Kalamkari or Qalamkari is a type of hand-painted or block-printed cotton textile, produced mainly in Andhra Pradesh, India.
The name kalamkari is synonymous with both painted and hand block-printed textiles that incorporate natural vegetable/organically-derived dye stuffs. While there are many forms of kalamkari throughout India and the world, the focus of this site is kalamkari practice in Sri Kalahasti, Andhra Pradesh, in South India.
The cotton fabric gets its glossiness by immersing it for an hour in a mixture of myrabalam (resin) and cow milk. Contours and reasons are then drawn with a point in bamboo soaked in a mixture of jagri fermented and water; one by one these are applied, then the vegetable dyes. After each color, the Kalamkari is washed. Thus, each fabric can undergo up to 20 washings. Various effects are obtained by cow dung, seeds, plants and crushed flowers. In addition to the traditional style narrative wall hangings artists also create hand painted saris, dupattas, personal items and home accessories.
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