In the field of the embroidered quilt
- ThatBengaliGirl
- Jul 29, 2017
- 2 min read
Kantha embroidery is one of the most popular and creative form of embroidery styles in Eastern India. It has been practiced by the rural women of West Bengal for centuries and is considered to be the speciality of “ The Land of Red Soil”.
It is said that the word Kantha has got two meanings. In Sanskrit, it means ‘rags’. And Lord Shiva was given the name ‘Nilakanth’ which means ‘Blue Throat’. Early mentions of Bengal Kantha can be found in Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita, a book by Krishnadas Kaviraj written some five hundred years ago. Later, poet Jasimuddin wrote the famous poem “Nakshi Kanthar Math” based on the theme. Materials like old sarees, and dhotis were used to make this special type of cloth. Approximately six to seven sarees were required to make a standard Kantha quilt. According to the tradition, the thread used for Kantha stitches were taken from the old sarees itself but today it has been replaced by new cotton threads.
The procedure involves the joining of the sarees, smoothening, and stitching the four edges with large running stitches. The designs and motifs were then outlined followed by filling them.
Popular types of Kantha stitches include carpet, “lik”, “sujni", "lep", "oaar". Bags, shawls, shirts, sarees, pillow covers, bedsheets are made with Katha stitches on it. Quilts made with Kantha Stitch are called “Nakshi Kantha”. The demand for this embroidery is not limited to India alone but in UK, USA and Japan too. Modern day designers are creating egyptian, and pop art motifs apart from conventional birds, animals and flowers. Kantha stitch sarees are quite popular in Bolpur, Shantiniketan, the land of Tagore. You can get your favourite Kantha saree from our recommended boutique “Nakshi Kantha” in Sreeniketan, near Shantiniketan. It’s run by Tania Mondal and the average price of an exclusive Kantha stitch saree would be somewhere around Rs 6000-Rs 7000 (INR). You can check out the designs here. But the only con is you have to visit their boutique to get one. In Kolkata, they are available in most of the popular saree boutiques, in case you need a global store, you can check Amazon.com. They have a nice collection of Kantha sarees, duvet covers, bed sheets, and pillow cases.
Click on the links below to see our recommendations.
Image source: Flickr and Pinterest.
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