BSC Degree in Textile Design

1st Year

Page

352-6 Traditional Indian &

Design Form

INDEX
Unit I .................................................................. 3
Lesson 1: History of Indian Textiles ...................... 4
Lesson 2: History and Function of Motifs,
Shamanism ........................................................... 9

Unit - II ............................................................... 14
Lesson 3: Central Asian Motifs and their
Significance ......................................................... 15

Unit - III ............................................................. 37

Lesson 4: Traditional Indian Motifs and their
Significance ......................................................... 38

Unit IV.............................................................. 82
Lesson 5: Contemporary Art ................................ 83

Unit V ............................................................... 89
Lesson 6: Practical Exercises .............................. 90

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Books for Further References .............................. 94

Unit I

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Lesson 1: Brief History of Indian Textiles

Lesson 1:

History of Indian
Textiles

Objective:
To know the depth of Indian textiles.

Introduction
The production of sophisticated textiles within the
Indian-subcontinent has prehistoric origins. The
alternate wet and dry climate of the Indian subcontinent has ensured that only a few fragments of
woven plant and animal fibres remain. The
archaeological finds and literary references suggest
delightful myths and legends, mystical and religious
qualities still associated with traditional Indian
textiles. For two thousand years, the Indian have
had supremacy in textiles.
The earliest textile finds were made at Mohen-JoDaro, an archaeological site of the third millennium
BC (3000 years before Christ) on the Indus River.
Madder (red) dyed cotton fragments have been
found wrapped around a silver pot. It is the metallic
salts of silver that are instrumental in preserving
the fabric.

Spindles and bronze needles have been recovered.

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The use of madder dye made fast with a mordant

and the presence of dye vats suggests advanced
understanding of the process of colour fixing on
fabric.

Carved stone sculpture with patterned cloth.

Some fabrics found in the tombs of central Asia,
Cairo and Babylon may be of Indian origin and
suggest trade in the 6C BC with this region.
Our epics and Vedas talk of rich textiles of silk,
cotton and linen between 15-2 BC. The silk is
thought to be Chinese and thus suggests a long
established trade route over the Himalayas.
In the 6C BC the Persian Empire was a link between
the Indus basin and the Mediterranean by overland
and coastal trade. Indian cloth became famous
with the Persians and Greeks because of brilliant
colours. The quality of Indian dyeing was praised
in the Roman world as a reference made in the
latin translation of bible says wisdom is even more
enduring than the dyed colours of Indian.

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In the 3rd C BC, the empire of Alexander, the greek

conquorer extended to the foot hills of Hindukush
mountains.
This encouraged and strengthened
trading and cultural links between Mediterranean to
Indian through Persia and Afganisthan. During this

Between the 5 to 8 C BC, the famous Ajanta wall

paintings depict loin cloth and blouses patterned by
resist techniques of ikat and bandhini. There is
also a reference made by two noted Chinese
piligrims, Yuang Chwang and T Sing in the 7th C,
which says that The everyday costume of the
people was draped, not tailored and was mostly
white. This distinguished between the wealthy,
poor and the priestly class.

time a famous Greek scholar Magasthenes came to

the court of Chandragupta Maurya and studied the
trading and textile networks.
In the 2nd C, BC, the Romans used a Sanskrit word
for cotton i.e. carbasina in latin from karpasa in
Sanskrit. During this time, as stated by Pliny, a
Roman Scholar, the Indian merchants became both
middlemen and suppliers to the trade. They
travelled to China to get silk and Java and Sumatra
for spices and jewels and supplied it to the
Romans. Also famous during this time were the
Indian Muslins which were described as Venti
(fine as the wind) and nebula (misty in nature).
From 1st C AD onwards, the Afgans led by
Muhammad of Gazni conducted his annual raids in
India and by the 12th C AD they had established
themselves in North and Central India and created
the Delhi sultanate. A Delhi Royal silk karkhana is
recorded as having employed over 4000 weavers to
supply silk for the trade with Central Asia. This was
the time when Mongols, Turks, Persians, Arabs
were all drawn to the magnificent city and court of
Delhi as craftsmen, soldiers and scholars.

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During the 16th C the Indians had the ability to

cater for the export market. For Europeans they

In the 15th C AD Babar founded the magnificent

Mughal dynasty in North India. Also during this
time, Vasco-da-Gama discovered the cape of good
hope and founded the first European Coastal
colonies in India. This was a very significant turn
for the traditional Indian textiles as they were now
being influenced by two totally different empires.

produced printed and embroidered textiles with

animal and flower designs. For muslims of Africa
and Arabia more simple printed and striped cotton
was produced. For Indonesia, double ikat silk cloth
was produced for the nobility.
By the 17th C the English had gained control and
established the East India Company. Chinese
designs mingled with the Mughal, Persian and
Hindu designs. Floral and bud life was intertwined
to produce charming effect. The Portuguese called
it PINTATHOE meaning painted and the English
called it CHINTZ from the hindi word Chint
meaning variegated.
In the 18th C Kashmiri woven and embroidered
shawls became a fashion wrap for the women of
England and France.

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It is seen that for ages the Indian textile has ruled

the world market. Certain textile terms which India

In the early 19th C, the Indian textile industry

suffered from the influx of cheap English cloth.
Mahatma Gandhi seized upon the idea of using the
domestic weaving industry as a symbol to bring
home to the people, the reality and implications of
commercial domination by foreign rulers. Khadi
handspun and handwoven cotton was a symbol of
independence and self-sufficiency. This khadi
programme has reinvigorated the handloom
industry of India, directly inspiring highly successful
commercial developments such as co-operatives of
production
and
marketing
throughout
the
traditional weaving, printing and painted textile
centre and states of India.

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Fig.1: Scorpion Motifs seen in Gujarat

Embroidery

has exported along with her textiles, over all the

years are Calico, Cummerbund, Chintz, bandanna,
dimity, dungree, gingham, khaki and pyjama. Till
today, India remains the most original, creative and
prolific source of textile production in the world.

History and
Function of Motifs,
Shamanism

Lesson 2:

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A motifs past meanings and history are usually

discovered from sources that have nothing to do
directly with textiles. Natural surroundings, religion,
achievements of an individual, are usually the
driving force behind the human psyche that leads
to the development of particular motifs. Motifs
made on textiles with printing, painting, dyeing,
weaving and embroidering may serve as protective
function i.e. gaurding the wearer against the evil
eye and other misfortunes; For example, hunters
use animals and harmful insect motifs such as
scorpion, to protect the wearer from the live
creature, (Fig.1). Another function the motifs may
relate to is fertility the ability to produce off
springs
and
thus
survival.
In
agricultural
communities, fertility and wealth are closely linked,
as the harvest is directly responsible for the
communities well being. Pomegranate (Annar) with
its abdunance of seeds is featured on marriage
bed-covers in central Asia and is also used in the
Phulkari embroidery of Punjab. Pineapple motifs

The establishment of trade routes to and from the

Indian subcontinent brought many non-indigenous
motifs to be integrated with the traditional Indian
motifs. The stylization and blending of various
motifs have been influenced over the centuries by
different emperors who have ruled India. Lot of
intermingling of Islamic, Buddhist, Persian and
European art is seen today in the Indian motifs.

are used in island nation of Phillipines to devote

fertility.
Cowrie shells, woven, embroidered or
used otherwise also denote fertility.
Many motifs have religious commutations like the
kalash motifs, lotus, swastik motifs, rudraksh,
Islamic motifs of mihrab (arch) and the moon and
star.
Motifs take a variety of forms according to the
craft-technique employed. The motifs following the
weave of the fabric are reflected in stylized
geometric forms eg. Phulkari embroidery or kasuti
embroidery. The free flowing forms of embroidery
achieved in kashmiri embroidery gives rise to a
naturalistic form. A star may appear as a solid five
or six or eight pointed figure when embroidered;
but appears as an arrangement of triangles if
woven.

Shamanism

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The shaman is identified by his costume and its

decoration. The wearing of antlers to associate him
with the animal world and invest him with its
powers and spirits is common, as is the hanging on

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The prime example of decoration endowing the

wearer with the magical force of the creature it
symbolizes is the shaman. Originating in the
hunting societies of the palaeolithic era, shamanism
lingers in the Arctic north, Korea, pockets of SouthEast Asia, Aboriginal Australia, Africa, among the
Ainu and American Indian tribes and in South
America.

his vestments of all manner of symbolic

accoutrements: amulets which in Islamic countries
contain Koranic verses, bells to arouse the soul,
trophies of the hunt, towels, with stylized antler
motifs embroidered in red.
The embroidered
decoration on his clothing is in sacred white
reindeer thread and is often of skeletal patterning
ribs and bones symbolizing his figurative death
and subsequent rebirth.

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Mystical animals found in archaic embroidery are

those linked with shamanism such as the jaguar, an
animal who hunts at night and who in the Americas
was the shamans familiar. The bear in many
northern cultures was believed to be a human
ancestor and guardian. It was revered by the Ainu,
whose appliqu patterns portray the bear, and by
the Giliak of Siberia. For their festival, when the
men of one clan about to marry into another are
invited to kill the bear, clothing is worn with
embroidered spiral patterns that symbolize the
animal. Stags, like birds, were believed to transport
souls between earth and heaven: most shamanistic
ritual is accompanied by the use of hallucinogenics,
especially magic mushrooms, and a state of
transcendence, or trance, was linked to the stag.
Creatures believed by some people to be
incarnations of the soul, such as lizards or toads or
bees and particularly birds, were also mystical.

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Map of Central Asia

Review Questions:
1. Explain briefly the history of Indian textiles.
2. What are the functions of motifs? Give
examples to support your answer.

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3. What is Shamanism?

Unit - II

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Lesson 3: Central Asian Motifs and their

Significance

Central Asian
Motifs and their
Significance

Lesson 3:

The majorities of textiles are and always have been

made by women. Natural forms such as flowers,
stars, or an article from everyday home life may
suggest the wish of a weaver or embroidered to put
into the work some meaningful element of her
environment.
Over centuries, many central Asian motifs have
been incorporated in the Indian art.
Persian motifs of Paisley, tree of life and
rounded containing birds or beasts is
commonly used on various Indian textiles.

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Islamic patterns incorporates free-flowing

floral
arabesque
and
calligraphy
into
disciplined,
mathematically
inspired,
geometric self-generating designs a
language of order and unity. Symbolic
shapes connected with Muslim beliefs such as
mihrab (arch), and the hand of Fatima have
caved a niche in the Indian art.
While interpretation of motifs in textile decoration
must always be speculative, since meanings change
with the cultural context, a variety of motifs have
broadly similar symbolic connotations wherever
they are applied.

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Buddhist motifs such as the endless thread of

fortune and the lotus are the favourite
among weavers and embroiders.

Symbolism of common Central Asian

motifs has been discussed, along with
their appearance on Indian textiles.
1. The bird:

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Bird motifs of Pigeon, Peacock and Cock as

seen in the Phulkari embroidery of Punjab
(Fig. 2)

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The bird, a common motif is understood to mediate

between this world and the world of spirits. The
cock, usually stylized as a head and comb,
represents the beginning of the day and dispels the
spirits of darkness. The cock and other bird motifs
are seen in the phulkari embroidery of Punjab.
Double headed birds of prey e.g. eagle signify
power and mobility amongst the Turkish tribes
(Fig.2).
Parrot, Peacock and Geese motifs are
commonly used on Indian textiles and are
discussed later.

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2. The tree of life:

The axis mundi, ascends through the three
spheres, the roots springing from the underworld,
the trunk rising through the terrestrial world and
the branches piercing the heavens, The trees
seasonal cycle is associated symbolically with the
universal cycle of birth, maturity, death and rebirth.
The tree of life is a Persian motif and depicts the all
nourishing date-palm tree. Teardrop, cone or the
paisley motifs depict the growing shoot of the tree
of life and symbolizes growth. The tree of life is
commonly seen in the kutch, phulkari and Kashmir
embroideries and also in kalamkari painting and
sanganer block painting (fig. 3).

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Tree of Life: Another common motif is a stylised

tree to symbolise the afterlife. On Turkish kilims
this is often a thin, pointed cypress tree.

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Tree of life motif in kalamkari

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Tree of life seen in Gujarat embroidery

Fig. 3 Tree of life

The tree of life motif (right), embroidered on a

Hazara girls dress bodice, and (far right) in
the warp-face patterning of a Turkmen tentband.

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The ancient cult of worship of the sun and fire as

life giving forces was widespread in the region and
gave rise to a variety of motifs such as solar discs
and swastikas. Such motifs appear on phulkari and
the ikat sarees of Orissa, Gujarat and Kantha
embroideries

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3. Sun motif:

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Sun motif in Kantha embroidery of Bengal

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FIG. 4: VARIOUS DEPICTIONS OF THE SUN

MOTIF

Sun motif in Gujarat embroidery

4. Pomegranate, cowrie shells and tulip

flowers:

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Pomegranate-flowers suspended from rams

horns, motifs signifying strength and
abundance, woven into a mans ikat-dyed
coat, chapan. (fig. 7).

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In Central Asia, Pomegranate, cowries shells and

tulip flowers are used as a symbol of fertility.
Cowrie shells are commonly used in the Gujarat
and Rajasthan embroideries and are also seen
embroidered on phulkaris. Pomegranate flowers are
seen in phulkari embroideries. Tulips are not seen
in Indian art.

Enlarged section of a Cowrie Bagh of Punjab

which is identical to the borders of the Tadjik
covering above (fig. 5C).

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A flower of particular significance in Central Asia is

a sign of coming of spring the season known as
eulnek meaning the blossoming of the fields. The
tulips bloom abundantly when the snow melts.
Babur, the ousted chieftain of Central Asia, who
became the first Mughal emperor of India, was a
lover of nature, who kept or meticulous dairy of his
observations. In this he identifies sixteen different
varieties of tulip in the hills around Kabul. As a
decorative motif tulip is symbolic of abundance,
spring and fertility, and is commonly embroidered
on the Turkmen womens gown or chyrpy and on
suzani i.e. the wall banging (5a, b, c).

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5. Tulip:

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Cover for the nuptial bed, ruidigo, stitched for

a dowry in the Bokhara area. Carnations and
pomegranate-flowers are symbols of
fruitfulness, beautifully worked in silk-thread
tambour (5a).

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The tulip, of all Central Asian flowers the one

most vividly evoking springtime and
blossoming, embroidered on a Take
tribeswomans gown, chyrpy. The colour
yellow denotes the womans married status.
(Fig. 5b).

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Stylized Tulip Flower (Fig. 5b)

6. Mihrab the arch:

Mihrab the arch is commonly woven or
embroidered on the Islamic prayer mats called
namazlyk.
It signifies the door way to the
almighty. This is also seen on the Darshan Dwar
which are the religious phulkaris (fig. 6).

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The Islamic Motif of an arch similar to mihrab

is seen on the darshan dwar (religious
phulkari)

26

Motif of the mihrab (arch) with a stylized

version of the older, Buddhist-derived trailing
lotus motif, embroidered on a cotton djoinamoz, a cloth for use as a prayer mat or
wallhanging.

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The mihrab motif (below), flanked by the

stylized hands of a legendary local figure,
combined with the tree of life and stars,
embroidered on a cotton cloth to wrap the
mohr, a holy stone used in Muslim worship,
from Hazarajat.

7. Horn and antler motif:

Horned and antlered animals were of vital
importance to the lives of the primitive hunters who
became the nomadic pastoralists of Central Asia.
The dangers of the hunt and its successful
conclusion were assured by rituals involving a head
of antlers or horns which magically endowed the
shaman with the spirit of the hunted nature. Many
stylized textile motifs are based on curved horns or
branched antlers. For example the horns of the
ram.

(Fig. 7) Horn or antler motif, woven in weftface patterning on a balouch grain-sack.

Rams' Horn : Stylised rams' horns are woven into

kilims as a symbol of masculinity, virility and
power.

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As tribal identities developed in the Central Asia a

particular motifs would be adopted as the tribal
emblem called gol (fig. 8). Gols are usually
octagonal or diamond shaped medallious with
complex infilling of symmetrical patterns.
A
conquered tribe would be obliged to incorporate the
gol of the tribe which was defeated. Sixty or so
different motifs would be woven into one tent band;

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8. Gol motif:

these included the gols along with the horn motifs,

the arrow point motif, and the star motif.

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The rams horn motif, an ancient emblem of

success and strength in the hunt, outlined in bold
yellow chain stitch on a lakai womans mirror-bag
(fig. 7).

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GOL or the Emblem of the Turkmen Tribe (Fig. 8).

9. Amulat:
People of all faiths, Muslims, Buddhists or Nestorian
Christians have deep rooted animistic beliefs and
share the concept of the amulet (tabiz) which
safeguards the wearer or the household.

Protecting house compound: amulet

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Turkish bracelet evil eye amulet

Antique Indian Silver Goddess Amulet

10.

Triangle:

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Charms take many different forms, but the triangle

is the most common made of felt, it is hung over
the doorway of the hut. Thus can be compared to
the toran of Gujarat. Woven embroidered or
knotted, it makes the twin flank trapping of the
wedding camel. Small embroidered or bead work
triangles are also stitched on to the clothing. The
triangle signifies trinity the three fold nature of
the universe in terms of mind, body and spirit.

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32

Star : The common star motif symbolises

happiness

Stars are arrangement of Triangles. (fig. 9)

Triangles seen in the animal trappings of Gujarat
(Fig 9).

Decorative embroidery is also used as a protective

element in itself often forming symbolic patterns, it
is worked around the edges and openings of the
garment i.e. the hems, pockets, necklines, through
which the harmful forces attack the body.
Vulnerable areas like the front bodies, head and
nape of the neck are dressed in heavy embroidery.
Shiny objects such as coins, metal disk, mirrors
(shisha), (Fig. 10) incorporated in the embroidery
are believed to avert the evil eye or reflect and hold
its image thus absorbing the destructive powers.
Blue beads are embroidered, woven or braided into
fabric as a protective device. Heavily embroidered

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Decorative embroidery:

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11.

bodies with mirror work are seen in Gujarat and

Rajasthan.

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Fig. 10 Gul I Peron, dress flowers, small

embroidered felt disc designed to be stitched to
clothing bags and animal trappings. Emblems of
good fortune such as beads, cowrie-shells and
metal discs are all incorporated and metal thread
is often used to work the pattern. The discs are
widely used and have a long history examples
have been found in burials dated before 400 BC.

Most of the Central Asian motifs have

incorporated in the textile arts of

been

Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab and Kashmir. It is the

paisley which has travelled across India and is seen
even in the Baluchar saree of Bengal.

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As political and economic pressures have resulted

in ever larger areas of steppe being turned from
grazing land to agriculture, so more and more
nomadic tribes have been drawn to adopt an urban
way of life. In such a setting many of the traditional
textiles have become redundant. There is no use in
a high-rise apartment for tent-bands. Likewise the
traditional motifs are in danger of losing their
significance for the people who weave and
embroider them, becoming no more than
decorative patterns, unrelated to belief. Just as a
region closed to travelers since the fifteenth
century is opening its gates more widely to the
world, the traditional ways of life are rapidly
disappearing, and the collection and recording of
information about the use of textiles in the live
traditions has taken on new urgency.

Review Questions:
1. Which all motifs have been incorporated in the
Indian art, inspired by Persian, Buddhist and
Islamic art?
2. Write short notes on the following Central Asian
motifs also mentioning as to where they appear
in the Indian art:Tree of life
Cowrie Shells
Triangles
Mihrab

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3. What is a Gol? Why are the embroideries worked

on edges of a garment, like necklines, openings,
hems and pockets? What is the significant of
mirror?

Unit - III

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Lesson 4: Traditional Indian Motifs and their

Significance

Traditional Indian
Motifs and their
Significance

Lesson 4:

In traditional rural India almost every aspect of life

has a special significance and this is translated into
symbolic expression in clothing and other forms of
personal adornment. Some traditional motifs of
India and their significance is discussed in this
chapter. The names of these motifs have also been
mentioned in various languages where Hindi is H;
Tamil is Ta, Telgu is Te; Kannad is Ka, Marathi is M,
Oriya is O and Gujarati is G.

1. The temple motif

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The temple motif consists of rows of large triangles

found along ethnic and tribal sari borders, as well
as in the end pieces of Dravidian and some central
Deccan saris. They are usually woven into the

ground fabric of the sari in the interlocked-weft

technique, so making the triangles point in the weft
direction of the fabric, never the warp.

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A kumbha border on an
Orissan landscape sari

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The temple motif has different tranditional names

in different parts of India, none of which translate
into temple. In the north-east, West Bengal and
Bangladesh it was commonly called daant (teeth).
In West Bengal and eastern Deccan, especially
Orissa and northern Andhra Pradesh, it is called a
kumbb (B), Kumbba (O) or kumbbam (Te), a
reference to the round clay storage pot and its
contents (usually rice or water).
Although the
daant, like the kungri of Gujarat, may have
originally been added for protection against the evil
eye, the kumbba is a fertility symbol. The round
clay pot is explicitly involved in this capacity in

weddings, religious rituals

involving female
goddesses (especially Lakshmi and Durga), and on
domestic wall-paintings that welcome Lakshmi into
the house or keep our evil influence.
In Dravidian India this border design usually refers
to flower buds (nottu or mokku in Tamil), However,
flowers themselves are fertility symbols, a fact
which reinforces the relation of this design with
fecundity. In northern Karnataka five pointed
spikes are embroidered and woven into local saris
in an effort to keep away the evil eye.
Kanchipuram weavers who speak the northern
Tamil/Telugu dialect use the term karavai (saw) for
serrated borders, which suggests a protective
association. Current evidence indicates that the
temple motif is of pre-Islamic, possibly tribal, origin
adopted by caste Hindus.

A kumbha design on a Gond sari from

Koraput, Orissa

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Today, the creeping vine motif is primarily

associated with expensive figured textiles that have

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2. The Creeping Vine

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It first appears in Shunga-period stone railings at

the Stupa of the Saints at Sanchi as a stylized and
somewhat angular representation of a lotus
rhizome. From then on it becomes an important
Hindu architectural and sculptural device to be
known as the vine of wish fulfilment (Sk,
kalapalata, lata, or kalpavalli), which is said to
denote the life force that is shared by all living
things so linking the gods with men, animals and
plants. It was believed to grant the wishes of all
those who revere it, which makes it a highly
suspicious symbol.
Linguistically, this close
connection between the vine and the life force is
seen in the fact that the Indo-Aryan world lata
means
both
creeper
(the
plant)
and
entanglement (the action or resulting situation).

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Islamic connections (Pl. 13). Muslim religious rules

against depicting animals encouraged such a motif
in the textiles of Mughal and other Muslim elite.
Yet although it became an establishment design
on expensive fabrics from at least Mughal times,
the creeping vine has a longer and more
psychologically subtle history.

The alternative name for this motif, bel, refers to

both a floral vine in general and a fruit-bearing tree
(Aegle marmelos).

Right: The creeping vine (kapalata) is depicted

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twice in this temple door pillar (Orissa, C.AD 800),

as a foliate scroll and as an undulating vine upon
which people climb. The latter is a graphic symbol
of the vine representing the interconnectedness of
all life.

Below: The lungi that this figure (Vrikshaka,

Gyaraspur, Madhya Pradesh, C. AD 900) is wearing
is believed by many scholars to represent a
brocaded fabric. Note the floral buti in a style
suggestive of a woven design, in addition to the
vine-like pattern in the borders.

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The creeping vine was commonly carved around

the doorways of temples and other important
buildings throughout the first millennium AD. The
gateway, or threshold, is still a significant Indian
symbol, as temporary gateways are often made to
welcome visiting dignitaries to a town or even a
household, and many rural women still paint their
thresholds and doorframes with designs aimed at

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Below: Bel patterning from a Rajasthani

block-printed sari, Sanganer, 1990.

welcoming auspicious elements (such as Lakshmi,

the goddess of wealth and good luck) and keeping
out the inauspicious (such as malignant spirits and
the evil eye). The fact that vines often graced the
gateways of ancient, classical and medieval Hindu
temples, symbolically leading the worshipper to the
spiritual realm, is an indication of their iconographic
importance.
Even as late as the nineteenth
century, objects made as wedding gifts often
depicted the vine design as a symbol for health and
prosperity.
Vines are depicted on the clothing of medieval
north Indian sculptures from about AD 1000, such
as on the border of the lungi worn by a tree
goddess (Vrikshaka) from the Deccan. Vines were
also printed onto fabrics excavated at al-Fustat,
Egypt.
So much time has elapsed since the rise of this
motif around classical temple doorways that its
symbolic significance in traditional north Indian
saris has probably been lost. Yet in Central Asia
and
Eastern
Europe,
people
traditionally
embroidered red vegetal and floral designs onto the
cuffs and collars of their shirts and blouses to keep
out evil spirits, and the Ancient Greeks are known
to have woven roses into their garments for the
same reason. Could a similar motivation have been
behind the introduction of this design into Indias
garments? And was the vine in the edges of the
tenth-century Vrikshakas lungi more than just a
pretty embellishment?

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Various types of floral forms abound in Indian saris.

Flowers have played a major role in Hindu and
early Buddhist iconography, and many designs

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3. Flowers

were then used by the Muslims. Although the

Islamic depictions seem to have been purely
decorative, various Hindu representations were
often symbolic of good luck, health and prosperity.
It is in this aspect that, even today, garlands of
flowers are still so extensively used in South Asia,
being given to honour guests and deities (during
puja and festivals), as well as to the bride and
groom during the marriage ceremony.

Page

As a group, flowers also represent the female

principle. In some Indo-Aryan languages, the usual
name for flower, phool, additionally refers to
aspects of female anatomy, so their common
depiction in saris is probably no coincidence.
According to some students of Indian iconography,
they are also explicitly used in rural domestic art as
fertility symbols, especially the chrysanthemum,
lotus, jasmine and plantain. The jasmine flower (ta,
malli, H, chameli, jai) has long been a popular floral
motif, known to have embellished textiles given to
the seventh-century north-Indian king Harsha, as
well as being commonly found on traditional Tamil

45

Hindi-Urdu flower

and north-Indian
nineteenth century.

jewellery

datable

to

the

Page

46

But flowers are not always linked with the feminine.

The Tamil warrior-god Maruka is associated with a
large number of different flowers, most of which
are red.
Vishnu is also often depicted with a
garland of five rows of flowers, each row
representing one of the five senses.
In the
domestic art of Dravidian India, the lemon flowers
is used as protection from the evil eye, as is the
pointed-petalled pumpkin flower, which is a symbol
of protection and good luck during harvest time
(mid-January).

47
Page

Above: A stupa railing with a yakshi (an

auspicious tree deity relating to fertility)
standing on an elephant, with lotus rondels
carved on the side rallings. Bharhut, Madhya
Pradesh, C. 150 BC.

Pottery sherds with six-petalled flowers

painted on them, from Kot Diji (southern
Pakistan), period I, c2750-2600 BC (left), and
from Surkotada (Lothal), Gujarat, period IA C.
3000-2200 BC.

Page

Various types of flowers are depicted in traditional

saris. In many Deccan saris, narrow bands of
repeat supplementary-warp figuring are generically

48

Apart from the lotus, which is considered separately

(see below), flowers are not as commonly depicted
in the historical and archaeological record as might
be expected. Early Indus Valley pottery from Kot
Diji and Kalibangan explicity depicts large sixpetalled floral forms, but few other representations
are found until Shunga times, when six-petalled
flowers appear in the headdresses of women
portrayed in terracotta plaques.
Flowers are
infrequently painted in the Ajanta murals; there,
most textile motifs are geometric. When they do
appear in classical Indian art, such as on the north
gate at Sanchi (Andhra, late first century BC) or in
Gupta-period sculpture, they appear to be purely
decorative.

called phool(a), even if the design is not strictly

floral. The patterns in these bands tend to range
from small circular geometric motifs (0.3 to one
centimeter) called jai-phoola (jasmine flower) in
Orissa, to large (1.5 to 2.5 centimetre) four- to
eight-petalled flowers often called rui phool (cotton
flower). Although these supplementary-warp bands
appear never to have been depicted in Indias art,
some of their geometric shapes are found in seals
as early as the Indus Valley period.

Page

49

Related to the phool design is the rudraksha, a

circular geometric motif consisting of V-shaped
radiating lines from an unmarked centre. Typical of
south-eastern Deccan and Orissa saris, this motif is
believed to have Shaivite associations because the
wrinkled Rudraksha seed is made into rosaries for
counting and repeating mantras by Shaivite
devotees, in particular the Shaiva Sidhanta school.
The name rudraksha literally means eye of shiva.
Larger versions of this design in Tamil Nadu saris
are called pavun (Ta/Te, the sun).

4. The Lotus
One of the most complex and enduring symbols of
both Buddhism and Hinduism has been the lotus.
The lotus flower is used in religious iconography as
the seat upon which members of the Hindu and
Buddhist pantheons rest, representing their
spiritual power and authority. It also symbolizes
the material world in all of its many forms, with its
multi-petalled depiction in mandalas representing
the multiplicity of the universe.

Page

Lotus motif on a ceiling

50

Bowl with carved lotus petal motif, 10th century

Page

51

The lotus flower is another natural symbol and

represents earth.
Tibetan Buddhist mystics
imagined the earth floating like a lotus flower on
the oceans of the universe. The heart of the flower
is the cosmic mountain, the axis of the universe.
The generally acknowledged meaning of the lotus
flower is purity of mind or divine creation. From the
muck of a pond, where the roots of the lotus reside,
an immaculate white flower emerges to rest on the
surface of the water as a metaphor for the
harmonious
unfolding
of
spirituality.
The lotus is an important Buddhist motif. Images
of the Buddha and other important persons often
are shown seated on a lotus throne. The growth of
the lotus, with its roots in mud, growing through
water, and emerging as a wonderful plant above
the water's surface, is seen as an analogy of the
souls path from the mud of materialism to the
purity of enlightenment. The 3 stages of the lotus,
bud, utpala (mid-blossom) and the full blossoming
throne represent the past present and future
respectively.

Page

Right: A bronze Balarama, Kurkihar, Gaya

district, Bihar, C. AD 800. Bronze and s tone
statues from about the eighth and ninth
centuries begin to show deities and their
attendants wearing lungis and dhotis
containing buti (small patterns scattered
throughout the field of the fabric). Some

52

A kolam design called the lotus pattern. The

kolam is a floor painting traditional to Tamil
Nadu that is created by using rice powder. It
is auspicious diagram consisting of
interconnecting lines based on a gridwork or
points.

patterns have the appearance of being printed

or dyed, while others look more like the
designs seen in woven buti, such as single
floral or vegetal motifs.
Gupta-period and later sculptures of Vishnu asleep
upon the serpent Ananta drifting on the eternal sea
of milk, where he dreams the universe into
existence, feature a lotus blossom issuing from
Vishnus navel, upon which Brahma sits. This is a
symbol of the creation of the material universe,
with Brahma as the creator and the universe
represented by the lotus flower. Leading on from
such symbolism are concepts of fertility and
fecundity. The concept is emphasized by both the
multi-petalled flowers and depictions of the lotus
pod, which contains hundreds of seeds that scatter
to the wind. Consequently, the lotus symbolizes
prosperity and material wealth, which is why it is so
intimately associated with the goddess Sri Lakshmi,
who is often just called Padma or Kamala (both
meaning lotus).

Page

The lotus symbol appears to be of Indo-Aryan

origin, for although many water-related motifs are
found in Indus Valley artifacts, the lotus is
conspicuous by its absence. Sri Lakshmi , with

53

It is likely that the fecund aspect of the lotus, the

spiritual, is emphasized when it is depicted on
traditional saris, in particular wedding saris. For
instance, some of the ethnic printed saris in the
western region feature stylized lotus pods; the
chhaabi bhat pottern in patola are, according to one
source, depiction of an eight-petalled lotus flower
with tendrils spreading out to from a basket as well
as the Orissan kbandua wedding saris.

whom the lotus is so intimately connected, is

believed to have early proto-Indo-European
beginnings ( that is, to come from the tribes from
which the Indo-Aryans descend). A goddess (Sri)
associated with regal power and wealth was
worshipped by these pre-Indo-Aryan (and, later,
Indo-Aryan) tribes. This association with royalty
and wealth is later seen in many Gupta-period coins
that feature Lakshmi with a lotus flower on one side
and the reigning monarch on the other.
Today most rural domestic art created throughout
the subcontinent is expressly made in order to
welcome Lakshmi into the house. Whether it is a
Tamil kolam, Orissan kumbha or Bengali alpona,
the fundamental message is the same: let good
fortune enter; and both the kolam and alpona can
be depicted as multi-petalled lotus blossoms.

Page

Another group of floral motifs found in saris is the

small buti and large buta, which are depicted as
flowers, sprigs or bushes.
As with the phool,
however, these names are also given to geometric
and zoo-morphic motifs. They are always created
as floating design elements placed against a plain
background. The smaller buti are usually woven in
repeated rows across the sari field while the buta
are usually created in rows along the endpiece.
Floral buti first appear in the artistic record in the
lungis worn by figures depicted in classical northand east- Indian bronzes dating from the seventh
to the ninth centuries. The rows of geese (bansa)
depicted on the textile worn by a fifth-century
Ajanta figure could also be classified as buti, but
that design was probably printed, not woven. The

54

5. Buta and Buti

appearance of the floral patterns depicted on the

bronzes, however, suggests that the buti of these
early medieval textiles may have been woven in
discontinuous supplementary-weft, for such woven
buti have remained a common element in eastern,
north-eastern and south-eastern Indian saris ever
since. The depictions of free-floating textile design
elements at Ajanta suggest block-printing and
dyeing techniques rather than weaving.

Page

Above A block-printed kalga buta motif in the

border of a Kashmiri silk sari.

55

Although it is highly likely that buti and buta are

indigenous north-Indian designs, the words used to
describe them are of Persian origin. In fact, the
Persian/Turkish carpet motif similar to the Indian
kalga is called a boteh or bota. Many large kalga
depicted in Indian saris have been called buta in
northern India. The use of a Persian rather than
Indian name for this motif may reflect the fact that
built were commonly created on expensive figured
textiles worn by the old Muslim elites. (Persian was
the court language of the early Mughals, which
developed into Urdu, a Perso-Arabic language.)

6. The kalga or the mango

Page

It evolved from seventeenth-century floral and

tree-of- life designs that were created in expensive,
tapestry-woven Mughal textiles, primarily patkas
(sashes) made for the Mughal court. The early
designs depicted single plants with large flowers
and thin wavy stems, small leaves and roots. In
the course of time the design became denser, with
more flowers and leaves, giving rise to tree-of-life
and mixed floral patterns issuing from vases or a
pair of leaves. By the late eighteenth century the
archetypal curved point at the top of an elliptical
outline had evolved.
The kalgas created on
Kashmir shawls, which became a fashion item in
Europe for over a century, were certainly the most
imaginative and intricate; and it was from the
imitations of these shawls woven in factories at
Paisley, Scotland, that the name paisley was
derived, still commonly used in Europe and the
United States.

56

The evolution of the kalga motif. (from left to

right) a poppy design in a Mughal shawl,
kashmiri, c. 1680; an early kalga pattern in a
Mughal shawl, Kashmir, c. 1700; and kalga
patterns in kashmiri shawls, c. 1770 and c.
1850.

57
Page

During the late eighteenth and nineteenth

centuries, the kalga became an important motif in a
wide range of Indian textile, Perhaps because it
was associated with the Mughal court. A doublesuded block-printed cotton dupatta created in 1795
contains large kalga at either end, while many
nineteenth-century saris in museums carry this
motif, especially saris from the north. It rarely
appears
in
nineteenth-century
south-Indian
textiles, and is only found on traditional tribal and
lowcaste textiles in the western region, which
suggests it has a longer history in the west than
elsewhere, indicating a possible western Indian, if
not Persian, origin.

Page

The motif probably caught the attention of poorer

and non-Muslim Indians because of its similarity in
shape to the mango fruit, and even today the kalga
is often called a mango (Haam) by many rural
Indians. The mango was a potent fertility symbol.

58

In addition, the name kalga appears to come from

the Urdu. The word qalb literally means hook, and
this word and its variants describe a range of
curvilinear objects with hook-like ends, such as a
goad, fishhook, or a hood covering a hawks head.
Another, possibly ancillary meaning may also be
related to a series of Urdu words relating to Turkish
and Persian carpets, such as qalika (small rug),
which presumably carried buteh designs.

7. The Peepal leaf

Above, left to right A painted pottery sherd,

Lewan, Pakistan, c. 3000-2500 BC; painted
pottery, Mundigak, Afghanistan, period IV,c.
2500-2000BC, Depiction of the peepal tree
and its leaves appear in early Indus Valley art,
indicating that the importance of the this tree
was well established at the a very early date.
Peepal-leaf designs have been commonly
found in many traditional saris, including
those worn for puja (worship) and wedding.

Page

59

Below A paan bhat or peepal patra bhat motif on a

nine-teenth-century Gujarati patolu.

Page

Yet, subsequent to the Indus Valley period, few

depictions of the peepal or its leaves have survived
in Indian art. Most ancient and classical Indian art
does not contain this motif, and it is absent from
the majority of the artwork of the second
millennium AD. It mainly appears in traditional
textiles worn by high-caste Hindus, in particular
Gujarati patola made for Nagar Brahmin and Jain
communities and in Dravidian unbleached cotton
and zari muslins (kosara pudava). In the patola
the design traditionally called peepal patra bhat,
although today it is increasingly called paan bhat,
the paan bush also having heart-shaped leaves.
Paan leaves are used as part of the betelnut
concoction that is passed around and chewed by
participants in wedding and other social events;
and this name change indicates that the past,
longstanding religious significance of the peepal
tree may be fading from popular memory.

60

Depictions of the heart-shaped leaves of the peepal

tree (Ficus religiosa) are one of the earliest and
most common motifs found in Early and Mature
Indus Valley pottery and seals, usually portrayed as
if issuing from the heads of horned cows or bulls.
This association with cattle is probably significant
because within historical times orthodox Hindus
have venerated the peepal tree as much as the
cow. It is constantly grown near Hindu temples
and villages for shade, and planting such a tree is
regarded as auspicious.
Lord Buddha attained
enlightenment under this tree (it is also known as
the bo tree), which suggests this event had
symbolic associations with older beliefs of the time
that incorporated this tree.

8. Tree of life motif

Throughout rural India the tree has been a symbol
of fertility and protection for both tribals and caste
Hindus. Both groups traditionally have rituals that
revere and protect trees, which were (and still are)
a significant source of livelihood for the community,
although this is now being lost because of the
severe shortage of wood in India caused by drastic
deforestation.

Page

Above A woven kadam motif

found in some east Deccan
ethnic saris in Raigarh district,
eastern Madhya Pradesh. The
kadam tree is a local fertility
symbol.

61

Trees in general, as opposed to specific species like

the peepal, are depicted in some Mature Indus
Valley seals, although they are not so commonly
found in pottery artwork. The concept of the tree of
life, which is used as a symbol for the
interconnectedness of all life, appears to have been
in existence by the Gupta period. Cave 17 at
Ajanta uses a tree and its branches to link different
scenes from the Buddhist Mabakapi Jataka painted
on the walls, with the branches interconnecting
smaller, collateral scenes.

The tree of life is a metaphysical extrapolation of

the basic concepts of fertility and protection.
Specific trees supplied pre-industrial India with
food, medicines, timber, utensils and even cloth.
Many of the rural rituals (and concepts) still being
practiced reflect this heritage.

Sanskrit literature talks about the mythical Forest

of Bliss (Anandavana) from which Varanasi
developed, while the depiction of yaksbis and
yaksbas (female and male tree spirits) was
common in much sculpture from Shunga times
onward. Even today, many orissan tribal groups
still protect specific areas of forest for important
religious and social ritual occasions, and the trees
in these areas are not allowed to be destroyed.

Page

The tree of life motif appears in kashmiri carpets

and kalampari paintings.

62

Different tribal groups living in the same

geographical area often revere different species of
trees. For instance, in Koraput (Orissa) the Hill
Sora regard the sahanda (Tropis aspera) as most
sacred, as its products saved the tribe from
starvation after the Deluge, while the Gonds regard
the bel (Aegele marmalos) and other plants as
sacred elements that helped create the original
tribe. Species-specific focus in local religious life is
also found in caste Hindu society. For instance,
temples in Tamil Nadu are often associated with
specific trees: the punnai tree (Calopbyllum
inopbyllum) is the sacred tree at the main temple
of Mylapore; the kadamba (Adina cordifolia) at
Madurai;
the
mango
(Manifera
indica)
at
Kanchipuram; and the bamboo (Bambusa spp.,
Dendrocalamus spp.) at Tirunelvelli.

9. The sun-tree motif

Page

63

The Assamese sun-tree motif is now such an

archetypal pattern of the north-eastern region that
many Assamese textiles are recognized as such just
on the basis of this design. It depicts two birds,
animals or flowers, facing each other on either side
of a tree whose branches spread above them. The
motif is rigidly symmetrical, highly stylized and
angular, with a pointed roof-like top to the tree,
and its sides are often straight.

China and northern South-East Asia create suntree-like motifs in their traditional textiles. Among
the Thailand Thi, the motif is known as a bong or
swan design, after the birds portrayed at either side
of the tree.

Page

Right: A supplementary-weft woven Assamese

sun-tree design from an Assamese mekhla,
C.1950. Although Ahom, the Tai language, is
no longer spoken in Assam, the fact that
motifs of the sun-tree type are found
exclusively in traditional textiles created by
Austro Tai-speaking peoples suggests that the
Assamese sun-tree design is of Tai (Shan
Ahom) origin.

64

All of the Austro-Tai-speaking peoples are known to

have migrated from central China (the Tarim basin)
about two thousands years ago.
It may be
significant that several Han dynasty (c, 200 BC-AD
200) silks also neither contain versions of this
design, although it is not depicted in later Chinese
textiles.
The Chinese sun-tree is an important
feature of several early Chinese cosmological
myths, and it is depicted in much Han-dynasty art
in addition to textiles.

Left: The
Assamese
sun-tree motif
in a cotton
sari from
Nuagong,
Assam, 1952.

10.

The Peacock

Page

Above (Right): right painted pottery, from

Harappa, Pakistan, C.2000-1700 BC (left), and
from Rangpur, Gujarat, period II B, C. 2100
BC. From many of the funerary pottery

65

Above: This sculpture depicts Karttikeya, the

god of war, astride his mount, the peacock,
which reinforces the older Mature Indus
Valley associations linking the peacock with
death and immortality. AD 700-800,
provenance unknown.

paintings found in Harappa, it can be surmised

that peacocks were believed to carry souls
into the afterlife (note the tiny human bodies
depicted inside the peacock).
Right:
A
peacock
embroidered
on
a
kantha
sari
from
West Bengal.

Page

66

Peacock motif in appliqu wall-panel

The peacock has had several associations that at

first glance appear to be unrelated: immortality,
love, courtship, fertility, regal pomp, war and
protection. Its traditional significance is probably
lost, but nevertheless its depiction and symbolism
has a long and complex history.

Peacocks were painted on Mature and Post-Indus

Valley burial pottery dated about 2000-1500 BC.
That some of these birds have horns and
vegetation issuing from their bodies suggests that
they might signify fertility or rebirth, while others
carrying tiny human beings inside their stomachs
suggest that they are the bearers of the spirits of
the dead to the other world. (In fact, the peacocks
association with death and rebirth appears
throughout
Sanskrit
literature).
Peacocks
reappeared in Buddhist architecture and by the first
century AD were incorporated into the developing
Brahmanic Hindu pantheon. Shivas son, Kartikeya
(Kumara), was the god of war and lord of
immortality and was depicted riding a peacock
mount, suggesting that its associations of death
and rebirth were still viable at that date.

Page

The peacocks association with fertility may also

partly derive simply from the fact that it has a
reputation for producing many young, and that it

67

By the late first millennium AD, Karttikeya and his

peacock were associated with the worship of Maha
Devi, the Great Goddess, and the group of violent
goddesses known as the Matrikas. Like Shiva, these
goddesses were part of the pre-Aryan religion
which became incorporated into Hinduism, and
their attributes became concerned with life, death,
rebirth and fertility.

heralds the coming of the rains by dancing to

attract a mate. The sudden regeneration of plant
life brought on by the monsoon must seem like
rebirth to farmers who go through the death of the
summer drought. It is probably the birds courtship
and fertility-related attributes that made it a
symbol for courtship and love in both classical and
folk literature. The peacocks association with
royalty and regal pomp is almost equally old,
however. It had regal associations in western Asia
in about 1000 BC, as it is referred to in the Bibles
Old Testament (the Hebrew name thukkiyyum is
believed to have been derived from the Tamil word
tukai). Today the peacock is still an important
symbol; it is Indias national bird, and is a
protected species.

Depictions of the goose in Indian art prior to the

Mughal period were common, but since then it has
virtually disappeared. It was often found in Hindu
sculpture,
painting
and
textiles,
having
connotations that were completely opposite to
Western Europes negative associations.
The
earliest depictions of these and other water-related
birds appear in Mature Indus Valley pottery, and
over a millennium later they became an important
symbol in Buddhist inconography, representing not
only spiritual purity, but also the travelling monks
who spread Buddhas teachings; the image of the
goose flying from the water to the sky made it an
apt
symbol
for
spiritual
knowledge
and
dissemination, as well as for intellectual learning,
knowledge in general and creativity.
In Vedic
literature it was associated with the sun and the
male principle of fertility and divine knowledge.

68

The Goose and other water birds

Page

11.

69
Page

A character in the crowd watching a procession, in

a mural of the Mahajanaka Jataka, Part 1, Ajanta,
left corridor, Cave One, C. ad 475-500. He wears a
tailored top decorated with rows of geese.
Although it is impossible to say how the geese were
created on this garment, they have the appearance
of a block-printed design. As most of the textiles
depicted in Ajanta seem to be of western India
origin, it is likely that the technique used to make
this pattern also came from this region.

A painted pot from Lothal, Gujarat, C. 23001750 BC, is depicting water birds.

Page

A repeat design of geese is painted on the clothes

of one of the Ajanta Cave figures, while some
resist-printed medieval cotton fragments from

70

It commonly appeared in Gandharan and Kushan

sculpture, and later became incorporated into
Brahmanic Hindu iconography (it can often be seen
in temple sculpture). Sarasvati, the goddess
representing learning, culture and the arts, as well
as sound literally, the word, language has the
goose as her vehicle.

western India excavated at al-Fustat also show

them.

With so much evidence of this motifs popularity in

the past, it may seem strange that it virtually
disappeared after Muslim rule solidified throughout
India. Presumably this was because most elite
groups adopted Islamic styles in their decorative
arts, which avoid zoomorphic representations. In
the early years of the twentieth century the only
evidence of geese and water birds in traditional
textiles is found in some Tamil saris and ethnic
Orissan ikats.

Representations of the parrot do not have the

historical and iconographic depth of those of the
goose. It has not depicted in ancient, classical or
even medieval India architecture, or does it
appears in the illustrations found in Jain
manuscripts.
This
dearth
of
historical
representation suggests that it is a relatively recent
addition to the traditional Indian textile repertoire,
although it appears to be common in north-Indian
folk songs and art for instance, the easternregion Madhubani wall-paintings that William
Archer discovered in the Maithili-speaking areas of
north Bihar, which he photographed in 1939-40,
feature parrots in nuptial-chamber wall-paintings.
This location has a direct link with the parrots
symbolic function as a messenger for lovers and its
associations with courtship, love and passion.
These functions are often mentioned in west-and
north-Indian folk art and literature. They are also
seen in some later east-Indian temple sculptures,
such as a five-towered Bengali temple with

71

The Parrot

Page

12.

terracotta reliefs built in 1643. There, parrots are

depicted with Krishna and Radha, Hinduisms most
famous pair of lovers.
Despite its iconographic spread across north India,
depictions of the parrot in Indian textiles are almost
exclusively western (mostly Gujarati). Over the
part two hundred years it has been depicted in
elaborate coloured-silk embroideries created for
Rajput courts, for nomadic ethnic groups such as
the Rabari, and in the more expensive types of
Gujarati wedding sari both the patolu and the
gharcbolu
often
often
depict
parrots,
as
occasionally do other bandhani fabrics.

Page

72

Parrot motif in gujrat embroidery

13.

The Fish

Right: A blockprinted fish

motif from a
West Bengal
sari.

Page

Fish are potent fertility symbols throughout tribal

and caste Hindu India, indicating abundance of
food, wealth, and children, as well as the
generative powers of the supernatural. The fish is
also an avtaar of Vishnu who, as the Preserver, is
associated with prosperity and material comforts.
Matsya, the fish, is regarded as his first incarnation.
Matsya was saved by Manu (the first man) when a
tiny fish, and because he cared for it until it
became large enough to return safely to the sea,
Matsya warned him of the coming Deluge, advising
him to build a boat in which to house many

73

Right below: A
fish pattern in
the endpiece
of a Bangalore
Sari,
Karanataka.

different plants and animals. Matsya is also one of

the eight inconographic symbols of good luck found
in Hindu iconography.

The pair of golden fish

Page

The fish appears early in the archaeological record,

and is painted onto Early Indus Valley pottery at
Kalibagan as well as carved into Mohenjo-daro
seals and pleaques of the Mature Indus Valley
civilization.
It is also one of Indias earliest
numismatic motifs, and is found on punch-marked
coins (karbapana) from both western and eastern
India dating from at least 550-350 BC. Yet is was
rarely depicted in the sculptures and architecture of
later historical periods and was never a vehicle for
any deity. Nevertheless, its relationship with India
folk and tribal art remains strong, and it is often
depicted in textiles where fish form a major part of
the diet, as in Orissa, or where Vaishnavism is
important.

74

Having complete freedom in water, fish represent

happiness, fertility, and abundance. On a spiritual
level, they represent the boundless abundance of
the Buddhas energy , which never diminishes, no
matter how much is given away.

14.

The Elephant

An ikat elephant from an Orissan landscape

sari.

Page

75

A seal from Mohenjo-daro, Pakistan, C. 25002000 BC. Elephants are consistently depicted
in Indian art from the Indus Valley period.

A sculpture of Ganesh on Mundesvari Hill,

Shahabad district, Bihar, C. AD 400-500.

Page

Today terracotta elephants are created in rural

India as gifts to local-community deities in return
for such things as a blessing, the recovery of an ill

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The symbol of the elephant has appeared

throughout Indian history since Mature Indus Valley
times when it was depicted on seals and as
terracotta figurines excavated from Mohenjo-daro.
Since then it has appeared on early Indian coins
and on Buddhist and Hindu architecture through to
the present day. During the classical and medieval
periods its head was part of a mythical beast called
a Makara, which had a fishs body and elephants
trunk and was commonly found in depictions of
river goddesses, especially Ganga.

child, a good harvest, or for a happy union when

the bride and groom are going through the
marriage ceremony.
The elephant is considered an auspicious animal,
traditionally associated with water and fertility, and
with royalty and regal power. In addition to their
temporal power, the kings of ancient India were
linked with the natural fecundity of the earth, and
they had to perform various spring rituals in order
to ensure the success of the following years crops.
An aspect of these rituals associated elephants with
rain and fertility, and even today they are often
depicted with Lakshmi, shown standing between
two elephants who are showering her with water.
In addition, the sheer physical power of elephants
has traditionally been harnessed during war,
natural disasters and for major construction
projects, all of which, again, have regal (central
government) associations.

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Elephants have been depicted on the more

expensive traditional saris of Tamil Nadu, Gujarat
and Banaras, such as the Tamil mubbhagam,
Gujarati gbarchola and patola, and Banaras kincabs
as well as elephant-headed beasts (gajasinha)
being depicted in the clothes of women painted in
late medieval Gujarati Jain manuscripts.

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The elephant is also one of the few animals that is

actually a god within the Hindu pantheon, namely
the elephant-headed Ganesha, the remover of
obstacles and maker of good beginnings. Another of
Ganeshas attributes is perspicacity, learning and
memory, traits traditionally valued by traders and
merchants. He is also regarded as a protector,
which is why his form is often found over or by
doorways.

15.

The Tortoise

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The tortoise (Koorma) is the second incarnation of

Vishnu, who was both the Cosmic Tortoise upon
which the universe rests, and the foundation of the
churning stick with which Vishnu stirred the Cosmic
Ocean that created the universe.
Koormas
association with the birth of the universe and
Vishnu lead to Lakshmi, who issued out of the
churning waters and became Vishnus consort.
Consequently, the tortoise has associations with
prosperity and the creation of wealth. Tortoises are
known to have been part of the late, Upper
Palaeolithic diet, and they were depicted on Early
Indus Valley pottery from Kalibagan, which
suggests they were already a noticeable part of
local life.
During the Gupta period, when
Vaishnavism began to take recognizable shape,
tortoise amulets were made in the north-west.
Today, tortoises are traditionally woven in the
supplementary-warp bands of east Deccan saris.

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A kachhua (turtle) design on a painted sari

from Madhu-bani, Bihar, 1992.

16.

The Conch

The conch shell is both a symbol of Vishnu and of

Nada Brahma, god in the form of sound. It is one
of the eight auspicious symbols, representing
temporal power, and as such was used in ancient
India as a war bugle.
One of its first known
depictions is in the Vaishnavite caves at Udayagiri
near Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh, C. 13 401), and has
been found in Vaishnavite art from then on. In
terms of textiles, the conch only appears to have
been depicted on twentieth-century saris, primarily
on ikat-patterned Orissan ethnic saris made in the
last fifty years.

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The right spiraling (echoing the celestial movement

of the sun, moon and stars) conch shell is one of
the oldest icons in Buddhism. It is made by nature
and not man. A conch horn sounds in all directions,
as do the teachings of the Buddha. Consequently,
the conch is seen as a vehicle fearlessly proclaiming
the truth of the dharma in all directions. It is also
seen as an emblem of power and authority and is
thought to banish evil. The white conch shell was
presented to Sakyamuni by the great sky god
Indra.

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The conch shell.

17.

The Hunting Scene

The hunting scene usually features men, horses,

elephants, tigers, rabbits, deer, peacocks, parrots,
and other animals, cavorting between entangling
branches and leaves. This might seem an unusual
design for a sari or any other textile made for
personal use, but it was found in eighteenth and
nineteenth-century Banaras brocades and Gujarati
bandhani, late sixteenth and early seventeenthcentury Bengali embroidered quilts made for the
Portuguese marker, and in some fifteenth-century
resist prints excavatged at al-Fustat.

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80

The origins of the hunting-scene design are

obscure. It is easy to assume that these textiles
were
inspired
by
the
elaborately
figured
seventeeth-century Safavid lampas textiles whose
designs are conceptually similar because they also
depict hunts and war, but the style of
representation is completely different. The hunting
scene prints excavated at al-Fustat suggest that the
roots of this design are much older. For instance, a
print dated to the early fifteenth century depicts a
horsewoman,
dog
and
mythological
beast
(gajasinba or elephant-lion) in conflict with a boar
and are believed to represent a Gujarati myth
concerning the mother-goddess Khodiar, a warriorgoddess similar in type to Durga.

Review Questions:
1. What is the significance of:Temple motif
Creeping vines
Lotus
Mango or the Kalga
Peepal leaf
Peacock
Elephant

Page

81

2. Explain in detail the evolution and history of the

"parrot" motif in Indian art.

Unit IV

Page

82

Lesson 5: Contemporary Art

Lesson 5:

Contemporary Art

Today more and more rural people are adopting the

urban lifestyle. The traditional motifs have become
mere decorative patterns used for embellishment
and have lost their related belief. It is difficult to
ascribe the same symbolism to a motif (eg.
peacock) appearing on pottery from Indus Valley
and on a roller printed modern fabric.

Modern machinery used today for printing and

embroidery fabric has led to the development of
floral and geometric abstract patterns. Most of the
domestic embroiders like Phulkari and Kasuti have
been commercialized, bring about a change in their
techniques of execution, symbolism of colours and
above all the significance of motifs.

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How many of us have even thought of the

significance of triangles or paisleys before
executing them? Or have even thought about the
origin and significance of the pomegranate motif?

83

Satellite communications have brought endless

information and the human mind is constantly
restless to absorb and grasp everything around.
Unfortunately many traditional motifs have become
redundant, because of the new lifestyles adopted
by men and women.

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84

CONTEMPORARY ART

Page

85

Page

86

Page

87

Review Questions:
1. What factors have led to the art today, that is
contemporary art?

88

in

Page

2. Draw
a
design
depicting
"leaves"
contemporary art in a square of 4"x4".

Unit V

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89

Lesson 6: Practical Exercises - motif

development

Lesson 6:

Practical Exercises

Motif Development
Exercise 1

1. Each student is required to pick up surface

impressions from various surfaces in the
surroundings. These will be picked up on
bond sheets using pencils only.
2. These impressions will then be painted on
cartridge sheets in 3 colour ways. The size of
each colour way should be 4 x 4.

3. The surface impression, size 4 x 4 and its

colour ways, each 4"x4" should be pasted
neatly on an A3 size cartridge sheet, as
shown.

Page

1. Each student is required to collect atleast ten

traditional motifs. The teacher will select the
two best motifs. These motifs have to be
treated in various shapes of triangle, circle,
square, rectangle and oval. The motif and all

90

Exercise 2

its shapes have to be placed on one cartridge

sheet of A-3 size. All the work will be done
in black microtip pen, as shown.

EXERCISE - 1

Page

91

PRINTS DEVELOPMENT FROM SURFACE

IMPRESSIONS

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92

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93

EXERCISE - 1

Books for Further

References
1. Desai Chelna, 1987, Ikat Textiles of India,
chronicle books, San Francisco.
2. Gillow Jhon and Bennard N, 1991; Traditional
Textiles of India, Thomas & Hudson Ltd.
London.
3. Harvey Janet, 1996; Traditional Textiles of
Central Asia; Thomas & Hudson Ltd., London.
4. Lynton Linda, 1995; The Sari, Thomas &
Hudson Ltd., London.
5. Rene-Alain Hardy, 2003, Art Deco Textiles,
Thomas & Hudson Ltd., London.
6. Pannu Gurpreet, 1995, Phulkari An
Expression of Art in Embroidery, Dept. of
Textiles and clothing, lady Irwin College Delhi
University.

Page

94

7. Paine Sheila 1990, Embroidered Textiles

Traditional patterns from five continents,
Thomas and Hudson Ltd., London.