Kalamkari Painting

The Kalamkari is a unique art and a dyeing tradition done with a kalam or a stylus made from bamboo. This craft has been practiced for over generations in Andhra Pradesh and uses a very unique form of dyeing with metallic salts called mordants. Traditionally Kalamkari was used for painting on umbrella and chariot covers, cylindrical hangings and canopies in temples. Motifs of swans, peacocks, flowers and local deities are used in the patterns generously. Some patterns are also narrative in style and have folklore, myths and stories of the Puranas or the mythologies painted on them.