The Nilgiris story: A showcase of curated line of shawls, scarves, home textiles, and linen saris, handcrafted by Toda artisans

Seated on the grasslands in distant hamlets, often underneath the shade of a big tree, the Toda women of the Nilgiris have interaction of their artwork — a particular, Geotagged black and crimson embroidery — singing full-throated songs that discuss of damp grass, heat daylight, and mountain air. Deeply impressed by Nature, this intricate pukhoor (motif) embroidery meticulously follows the warp and weft of the bottom fabric, creating a surprising visible impact. Artisans rely threads purely by contact, gently stretching the material as they sew — a testomony to their extraordinary ability and instinct.

On August 29, Coonoor & Co, showcase a curated line of Toda shawls, scarves, dwelling textiles, and linen saris, handcrafted by Toda artisans at an intimate gathering in Hyderabad. “We’ve a full vary of stoles and shawls on luxurious materials. We’re additionally unveiling an expanded dwelling assortment — a spread that features new designs on cushions, lumbar pillows, runners, and throws in comfortable cotton,” says Ramya Reddy, writer of the e-book Soul of the Nilgiris and founding father of Coonoor& Co, a gradual life impressed journal and on-line retailer. Ramya will likely be in dialog with Anuradha Gunupati of Saptaparni Foundation, as she holds forth on the evolution of the beautiful geometry of Toda embroidery — it’s measured rhythms and lineage of arms.

The artisans are inspired to embroider their initials or names instantly into the items
| Photograph Credit score:
Ramya Reddy

The primary look of the Khadi line, a work-in-progress developed particularly for Toda embroidery, and one other that includes block prints impressed by Nilgiris botanicals will even be showcased. “These prints, designed by our in-house designer, will seem throughout khadi and linen bases, and are envisioned to take a seat synergistically alongside the Toda work in future collections. We’ve been working with an indigenous group in West Bengal for our khadi and our block printers belong to an artisan group in Udaipur,” explains Ramya including that one other key part is artwork providing. This can be a assortment of hand-embroidered wall art, created by way of shut collaboration between artisans and design crew, showcasing each traditional motif-based items and extra summary, conceptual expressions of the embroidery. One of many compelling examples is the reinterpretation of the puthukuzhy, the ceremonial cloak, as textile art work.

The gathering as an entire displays a deeply collaborative course of, one which respects lineage whereas making house for experimentation, she explains. “Three of our Toda artisans will likely be travelling with us to share this journey and likewise display the work.”

Residing in distant settlements within the Nilgiris, an ecologically wealthy UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in the Western Ghats, the Toda group is an historic, pastoral, indigenous group. Right here, amidst lush biodiversity, the Todas have maintained their cultural traditions over generations. With fewer than 1,700 Todas remaining and solely about 500 artisans actively practising, preserving this embroidery is important to sustaining their cultural id.

The muse of The Toda Mission, Ramya remembers, lies in a long-standing relationship with the Toda group, going again over a decade, in the course of the analysis for her e-book, Soul of the Nilgiris. “When the e-book was printed, I felt so strongly in regards to the group’s imprint on the venture that we embroidered every backbone (2000 distinctive spines!) with a novel, hand-stitched Toda motif. That gesture of letting the e-book carry their thread deepened my connection. I turned significantly near an elder named Mutsin: a clever, forward-thinking girl with a quiet however visionary outlook. Earlier than she handed, she nudged me to consider what extra this embroidery may grow to be,” she explains including that after Mutsin’s passing, her daughter-in-law Seeta picked up that thread — fairly actually — and commenced to actively pursue methods to evolve the craft. Alongside together with her sister Satya and artisan Anbu Lakshmi, they turned the primary collaborators. “They have been curious, open to experimentation, and introduced in a small group of seven girls to start our first spherical of labor,” says Ramya, reflecting upon the genesis of the model.

Linen stole
| Photograph Credit score:
Ramya Reddy

What started with seven girls has grown right into a collective of practically fifty artisans — lots of whom now contemplate this their major supply of livelihood. “The character of embroidery is like inheritance, an astonishing geometry that’s so good. Achieved solely by hand, with a humble needle and thread—anchored in contact, repetition, and a sort of inherited instinct that borders on ancestral muscle reminiscence. Either side of the fabric can be utilized or displayed, one thing fairly uncommon amongst world embroidery traditions,” explains Ramya. She started an extended technique of experimentation, testing varied materials, consulting with weavers across the country, and iterating on weave buildings that would accommodate the distinctive calls for of the embroidery. Certainly one of her early breakthroughs was with a cotton-merino wool mix, which supplied the suitable construction and a mild hand-feel. She launched the primary vary of shawls and stoles in 2023 and later expanded into dwelling textiles and saris on these materials.

Senior artisan Anbulakshmi together with her wall panel
| Photograph Credit score:
Coonor and Co

“Every bit carries the imprint of place and reminiscence. The Toda embroidery language is solely rooted within the panorama, the mountain ranges, particular flowers of the Shola forests, butterflies, parts from sacred rituals, and even the clay lamps utilized in temple ceremonies. The motifs are handed down, however at all times interpreted anew. We now encourage artisans to embroider their initials or names instantly into the items,” says Ramya and pauses to debate the challenges. As Toda girls reside in distant, dispersed hamlets throughout the Nilgiris, a few of which aren’t even accessible by automobile, it impacts each side of the work — from high quality management to course of design. So as to add to this, there are erratic telephone and web connectivity, sudden climate occasions that block routes or delay journey, and the rhythms of group life. Weddings, funerals, and different giant gatherings usually draw complete hamlets collectively, making it unattainable to maintain a strict manufacturing calendar.

Dwelling vary assortment contains new designs on cushions, lumbar pillows, runners, and throws
| Photograph Credit score:
Ramya Reddy

“That’s additionally why the work is so significant. The embroidery continues to occur in situ — throughout the hamlets, surrounded by the Shola forests and the sacred mountains. The ladies work communally, sitting collectively underneath timber or on verandahs, and the work holds the spirit of that land: its gentle, its rhythms, its tales. The method is gradual, layered, and deeply human,” she says, including, “The enjoyment lies in watching the work take root in the best way they reside —not by imposing exterior timelines, however by discovering a rhythm that permits the embroidery, and the ladies behind it, to actually thrive.”

The Artwork of the Toda is going on at Saptaparni, Street No.8, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad on August 29, 6pm. The exhibition stays on view until August 31. Go to coonoorandco.com

Printed – August 28, 2025 04:30 pm IST