In the very early history of pen Kalamkari this was prevalent in four regions.
Kalahasti, Golkonda, Palakollu and Pedana, but today it is practised in only two
regions – Kalahasti and Pedana.
Pedana work with wooden blocks while in Kalahasti the pen is used to draw the
outline.
Kalahasti Kalamkari is an old traditional craft of Andhra Pradesh, which is prevailing
in Kalahasti of Chittoor district and around 200 artisans are engaged in this craft.
At Kalahasti, kalamkari is in the form of paintings that are made with the help of a
“Kalam”on ancient themes.
Kalamkari paintings are done with vegetable and natural colours depicting tales from
the epics Ramayana and Mahabharatha.
Kalamkari painting is more traditional and hereditary and only very few artisans
learned this art form out of interest. The main drawback for this art form is, it is more
complicated and very laborious than the Kalamkari block prints, and takes more
time.
At present this art form is facing competition problems like mixing screen- printed
fabrics by some artisans which is not only affecting the traditional style and form of
the craft and also the whole trade and its marketing.
Mr. Jonnalagadda Niranjan a fourth generation artisan par excellence has come up
with a do it yourself basic kit that is proving quite useful to make your own piece.
This can be done with a bit of guidance.
Block printing Kalamkari is done in Pedana and Polavaram of Krishna district. The
blocks required for printing too are made here by Sri Gangadhar. The material for
printing was cotton earlier but now finer fabrics are also being printed.
Our members also visited Polavaram near Krishna District HQ, Machilipatnam
known for its famous Kalamkari work. Late Pitchuka Eshwarudu garu was the
master craftsman, famous the world over for Kalamkari block printing. His son
Nageswara Rao, an MBA who returned to join his father’s workshop showed us
around and demonstrated the techniques and colours used in block printing.
