Kantha, the traditional folk art of Bengal, is a treasured art of every door wherein, the Bengali ladies irrespective of their castes, classes, and socio-economic groups, have expertise. The embroidery not only depicts the stitches employed but it also expresses the outflow of their creative, resourceful, patient craftsmanship.
Hugli, Patna, Satagon, Jessore, Faridpur, Khulna and other parts of East, as well as West Bengal, are Kantha-producing towns.
Like any other folk art, Kantha making is influenced by factors such as materials available, daily needs, climate, geography, and economic factors.
Origin
While the word Kantha has no certain etymological root, it is believed to be originated from the Sanskrit word ‘kontha’. It means rags indeed.
Kantha means ‘Patched Cloth’, and the special significance of Kantha is quilting.
History
Its origins can be traced back to the pre-Vedic age (prior to 1500 BCE), though the earliest written record is found dating 500 years ago. In his book titled Sri Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita, the poet Krishnadas Kaviraj writes how the mother of Chaitanya sent a homemade Kantha to her son in Puri through some traveling pilgrims. This same Kantha is today on display at Gambhira in Puri.
There is a myth surrounding it which points out that Lord Buddha and his disciples used old rags with different kinds of patchwork to cover themselves with at night. This gave the Kantha embroidery its origin. Traditionally women would take four to five sarees, layer them together and create different running stitches on them which they then used as blankets to cover their children with. The fabric used is discarded cloth, usually from worn-out cotton saris, the thicker the cotton or number of layers, the coarser the embroidery.
Kantha, one of the oldest forms of embroidery from India and a craft practiced today by millions of South Asian women, originated from the most humble of beginnings. Born in the rural villages of Bengal, this art form all but disappeared in the early 19th century, but the daughter-in-law of the famed Bengali poet and Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore revived it in the 1940s.
The revival of Kantha was disrupted again during the Partition of India in 1947 and the ensuing conflict between India and what was then Eastern Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Finally, since the Bangladesh Liberation War (1971), Kantha has experienced a re-birth of its own as a highly valued and much desired art-craft form.
Process
Types of stitches
The types of stitches widely used to perform Kantha are as follows.
Running stitch
Running Kantha, which is a straight running stitch and the original and earliest form of Kantha. It can be further classified into that using figures and storytelling (nakshi Kantha) or geometric patterns (par tola Kantha).
Darning stitch
The darning stitch is about making rows of straight running stitches near each other. The technique of darning is used to mend torn clothes, especially socks, and looks like a woven patch.’
Cross stitch
The cross-stitch method of embroidery is used during the British Era
The size and thickness of Kantha varied according to its type. As per the literature, there are seven types of kanthas according to their utility, such as wrappers in winter, for books, valuables, mirrors, combs, wallets, pillows, and bedspreads.
Types of Kantha Work
ARSHILATA
Arshilata is a cover or wrapper for mirrors, combs, and other toilet articles. It is a narrow rectangular piece of eight-inch wide and twelve-inch length. It has a wide border and the central motif depicts the scenes of Krishna Leela or Radha-Krishna raas. The lotus, trees, creepers, spirals, inverted triangles, zig-zag lines, and scrolls are also some of the common motifs.
BAYTON
Bayton, a three feet square piece serves as a wrap for books and other similar valuables. It has a central motif, usually the lotus with hundred petals called ‘Satadala Padma’. This motif with hundred petals is simply a figure, which does not signify anything precisely. The traditional and folk design in Bayton is the Mandala which symbolizes the unity of all manifestations of life. People often carry this Kantha while traveling and also presented it as a gift to their kith and kin.
DURJANI
Durjani (Durfani) means Thalia. It is a square piece of Kantha, that covers the wallet, and has a central lotus motif with an elaborated border. The three corners of this piece are drawn together inward to make the tips touch at the center and are sewn together as an envelope. It will have another open flap to which a string, tussle, or decorated thread is either stitched or mechanically fixed, which can be wound and tied up when rolled. The other motifs used are various types of foliage, snakes, and other objects taken from the natural surroundings.
LEP
Lep Kantha is relatively a thick quilted wrap padder by more sari layers, placed on top of each other, to provide warmth during the winter season. It is also popular as ‘desired covering’. It includes simple geometrical designs with running stitches using colored threads.
OAR ( OOAR )
Oar (ooar), serves as a pillow cover. It is a rectangular piece whose size is about two feet by one and a half feet. Usually, simple designs like trees, foliage, creepers, birds, or a liner design with a longitudinal border constitute the ground base and decorative border around its four sides.
SUJANI
The most popular and striking type is the Sujani (Sujni), generally a large rectangular piece of three feet by six feet. It is used as a spread during ceremonial occasions. Its size has provided full scope for the workers to express and exhibit their imaginary, self-created designs. The rectangular piece is divided into nine equal parts and the motifs are distributed in these equal-sized rectangular blocks. The lotus motif with a whirl in the center is the common motif in Sujani. The other motifs observed are the scenes from Ramayana, Mahabharata, folk tales dancing gal. men riding, birds pecking the fruits, prancing movement of the animals, bees sucking the nectar, procession in motion, etc.
Sarfani is also a quilt, a preference of choice during ceremonies or functions as a cover or wrap.
RUMAL
It is nothing but a handkerchief and is the smallest among all the kanthas. A square piece having a size of about one square foot. Lotus is the core and other motifs are embroidered around it. Sometimes plant and animal motifs are also embroidered but invariably have a well-decorated border.
The technicalities of the art
The real Kantha embroidery is doorukha- double-faced. A style in which the stitches are so skillfully made that the details of each design appear identical on either side. ordinarily, however, when the stitch is of great length, it is broken one or more times by making a short stitch on the reverse, giving a dotted appearance, thus making the forms and designs that appear on one side become complementary to those on the other side.
Design and motifs:
Motifs is the winner in Kantha embroidery. The designs may be roughly divided into illustrations of epic and folk stories, ritualistic motifs, luxuriant vegetation of woods, with animals roaming and deer running, peacocks dancing, houses with balconies filled with peoples, temples with friezes, articles of daily use like caskets, baskets, nutcrackers, hukkas, beds, umbrella, pitcher, comb, mirror, candelabra, personal items like costumes and jewelry, vehicles like chariots, palanquins, the elephant with howdahs, horses with saddles. An unusual fact to note is that figures of deities are rarely done in Kantha. They seem to be represented by their vahanas-vehicles-which have a significance of their own. These are nandi the bull, peacock, swan, elephant, lion, cat, mouse, garuda-the eagle, owl, etc. Lotus is the most important among motifs and usually fills the center of the piece. An overall lotus pattern is sometimes built up by alternating red and black petals.
Earlier, Kantha work mainly used to be birds, animals, and florals, but with time and modernization, the work has evolved. One can now see Egyptian motifs, cave art, and also pop done in Kantha embroidery. This is how beautifully you can make the weave survive till the end of time.
Revival and Exhibition
It is great to know that people are helping in saving this age-old art form from dying. For decades Kantha embroidery has been the source of income for rural women living in West Bengal. However, the literal face behind the revival of this skill and technique is Shamlu Dudeja, who is a revolutionary and teacher, and more importantly the one who realized the importance of this craft work. She took great initiatives in the early 80s’ to empower the rural women of Bengal who practiced the art of Kantha embroidery and encouraged them to take it more seriously and professionally which then helped to lay a strong foundation in making this stitch work more popular and sought after.
Celebrating the advent of the festive season and commemorating 30 years of Kantha Revival, she organized a fashion show at the ITC Sonar, Kolkata.
Kantha embroidery marks a flair for style in any individual who wears it while maintaining the appeal of comfort and leisure. Sharbari Dutta, an Indian fashion designer, had given Kantha work a new identity by innovatively trying new styles and forms with the work. She created apparel with unique touch by including kantha embroidery on dhotis, kurtas, sherwanis, and even hot pants. So far Kantha work had been famous for sarees and upholsteries, Sharbari Dutta changed the persona of the Kantha.
Global Impact
Traditional handicrafts combine it with fashion and style which takes this embroidery to levels beyond the ordinary. The current generations are fearless when it comes to experimenting with new designs and styles. With its current development in technique and different flavors of style, making the Indian fashion industry proud is this Kantha Work. Designers from across the world, especially in countries like UK and Japan have a global reach for this particular embroidery.
Hillary Clinton, the former wife of Bill Clinton, on one of her visits to India, was very much impressed by the rich cultural display of the Kantha works in Bengal.
The special characteristic of Kantha was, it never became a replica of other folk art but remained unique by itself. Kantha work is a model with inspired romance, philosophy, sentiment, and holiness.
References
Kantha – history & meaning | House of Wandering Silk
The Artistic Kantha Embroidery – drapeastory (wordpress.com)
KANTHA OF BENGAL – TEXTILES OF INDIA
