Phulkãri and Bagh
A cultural history
by Timpy Aulakh
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hulkari,
a traditional embroidery art, is well known for its intricate
designs and bright cheerful colours worn by Punjabi women on
special occasions and ceremonies. The word ‘Phulkãri’ is made
of two words Phul and Kãri, where Phul means flower and Kãri
means technique, denoting the technique of making flowers with
needle and thread. Some scholars feel that the art of Phulkãri
came from Iran where it is known as Gulkãri. There are references
to phulkãri in Vedas, Mahabharat, Guru Granth Sahib and the folk
songs of Punjab. In its present form, phulkãri embroidery has
been popular since the 15th century AD, but the art probably
reached its zenith in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
It is a form of craft in which embroidery is done in a
simple and sparse design over shawls and dupattas.
In some cases where the design is worked over very closely,
covering the material entirely so that the base cloth is not
visible, it is called bagh
(a garden of flowers).
The dating of these embroideries poses a great difficult.
It cannot be said with certainty when the first phulkãri was
made; indeed no example is known today which can be positively
dated to earlier than the 1820s. Even one hundred years old phulkãris
are very rare. Though the textiles themselves might not have
survived - due to natural wear and tear and the effects of Indian
climate, the best among such embroideries available today were
probably made between 1870 and 1920. Museums in Ahmedabad, Delhi,
Lahore and London include many baghs and phulkãris among their
acquisitions.
Little is known about the true source of this textile art.
Tools such as bronze needles as well as sculpted and painted
representations of textiles enable us to trace the Indian
embroidery tradition back to at least Mohenjo-Daro and the Indus
civilisation. Some of the fabrics depicted in early medieval
paintings in the Ajanta Caves are very similar in design to phulkãri
embroideries (see John Irwin and Margaret Hall, Indian
Embroideries, Ahmedabad 1973, p.1). However, apart from a
small square chamba style rumãl
reputed to have been embroidered around 1500 by Guru Nanak's
sister Bebe Nanaki, and an embroidered shawl (shamla) dated
to 1580, we know of no extant Punjabi embroideries that can be
attributed to the 16th century or earlier. Both these textiles are
preserved in Sikh holy places in the Punjab, in Gurdaspur and
Jalandhar respectively.
It appears that this art originated in the Punjab. Before
Partition in 1947, the Punjab was populated by Sikhs, Hindus and
Muslims; but phulkãri and bagh embroideries were predominantly
the work of the first two communities. In olden days a good number
of women in villages were skilled in this art, which was purely a
domestic art. Traditionally, phulkãris and baghs were never sold
in the markets as they were only woven by the women of the house
for their personal use. Commercial work began only in 1882, when
Maharaja Ranjit Singh agreed to the first export contract for
phulkãris. Demand grew towards the end of the 19th century,
around the time of the Punjab Exhibition of 1881 in London. During
the same period, a severe drought in Punjab forced many families
to sell their old embroideries. Thereafter an even greater market
was found in the West for baghs and phulkãris and other objects
decorated in this style, among them purses, curtains, and assorted
covers. New patterns and colour combinations were developed,
including the so-called `Manchester' and `Jubilee' baghs.
There were no pattern books or catalogues from which
designs could be copied. Rather, these were passed from generation
to generation by word of mouth and example. Thus each family had
its own characteristic style and, with practice and experience,
each woman was able to develop her own repertoire. Specially
created designs varied from village to village or region to region
in Punjab and were given suitable names descriptive of their form.
Sitting on the charpoys pulled into the protective shade of
a tree, or ensconced against a wall, women in villages and small
towns all over Punjab are often busy creating spectacular
flower-embroidery on dupattas, shawls or other garments.
The embroidery of phulkãri and bagh is done in long and
short darn stitch, which is used for innumerable designs and
patterns. It is the skilful manipulation of this single stitch
that lends an interesting and characteristic dimension to this
needlework. While the stitch itself is uncomplicated, the quality
of the phulkãri depends upon the size of the stitch. The smaller
the stitch, the finer the embroidery. The threads originally used
were of a silk yarn called patt.
In
the past, the silk threads were brought in from different parts of
India, like Kashmir and Bengal and also from Afghanistan and
China. A main characteristic of phulkãri embroidery is the use of
darn stitch on the wrong side of coarse cotton cloth with coloured
silken thread. Punjabi
women created innumerable alluring and interesting designs and
patterns by their skilful manipulation of the darn stitch. The
base khaddar cloth used in Western Punjab is finer than that found
in Central Punjab. Bright colours are always preferred and, among
these golden yellow, red, crimson, orange, green, blue, dark and
pink are the most popular. Black and blue shades are not preferred
in West Punjab, whereas white is not used in East Punjab. In West
Punjab, two or three pieces of cloth are first folded and joined
together. Sometimes ornaments are also stitched into the design
and even a special thread made of gold has been used besides the
usual silk thread.
Only a single strand was used at a time, each part worked
in one colour. Shading and variation were not done by using
various colours of thread. Instead, the effect was obtained by the
dexterous use of horizontal, vertical and diagonal stitches. This
resulted in giving the illusion of more than one shade under the
play of light and when was viewed from different angles.
The
cloth primarily used and preferred by the women, was the
home-spun, locally woven and dyed khadi. It was strong,
long-lasting, and cheap and served the purpose of keeping the
wearer warm during winters. Another reason was that the embroidery
involved the counting of threads while doing the straight darn
stitch. The coarse weave made this task easier. In addition, the
thick cloth did not pucker and pull and could be worked upon
without a frame. Usually, pieces of small width, about 45 to 60
centimeters, were worked on separately and the two or three strips
were joined together to form the required size.
To keep the embroidered part clean while working on the
cloth, the finished portion was rolled and covered with a muslin
cloth.
Beginning
with geometrical patterns, flowers and leaves, the repertoire of
motifs was constantly enlarged. Birds, animals and human figures
and objects of everyday use were inducted, along with vegetables,
pots, buildings, rivers, the sun and the moon, scenes from rural
life, and other imagery. Phulkãris and baghs came to be
embroidered in a stunning range of exquisite designs. In dhoop
chhaon, which literally means ‘sun and shade’, an amazing
interactive display of light and shade was created. The designs
remained earthy and true to life. There was dhaniya bagh (coriander garden), motia bagh (jasmine garden), satranga
bagh (rainbow garden), leheria
bagh (garden of waves) and many other depictions.
Today the most intricate and sought after phulkãris are
the sainchi phulkãris,
which bring scenes from rural Punjab to life. An incredible wealth
of detail is embroidered on cloth. With time, the phulkãris
became closely interwoven with the lives of the women of Punjab.
The joys, sorrows, hopes, dreams and yearnings of the young girls
and women who embroidered the phulkãris were often transferred
onto cloth. Many folk songs grew out of this expressive
combination of skills and intense feelings. So, it is that one
hears a young woman whose betrothed has not sent the promised
message to her, murmuring sadly and softly as she embroiders
peacocks on a phulkãri. It was not long before phulkãri folk
songs became a part of the famous, pulsating folk dances of Punjab
- giddha and bhangra.
As mentioned earlier, the women of Punjab created phulkãri
mostly for their personal use. The cycle began with the young girl
who followed her mother's chores and learned household work
including this embroidery. When the girl got married, phulkãri
formed a part of her bridal trousseau. If a son was born to her,
her mother would start preparing a vari
da bagh (bagh of the trousseau), a gift she would present to
her grand daughter-in-law. The bagh was considered a symbol of
marriage; among the wealthy families, as many as fifty-one pieces
of various designs were sometimes given to the bride. She, in
turn, wore them on auspicious occasions. In some parts of the
Punjab, it was customary to drape the new mother with a bagh on
the eleventh day after the birth of her child, the day she left
the maternity room for the first time.
Phulkãris were also made for religious ceremonies or to be
used on other festive occasions. A phulkãri is also sometimes
used as a canopy over Guru Granth Sahib. However, religious themes
and subjects were never embroidered into phulkãri.
There
are different varieties of phulkãris and baghs made in Punjab.
The chhopé, usually
presented to the bride by her grandmother during a ceremony before
the wedding, is embroidered with straight, two-sided line stitch
and appears the same on the reverse. Only the border is
embroidered and the center is left plain. It is usually red in
colour and worn as a veil. Vari-da-bagh
is also on a red cloth with golden yellow embroidery symbolising
happiness and fertility. The entire cloth is covered in a lozenge
design with smaller ones within the border and is again
intricately worked in different colours. Ghunghat
bagh or sari-pallau (covering for the head) has a small border on all four
sides. In the center on each side, in the part which covers the
head, a large triangular motif is worked. Bãwan
bagh (which means ‘fifty two’ in Punjabi) has as many
geometrical patterns. The bãwan bagh is very rare as only
a few women were able to craft this kind. The field is subdivided
into 42 or 48 rectangles, each containing a different multi-coloured
motif. The remaining four or ten motifs are placed on the sides or
in end borders. Darshan dwãr
(the gate offering a view of the deity) is usually for
presentation in temples or for adorning the walls of the home when
Guru Granth Sahib is brought to a home. The gate motif has been
inspired by the arched verandahas of the temples. It is, again,
always on a red cloth. The architectural design depicts two outer
panels of a gate with arched tops. The bases face each other with
motifs of humans, animals, birds, flowers etc., giving the
impression of passing through a crowded street. Subher
is a Phulkãri worn by a bride during marriage ceremonies. It
comprises five motifs, one in the center and one each in the four
corners. Chamba is a
hybrid Phulkãri having a series of wavy creepers, stylised leaves
and flowers. Besides this, the designs inspired by various
day-to-day items, fauna and flora around the people found their
way into this craft. Surajmukhi (sunflower) is a cross between a chhopé and ordinary bagh in dazzling yellow.
Mor
or tota is one that has
a peacock or parrot motif. Mirchi,
as the name suggests, has chillies in red, orange or green,
usually on brown. Belan
and parantha symbolize the rolling pin and leavened bread. Ikka
or ace of diamonds has been inspired by the playing cards. Satrang
is a seven-coloured phulkãri. Jewellery items like bangles,
earrings, etc., are also embroidered. At times, a snake was
embroidered, shown to be guarding a treasure. Another type popular
in Haryana was the Sheeshédar, in which small, round, matt-dull mirror pieces were
included in the embroidered motifs.
A
new form of phulkãri is being embroidered these days. It is not
as detailed or time-consuming as the older variety. Using a range
of different fast-coloured synthetic threads, it is embroidered on
top of the cloth rather than on the reverse.
The [East] Punjab Government's Emporium, called Phulkãri,
boasts of the best collection of this form of embroidery in the
country. Their substantial variety of these original pieces has
been gathered from different villages in the state. Many of these
are being exported, especially to the Middle East.
Works Cited
Beste, Michael. Hopes
and Dreams: Phulkãri and Bagh from the Punjab. Hali Magazine,
December 2000.
Hitkari, S.S. Phulkãri:
Folk Art of Punjab. New Dehli: Phulkãri Publications, 1990.
John Irwin and Margaret Hall. Indian Embroideries. Ahmedabad: Calico Museum of Textiles, 1973.
www.saadapunjab.com
•
about the author
Artist
and art
collector Timpy Aulakh lives in Windsor, Canada.
[Courtesy
South Asian Ensemble,
Vol 3 No 3; Summer 2011. Email: sae@gmail.com]