The Art of Nakshi Kantha from Bangladesh.
In the rural areas of Bangladesh, as it has been for centuries, the communities are much poorer with fewer opportunities than those living in the cities. And it is through the struggles and hardships that the women of these communities have learnt and passed down through the generations the art of Nakshi Kantha. It is a form of quilting that has taken various shapes, and has not only helped to recycle old cloth and saris but has become a popular traditional commodity found in every home across Bangladesh. Nakshi Kanthas are made throughout Bangladesh, but the greater Mymensingh, Rajshahi, Faridpur and Jessore areas are most famous for this craft.
The most common Nakshi Kantha products are quilts. Its thickness depends on whether a summer or winter wrap is required, and old discarded saris and cloth are layered accordingly. The women then use various forms of a running stitch to embroider the borders and to decorate the quilt with different designs. Oftentimes, the women reuse the cotton pulled from the saris and are able to create colourful and vibrant quilts.
Each Nakshi Kantha item is unique in design and colour. By manipulating the stitches, the women are able to create various ripple effects, creating different textures and looks. Most Nakshi Kantha makers follow a basic pattern for embroidery, using a Lotus as a centre piece with vines, representing the Tree of Life, running from each corner towards the Lotus motif. In between the spaces of the vines, decorative motifs are embroidered and can range in various forms. Some of the most popular motifs are elephants, peacocks, horses, kitchen items, boats and tigers. Sometimes the quilts tell the stories of myths and legends through their pictures, with dancing, hunting and other everyday tasks being depicted.
It is also said that the Nakshi Kantha items are blessed with protective powers, able to keep harmful spirits at bay. They can also ensure happiness, happy marriages, fertility and fulfillment, as the creator is believed to be able to stitch her wishes into the fabric. Over the years, as the need for various items has evolved, the Nakshi Kantha art has expanded, offering a variety of specialized items such as ceremonial and ritual items, cloths for wrapping toiletry items, mats, pillowcases, bedspreads, placemats, wall hangings, spreads for seating, prayer rugs, mirror covers and handkerchiefs.
The art of Nakshi Kantha has survived from ancient times into the modern day, still inspiring needle workers to create new designs and remaining a sought-after item in every home. Visitors often purchase these items as souvenirs and gifts for loved ones back home. It is a part of the tradition and culture in Bangladesh that has helped many communities to survive, and brings joy and colour to those who own them.
'Sanaih kantha Sanaih pantha Sanaih parvata langhanam'
Slowly one stitches rags, Slowly one traverses the path And slowly one climbs to the top of the mountain
-Traditional Bengali Shloka
The tradition of Kantha begins with the thrift of the Bengali women.
In Sanskrit, the word Kantha simply means rags. For centuries, poor Bengali women have taken their discarded cloth and sewn them together with a simple running stitch to create something new. It is no easy task to create a functional quilt out of old, worn rags! The functional kantha dorokha ("two-sided quilt") was not a work of art, but simply what the poorest families used to keep warm. Kantha also had an aspect of intimacy. Old cloth in Bangladesh is said to keep the user safe from harm. Women stitched kantha for their loved ones--for their children, their husbands, their parents. The earliest known mention of the Bengali Kantha is five hundred years old --- in Krishnadas Kaviraj’s Sri Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita, he refers to a Kantha sent to him by his mother. For generations of Bengali women, Kantha has been a form of quiet expression. Even the most practical kantha is creative and spontaneous in nature. Over time, a more elaborate nakshi kantha tradition developed. Most Kantha was made by illiterate women who would stitch stories into their quilts--which often would take years to complete. The same Kantha is known to have been worked on by a grandmother, mother, and daughter. Many of the Kantha motifs reflect the needlewoman’s desire for happiness, marriage, and fertility. These women would then "autograph" their pieces either with their name or by indicating their relationship with the person for whom the kantha is intended.
Nakshi Kantha embroidered quilt is said to be indigenous to Bangladesh. The term Nakshi Kantha, popularly used in Bangladesh, is found even in medieval literature. The name nakshi kantha became particularly popular among literate people after the publication of Jasimuddin's poem, Naksi Kanthar Maath (1929).
Depending on the thickness required, three to seven saris are layered and quilted with the simple running stitch, which typically produces a rippled effect. Traditionally, thread drawn from coloured sari borders would be used to embroider motifs or border patterns imitative of sari borders. At present, embroidery skeins are used for motifs and border patterns. Yarn used for weaving is also used for Kantha embroidery, particularly in the Rajshahi - Chapai - Nawabganj area where the quilting is heavy. The colourful patterns and designs that are embroidered resulted in the name “Nakshi Kantha”- derived from the word “naksha” which refers to artistic patterns. Each of these kanthas represents the contents of a woman’s mind and is filled with romance, sentiment and philosophy.
Different forms of the running Kantha stitch are named according to the pattern each creates. While each kantha has designs that are unique to its maker’s imagination, usually there is a basic traditional pattern.
Barfi Paar: diamond border
Beki Paar: slanted or bent
Nolok Taga: nose ring border
Maach Paar: fish border
Chok Taga: eye motif border
Dheu Paar: wavy border
Gaach Paar: tree border
The revival of Nakshi Kantha has not only generated an interest and appreciation for this indigenous folk art of Bengal, but has also helped to provide a livelihood for thousands of rural women who would otherwise be unemployed or underemployed. A few organisations have played an instrumental role in reviving the Kantha art since the late ‘70s by training and supporting thousands of rural women in its various centres, which focus specifically on the making of Nakshi Kantha and other products, made from this art. It has helped to make this invaluable art be integrated in Bangladesh’s cultural life and also promoted its value and recognition on an international level.
Some of these artists have successfully tried to incorporate this traditional style of Nakshi Kantha onto saris, with the authentic borders and motifs. Done mainly on Silks and sometimes on Cottons, these are a delight to the eyes and aesthetics. Connoisseurs of Art and for those of us who value our Heritage, these are definitely a must have in our collection. Kantha from West Bengal
Kantha as stitch art remains priceless, as much in its ethnicity and traditional appeal as in its contemporary allure. Kantha is a type of embroidery popular in West Bengal; unique and luxurious products are created by the nimble fingers of female artisans. More than profitable employment, the embroidery sessions become their socializing time and a welcome break from the drudgery of monotonous chores as they work on their individual panels, or a big one with more hands crafting a single piece. The entire cloth is covered with running stitches, employing beautiful motifs of flowers, animals, birds and geometrical shapes, as well as themes from everyday activities. The stitching on the cloth gives the final product a slightly wrinkled, wavy effect. Kantha is an indigenous household craft, made by the rural women in West Bengal; it is a speciality of Bolpur-Santiniketan and remains also the most creative of all embroidery styles in this part of India.
It was the Bengali housewife who helped the art of embroidery to evolve. From embroidering her husband’s initials on his handkerchief to sewing pieces of discarded cloth with colourful threads to make Kantha, the lady of the house busied herself with needle and thread as soon as her domestic chores were over. The earliest mention of Bengal Kantha is found in the book, “Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita”, by Krishnadas Kaviraj which was written some five hundred years back. There the poet says, Sachi, the mother of Chaitanya, sent a homemade Kantha to her son at Puri through some pilgrims. The same Kantha still can be viewed in Gambhira, at Puri, displayed in a glass case. The second earliest reference is in Zaman’s book about the famous artist A. Tagore, who seemed to have encountered a woman in a village in the district of Srihatta of Bangladesh, who recorded her life story in her Kantha spanning a period starting from her marriage to old age.
The exact age of Kantha design cannot be ascertained with accuracy. The tradition of Kantha embroidery is quite old. It is mentioned in the Sanskrit grammar written by Panini around the sixth century B.C and in the epic Ramayana written by Valmiki some two centuries later. The Ramayana mentions Chandrabati’s Kantha stitching as one of the skills that Sita excelled. The first mention of Kantha Embroidery in Bengali literature is in the Charyapadas – oldest known verses in Bengali that prevailed from the 8th to 11th century AD.
Art reached great heights during the reins of Mughal Emperors in India, who were great lover of needlework and embroidery. Since a very long time, Bengal cotton and silk have been known in the world market for its finesse and quality. Bengal “Muslin” was an item of export even at Perecles’s time. Kantha work is essentially a folk art of women. Women give expression to their wishes through the needlework and thread designs of Kantha work. It is an art that is passed from one generation to another. The Kanthas design offered enough room to display the contents of the mind of a woman.
The commonly used Kantha Stitches are
- Running stitch
- Herring bone stitch
- Double running stitch
- Leak stitch
- Darning stitch
- Dorokha or Dorukha stitch
Bengal Kantha making is a little different from other quilting artistry. The material is different as well as the stitching method. When such beautiful creations were worn out and old, Bengal women did not see any reason to throw them away. Beautiful sari borders were preserved, the soft dhotis were placed layer upon layer and stitched in sari borders. Thus started the first Recycling/Reuse art of the world.
The stitching patterns of Bengal Kanthas are simple, but it can be very intricate depending on the inclination of the Kantha maker. Bengal Kantha makers reflect their traditions in choosing their designs. The real value of Kantha embroidery lies in its fine craftsmanship and vignette of daily folk life motifs being a favourite of the embroiderers. In Bengal, Kanthas were originally used as baby’s diapers, or wrappers for laying newborn babies in the courtyard while they were massaged with mustard oil. The idea of using this embroidery commercially, originated more in urban groups. The number of layers used to vary according to the use for which the Kantha was meant. Normally the top and bottom layers of a Kantha were white or of a very light colour, so that the embroidery done with faded threads drawn from the sari borders were not lost. At present, due to the high cost of handcrafted materials, Kantha making for the baby’s diaper is not cost effective at all. However, in the early seventies, there had been a revival in Kantha art in both the Bengals. Sreelata Sirkar derived inspiration from Pratima Devi of Santiniketan and started designing Kanthas for teamwork. Thus, she not only revived a dying art, but also made room for a great economic activity for West Bengal women. Kantha is characterized by the pattered running stitches.
History: Kantha is like a personal diary, a letter one writes to a particular person, and is not meant to be read by all. In East Bengal, the Kantha was a personal expression, an art-craft that was made spontaneously, even whimsically. It was never commissioned by rulers, nor ordered by the landed gentry. No two pieces were the same. It was craft that was practised by women of all rural classes, the rich landlord’s wife making her own elaborate embroidered quilt in her leisure time, and the tenant farmer’s wife making her own thrifty, coverlet, equal in beauty and skill.
The Kantha is an invocation to the gods and spirits for the prosperity and protection of the family. A real Kantha is able to narrate a story, and is much more compact in design and it is made out of used materials. It has been passed on for generations, from mothers to daughters and is largely a “dowry” tradition. It shows signs of decline today, beginning with the urban area, where career women have no time for such “pedestrian” skills. The pastoral tribes, whose mainstay for the women has been embroidery, did not have the impetus to market their goods to generate a comfortable income. Traditional embroidery is so interlinked with every dimension of living, and often an esoteric idiom, that it is nearly impossible to slot them into categories. Very often, the embroidery traditions in each region and community reveal caste identities, status and the village of its origin.
The Hindu Kantha makers tend to choose from religious motifs, like gods and goddesses, the “alpanas” representing lotus flower, conch shells, various birds and beast like peacock, parrots, elephants, lion, tiger, whereas the Muslim women are usually restricted to geometrical designs and plants and flowers. Within that restriction, they are able to create wonderful artifacts in “Jainamaz Kantha”, “Dastarkhan”, or “Gilaf embroidery”.
Today, Nakshi Kantha refers to very intricately embroidered kantha patterns, done with various colourful threads in running stitch.
The reverse Kantha stitch is so intricate that it will catch your eyes from a very far place. These have the typical characteristics that the farther is your sight from the product, more prominent becomes the embroidery work.
The craft is being practised today by millions of women mainly in the districts of Birbhum, Burdwan, Hooghly, 24 Parganas North and South and Murshidabad. Even as it has evolved from being a subsistence activity done for personal satisfaction and metamorphosed itself to a viable economic activity, Kantha still maintains a strong cultural and social significance in the Bengali society. It has become a means of livelihood today and yet maintains itself as a household craft in many senses. Many of the women engaged in this craft continue to practise it from within their homes.
If ever there was a true Sorority in the world of ideas, it must have been in the field of Kantha or quilt making. Women, all over the world, took up the responsibility of providing everybody with the warmth against the cold. Kantha making is truly a brilliant example of “Women’s Art”.
