utilizing the ‘kalam’ or pen to relate tales from the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Bhagavatham.

Saris, clothes, material and residential furnishings could have change into the mainstay of kalamkari for saleability however that has not dented storytelling, a minimum of for a distinct segment phase. “Storytelling continues to thrive, solely the format has modified,” says Mamata. Her artisans attempt to narrate tales on saris, kurtas, materials, and wall panels.

The color palette has expanded, as her artisans experiment with pure dyes to reach at hues of pinks, reds, browns, blues, greens, and mustards. “Once we started 30 years in the past, most kalamkari designs have been dyed in 5 colors — pink, black, blue, inexperienced, and indigo. There was monotony. We did single and double colors to supply one thing new,” Mamata remembers.

The muted inexperienced that types the bottom of the Shiva-Hanuman wall panel is a product of experimentation. Mamata additionally factors out how work is segregated. The drawings have all been accomplished by a single artist, who labored on the material for 3 hours a day, over a number of months. “He can not do greater than that because it entails huge focus and may pressure the attention.”

Totally different artisans take cost of various dyes. “Some are good with shades of mustard, others with pinks, greens or blues. An artist specialises in a selected color household to take care of uniformity,” says Mamata.

Innovate to remain related

Mamata reveals a Kanchi silk sari with a muted pink base, with gloriously hand-painted floral types, bordered by a Ramayana story panel, all in kalamkari. “Round 80% of our work is with figures — both impressed by devotional texts or types of birds, whereas 20% is florals. For purchasers who don’t need to put on any figures on their clothes, we do floral patterns,” she explains.

Some saris have hand-written kalamkari textual content with pictorial tales. There are experiments that mix methods — consider ikat and kalamkari, or kantha embroidery border and kalamkari physique and pallu. Mamata phrases it “a jugalbandi”.

Mamata Reddy with Dr Nagalakshmi Nyayapathi.
| Photograph Credit score:
Particular Association

“Earlier, artists would narrate tales on half, one, or two metres of material. The sizes have been commonplace. Immediately the tales might be on cushion covers, desk runners or wall panels of particular dimensions,” says Mamata. She mentions how a shopper, Mohini Nallapaneni, needed an Annapurna devi story wall panel for her eating space, to symbolise the worth of sharing and nourishment. When such a request is available in, Mamata reads the related story and discusses with the shopper and her artisans to finalise the imagery.

“The market is small however very a lot there. We can not mass produce because the artisans want satisfactory time to work on such items; the labour-intensive course of is why our merchandise don’t come low-cost,” provides Mamata. Kalam Creations merchandise are priced between ₹3000 and three lakhs.

Innovate to remain related

Kalamkari wall panels courting again to the seventeenth, 18th and nineteenth centuries, which mirror how the artisans then interpreted narratives from the epics in addition to social themes, at the moment are a part of nationwide and worldwide museum archives.

Within the up to date realm, Mamata explains how innovation is important to make sure that the craft finds takers.

In 2010, when Hyderabad-based designer Sashikant Naidu labored on a group of kalamkari saris and ensembles, he challenged the norm and requested if Mamata and her group may develop a spread of muted colors utilizing pure dyes. The intricate figures and floral types have been crammed with high-quality strains of colors. “We thought it could be unimaginable, but it surely opened a brand new chapter for our artisans,” remembers Mamata.

Innovation continued when she later collaborated with textile designer Gaurang Shah. In 2017, the designer’s assortment titled Chitravali included 40 saris and ensembles with hand-drawn imagery impressed by work within the Ajanta and Ellora caves, in kalamkari fashion.

Additional experiments are in progress. Whereas some are for particular showcases, others are for Mamata’s clientele. “My solely situation is that kalamkari can’t be rushed. A sari may take 30 to 45 days or a wall panel may take a number of months relying on the dimensions and intricacies. Once we ship one thing, we wish it to be wow-inducing. For that, the artists want time,” says Mamata.

Printed – September 11, 2025 03:12 pm IST