Lalita Vakil | |
---|---|
Born | Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, India |
Known for | Chamba Rumal embroidery |
Awards | Padma Shri (2022) Nari Shakti Puraskar (2018) |
Lalita Vakil is an Indian embroidery artist, known for her contributions to the preservation and promotion of Chamba Rumal, a traditional form of handkerchief embroidery from Chamba district in Himachal Pradesh.
Vakil was awarded the Padma Shri in 2022 by the Government of India for her contributions to the field of arts. [1] [2] She was also honoured with the Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2018. [3]
Vakil was married at the age of fifteen. It was her father-in-law who recognized her talent for creating designs for Chamba Rumal and encouraged her to train local girls and women in this craft. [4]
For the past fifty years, Vakil has been working to promote and preserve Chamba Rumal. [5] She has travelled extensively in India and abroad to exhibit her work and conduct workshops on this traditional form of embroidery. [3]
Vakil has frequently experimented with Chamba Rumal designs. She was the first woman to introduce silk into the embroidery to create larger pieces of the handkerchief. [4] Additionally, she has developed designs for saris, shawls, dupattas, and stoles, as well as multi-panel sets. [6]
Embroidery in India includes dozens of embroidery styles that vary by region and clothing styles. Designs in Indian embroidery are formed on the basis of the texture and the design of the fabric and the stitch. The dot and the alternate dot, the circle, the square, the triangle, and permutations and combinations of these constitute the design.
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