Kalamkari painitngs on wall hangings, Andhra Pradesh

It is the stall of Kalamkari silk cloths from Andhra Pradesh, in the colourful Indian handicraft world at Surajkund Crafts Mela in Haryana. Andhra Pradesh produces a rare and beautiful array of silk and cotton textiles.

Kalamkari refers to a method of painting natural dyes onto cotton or silk fabric with a bamboo pen or kalam. The name Kalamkari comes from the word Kalam (pen) and Kari (work) from Hindi.

The heart of Kalamkari art is in the Kalam or the bamboo pen. After traced out the basic design the kalam is used with vegetable dyes to create paintings on cloths.

The hairline fineness of lines in each painting tells the deep devotion of the painter to this art form. Mythological tales of religious figures and local deities are themes depicted on these wall hangings.