Lambada embroidery (lambadi embroidery, Lambani, Sandur Lambani embroidery, Banjara embroidery, lepo) is the art of embellishing clothes, practiced by the Banjara, a tribe in Sanduru, Bellary, and Bijapur in Karnataka, and Hyderabad in Telangana. Lambada embroidery consists of a combination of patchwork, appliqué, beadwork, and embroidery. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Lambada embroidery uses a combination of stitches and appliqué, along with other embellishments. Tribal women use coins, shells, buttons, cowries, and small pieces of mirrors to decorate their colorful costumes, which include a phetiya (skirt) and kanchali (blouse). The motifs are mainly geometrical, with gridlike patterns. [2]
Sandur Lambani embroidery was granted a geographical indication in India in 2010. [6]
Other than costumes, the artform is used on a variety of products like cushion covers, bedcovers, wall hangings, and other garments, and accessories like bags, headbands, belts, etc.
Appliqué is ornamental needlework in which pieces or patches of fabric in different shapes and patterns are sewn or stuck onto a larger piece to form a picture or pattern. It is commonly used as decoration, especially on garments. The technique is accomplished either by hand stitching or machine. Appliqué is commonly practised with textiles, but the term may be applied to similar techniques used on different materials. In the context of ceramics, for example, an appliqué is a separate piece of clay added to the primary work, generally for the purpose of decoration.
Kuchipudi is one of the eight major Indian classical dances. It originates from a village named Kuchipudi in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Kuchipudi is a dance-drama performance, with its roots in the ancient Hindu Sanskrit text of Natya Shastra. It developed as a religious art linked to traveling bards, temples and spiritual beliefs, like all major classical dances of India.
Kapila Vatsyayan was a leading scholar of Indian classical dance, art, architecture, and art history. She served as a member of parliament and bureaucrat in India, and also served as the founding director of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.
Yakshagana is a traditional theatre, developed in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Shimoga and western parts of Chikmagalur districts, in the state of Karnataka and in Kasaragod district in Kerala that combines dance, music, dialogue, costume, make-up, and stage techniques with a unique style and form. It is believed to have evolved from pre-classical music and theatre during the period of the Bhakti movement. It is sometimes simply called "Aata" or āṭa. This theatre style is mainly found in coastal regions of Karnataka in various forms. Towards the south from Dakshina Kannada to Kasaragod of Tulu Nadu region, the form of Yakshagana is called Thenku thittu and towards the north from Udupi up to Uttara Kannada it is called Badaga thittu. Both of these forms are equally played all over the region. Yakshagana is traditionally presented from dusk to dawn. Its stories are drawn from Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavata and other epics from both Hindu and Jain and other ancient Indic traditions.
Kantha, also spelled kanta or qanta, is a type of embroidery craft in Bangladesh and eastern regions of India, particularly in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Odisha. In Odisha, old saris are stacked on each other and hand-stitched to make a thin piece of cushion. This is normally used above a bed cushion or instead of a cushion. "Kantha saris" are traditionally worn by women in Bengal region. In these days, embroidery is stitched, popularly known as 'kantha stitched", on sari, kurta and churidar and many other garments and gaining popularity due to their aesthetic value and handmade characteristics.
Dance in India comprises numerous styles of dances, generally classified as classical or folk. As with other aspects of Indian culture, different forms of dances originated in different parts of India, developed according to the local traditions and also imbibed elements from other parts of the country.
Pahari painting is an umbrella term used for a form of Indian painting, done mostly in miniature forms, originating from the lower Himalayan hill kingdoms of North India and plains of Punjab, during the early 17th to mid 19th century, notably Basohli, Mankot, Nurpur, Chamba, Kangra, Guler, Mandi and Garhwal. Nainsukh was a famous master of the mid-18th century, followed by his family workshop for another two generations. The central theme of Pahari painting is depiction of eternal love of the Hindu deities Radha and Krishna. A distinct lyricism, spontaneous rhythm, softness, minute intricate details of composition, and intense perception and portrayal of human emotions and physical features distinguish the Pahari miniatures from the other miniature schools like Deccan, Mughal and Rajasthani-Rajput.
Chikankari is a traditional embroidery style from Lucknow, India. Translated, the word means embroidery, and it is one of Lucknow's best known textile decoration styles. The main market in Lucknow for Chikankari based products is Chowk. Production is mainly based in Lucknow and in the adjoining districts.
Manipuri dance, also referred to as the Manipuri Raas Leela, is a jagoi and is one of the major Indian classical dance forms, originating from the state of Manipur. It is one of the greatest cultural achievements of the traditional Vaishnavism adhering Meitei people of Manipur. Owing to the Meitei civilization, the classical dance form, first formally developed by Meitei Hindu king Ching Thang Khomba of the Kingdom of Manipur, is considered to be the highest spiritual expression of the worship of Hindu deity Krishna. Owing to its huge influences on the diverse cultural heritages across the Indian subcontinent, it is recognised by the Sangeet Natak Akademi of the Ministry of Culture of the Government of India as one of the few primary classical dance forms of the Republic of India, and is honoured with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Manipuri annually. It is referred to as the "national dance" during the Armenia-India joint issue of postage stamps, as a part of the Armenia-India international relations.
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.
An uttariya is a loose piece of upper body clothing with its origins in ancient India. It is a single piece of cloth that falls from the back of the neck to curl around both arms and could also drape the top half of the body. An uttariya is similar to a veil, a long scarf and shawl. The Vedas describe the garment to comprise various loose cloths worn for upper body such as upavasana, parayanahana and adhivasa, varhatika and varnaka, uttarsanghasamvyana.
The Banjara are nomadic tribes found in India.
Ranjit Poojari Naik was an architect and social worker who helped Mumbai slum dwellers. He had an involvement in nearly 50 slum redevelopment projects and was director of the People's Participation Programme. An activist for the Banjara people, Naik spoke at the second World Romani Conference in 1978, where he delivered a paper titled Banjara from Barothan.
Various dance forms are practiced in Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, who speak Tamil language, one of the oldest surviving languages in India. With archaeological evidence pointing to the Tamilakam region being inhabited for more than 3,800 years, Tamil culture has seen multiple influences over the years and has developed diversely. With its diverse culture, many forms of individual and group dances have their origins in the region.
Shisheh or abhla bharat embroidery, or mirror-work, is a type of embroidery which attaches small pieces of mirrors or reflective metal to fabric. Mirror embroidery is common throughout Asia, and today can be found in the traditional embroidery of the Indian subcontinent, Afghanistan, China, and Indonesia.
Krauncha Giri is a small settlement in Karnataka, India, about 10 km from Sandur in Bellary District. It is notable for two ancient Hindu temples which are in the same compound, and are both protected monuments. The more famous in religious terms is the Kumaraswami Temple, believed to be the first abode in south India of Murugan or Karthikeya, the Hindu god of war, son of Parvati and Shiva, and brother of Ganesha. To art historians the Parvati Temple beside it is the more unusual in terms of Hindu temple architecture.
Laila Tyabji is an Indian social worker, designer, writer, and craft activist. She is one of the founders of Dastkar, a Delhi-based non governmental organization, working for the revival of traditional crafts in India. She was honored by the Government of India in 2012 with the Indian civilian award of Padma Shri. She is the daughter of late Badruddin Tyabji, ICS, who was a senior Indian civil servant and diplomat.
The Kutch Embroidery is a handicraft and textile signature art tradition of the tribal community of Kutch District in Gujarat, India. This embroidery with its rich designs has made a notable contribution to the Indian embroidery traditions. The embroidery, practiced normally by women is generally done on fabrics of cotton, in the form of a net using cotton or silk threads. In certain patterns, it is also crafted over silk and satin. The types of stitches adopted are “square chain, double buttonhole, pattern darning, running stitch, satin and straight stitches”. The signature effect of the colorful embroidery sparkles when small mirrors called abhla are sewn over the geometrically shaped designs. Depending on the tribal sub groups of Rabari, Garasia Jat, and Mutava involved with this craft work many hand embroidered ethnic styles have evolved. These six styles: Suf, khaarek, paako, Rabari, Garasia Jat, and Mutava.
Bhagavata Mela is a classical Indian dance that is performed in Tamil Nadu, particularly the Thanjavur area. It is choreographed as an annual Vaishnavism tradition in Melattur and nearby regions, and celebrated as a dance-drama performance art. The dance art has roots in a historic migration of practitioners of Kuchipudi, another Indian classical dance art, from Andhra Pradesh to the kingdom of Tanjavur.
Sindhi embroidery comes from the arid province of Sindh in southern Pakistan, which has always been famed for its embroidery.