Folk embroideries of India

So lets us start with Folk/Tribal embroideries of India.....

Some say folk and tribal embroideries are different. I feel there is a very thin line of division between the two, since India was and still is a country of villages, inspite of flourishing cities /urban areas since ancient times.and most of the arts and crafts came from rural areas. Any way I have grouped them together for convenience.

Folk or tribal embroideries of India are  very beautiful and have been handed over generations since a long time. Its generally the women folk who do this art.Girls take to embroidery at a very young age learning from their mothers, grandmothers, sisters and other ladies of the community. After men leave for their daily work, women gather together in their houses, or under tress and while gossiping, embroider on various articles.

The grand mothers start embroidering and making clothes for the young ones as soon as their daughters or sons are married. So also mothers and grand mothers start making dowry goods for their young girls,and the girls them selves make them. The dowry goods may include wedding dress of the bride, bed spreads and various other such items.

Mind you these embroideries are mostly usable items and not just for decorative purpose. Women's clothing, like saris, skirts, blouses, dupattas (stoles), bags, purses, tray clothes, bed spreads, quilts, torans, men's clothes, children's clothes, handkerchiefs, tents, to decorate cradles, even for decorating the animals like, horses, camels, bulls and cows are also made. The horns of the bulls and cows, their foreheads, drapes on their backs are made. The decorations for horses and camels are also embroidered and the result is so beautiful, colorful and intricately done patterns.

The basic ground fabric used is cotton most of the time and sometimes silks, made from hand spun yarn and hand woven. Yarn used may be cotton, silk or wool. Both the fabric and the yarn were dyed in natural colours. But now  slowly fabrics and threads available in the present markets are being used. Applique, beads, small bells (ghungroos), mirrors (shisha), cowries (sea shells), beads, coins, metallic objects, fringes, tassels, sequin and braids.

Motifs can be geometrical, birds like parrots, peacocks, swans, cranes, animals like lions, tigers, horses, camels, goats, cows, bulls, snakes,  flowers, fruits, trees village scenes, festival scenes, gods, goddesses and many more.

Each region has its own unique and distinct features. That helps in identifying the region, area, group or community to which they belong to.

 

This is an example of Aari work on a silk saree

 

This is shisha and bead work by the Banjaras;  a beautiful bag

From the next post I will be dealing with each style separately....Keep watching my blog