With its origins in West Bengal, the tradition of Kantha embroidery is many years old and even today it is one of the most loved art forms across the world. It also finds a mention in Sri Sri Chaitanya Charitramrut, a 500-year-old book by Krishnadas Kaviraj where his mother sends a Kantha to his son residing in Puri as her blessing!
Kantha is a way of life for the village women wherein they embroider their daily lives, thoughts, emotions and ambitions on various cloth to make sarees, dupattas, stoles, bedcovers, pillow covers, quilts and many other things.
With the mention of Bholpur in Birbhum district one gets the vivid image of Palash trees, tribal dances and the local markets. It is the same place from where you get best of kanthas and we at #Swades#Creations work closely with the #weavers and craftwomen there to bring to you the glory of the Kantha. We have been actively involved to bring to you the most exquisite and beautiful sarees!! By promoting these elegant Kantha sarees, we are supporting around #260 #families and more than #475 #artisansand weavers who spend their time in making these magnificent pieces and beauties at their homes in their free time.
The entire process of making a Pure silk saree starts with the silk yarn, followed by weaving the yarn on the loom into a saree, finishing of the saree, dyeing, drawing the design on the saree (nakshi) and finally then the embroidery starts. To make a single saree on an average it takes 4-5 #months of hard work with love and dedication. These flawless beauties are heritage of our country and in true sense an art that can be worn.
Kantha embroidery is done on both Silk and cotton and Swades Creations has both the collections.
There are various kind of kantha work and to name a few #Lep #Kantha (usually blankets are made with this technique by stitching together layers of cloth by running stitch), #Arsilata #Kantha, #Bayton Kantha, #Sujani Kantha (There is always a black outline of the motif and then the colours are filled inside), #Rumal Kantha and so on.
Few motifs that are usually seen on Kantha sarees are inspired by daily lives like
#Lotus – Represents Goddess Lakshmi and hence wealth
#Matysa or fish – very auspicious in Bengali culture
#Tree#of#life – representing fertility and prosperity
Other than these there are many floral patterns and also geometrical designs names #Tara#Chutki, #Laathi,
#Aina#Khopa depicting Mughal influence as well on this art form.
This is one of the most vibrant art forms to appreciate and love!
