The most exotic Nature`s gift , Peacock , the national bird of India has been a source of design inspiration for art lovers , designers, craftsmen , and artists for centuries. The play of colour , the grace of the bird , the rhythm of movement and the proud dance of the peacock in the light drizzle of rain , has evoked many poets to write about it`s glory !
For any Indian , the bird is synonymous with
Lord Krishna proudly displaying a feather in his hair, playing the mellifluous flute. Mughal paintings, Rajasthani miniature paintings , Gond paintings, Kalamkari , or madhubani , all have different forms of Peacock as a motif form. The Indian Textiles are also not far in using this Natures gift as a source of inspiration !
When I was writing my previous post on the jewelry of Lord Krishna , I was struck with the idea to find out where all the peacock motif has been used in Indian crafts . I came up with the idea of trying to find out different motifs which are in my own collection, and beginning with textiles (a subject of my most favourite interest ) this is what I came up with !!!
Printed , Painted and woven Textiles from India.
A prize possession , this vegetable dye ,block printed kalamkari vintage saree from Masulipatnam (ANDHRA PRADESH ) is printed using
Manjisht or the Indian madder which gives it the typical pomegranate red. The 8' gold border adds a beautiful highlight to the print.
Another beautiful block printed kalamkari dress material from Andhra Pradesh with a beautiful pair of peacocks.
Not to be left far behind , the typical peacock motifs in the hand painted Kalamkari from Sri Kalahasti are a visionary delight ! Each stylized bird , unique from the other,is`nt it?
A beautiful saree with two pairs of peacocks in the pallu and skirt (shown below)
Taking inspiration from the traditional kalamkari , textile designers have replicated the age old style in this screen printed fabric. Though it is not a genuine kalamkari , I love it none -the -less , as it has a gorgeous look.
Whew ! Isnt that a lot of motifs ? Guess the WOVEN WONDERS will have to wait till my next post !
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