Colourful tales told by needlework

As exquisite as the western Himalayan kingdom of Chamba, nestled in the lap of the snow-dusted Dhauladhar and Pir Panjal ranges, is its embroidery. In its antiquity is embroidered the famed Chamba rumal (Persian for a large kerchief) that veils the skill and nimble artistic talents of its womenfolk.

It was also known as kashida (Persian for draw). Its widespread use as a scarf and kerchief saw its baptism as rumal. This needle painting employed Afghan-Persian embroidery techniques woven to Rajput designs as the area was situated on the Delhi trade route.

The art flourished over the 17th and 18th centuries throughout the region but came to be associated with Chamba due to royal patronage.

The rumal is a square cloth measuring two to four feet, which once was a part of the bridal trousseau. It was used to cover gift trays and as a backdrop to temple deities. On the base cloth, either muslin or khaddar, women brought to life the flora, fauna, the game of dice and Krishna’s dancing with the gopis in a circle.

The untwisted silken strands in a rainbow of colours are threaded in forward and backward stitches alternately without a knot. This dorukha (Persian for two faces/sides) imparts a flat finish on both sides. The outline is done in black using the stem stitch. The boundaries are linear. The common colours are purple, yellow, green, blue, crimson, carmine and deep red.

The Vaishnava cult expresses in its designs various religious themes such as Krishna and the gopis, Rukmini Harana, and Dashavatara.

There is a link between the pahari paintings and this embroidery because the former took themes from the latter’s miniature designs. Also, the threads of the story were well-detailed and narrated in the embroidery. There is a flow to the embroidered piece as in the miniatures, with the emotions and expressions brought out to perfection.

The two stitching techniques — one that includes folk forms and the other, classical — are well-appreciated, but the folk forms  are more popular.

The forms of shepherds, the earliest inhabitants, are embroidered in pairs. The birds stylised by womenfolk to look disproportionate are strange yet attractive. The classical style was introduced by the royal women, and were executed in ochre, dark green and yellow colours. The picture was outlined by a painter, who suggested the colour format, and was then embroidered by women. Done on imported muslin from Punjab, their deft fingers brought alive the romance of pahari paintings. The Sikh expansion under Ranjit Singh brought in colour schemes of the Pulkhari embroidery into this art. Then themes like Krishna Leela, Raga Raginis, Ashta Nayikas etc took centrestage.

This handicraft is a sonata of pictorial charm that will mesmerise generations of art lovers and connoisseurs because the love for decoration is embedded in the Indian psyche. India’s heritage comes through as one sees the patterned headwear, tunics and dresses that bear the designs of ancient Indian sculptures.

The sartorial joy of sporting delicate embroidery in contemporary times is indeed a style statement.