How Fine Art is Created in Chamba

A fine white muslin fabric has been used by the artist to draw the scenes to be embroidered on a Chamba rumal.

Detail of the nature of Kangra art that forms a basis for embroidery. Clear outlines of figures, floral trellises, plants and trees are familiar images to convert the art of painting into the art of embroidery.

A Kangra artist holds up a piece of cloth showing its transparent quality. He has completed his drawing and will now hand it over to the lady who will convert it into a rumal.

Spools of floss threads in the most popularly used colours for a Chamba rumal, lie in a box near the embroiderer as she works.

A Chamba rumal depicting a Himachali woman carrying a ceremonial pot on her head is slowly developing under the nimble fingers of a young embroiderer.

A closer look at the embroidery will show how the technique used for this embroidery best suits the covering of larger areas of cloth.

Trees and flowers are an intrinsic part of Chamba embroidery.

Here a tree slowly comes into being near the embroidered figure of a traditional Himachali woman.

Two women work together embroidering separate pieces. They are preparing traditional Chamba rumals for an exhibition in Delhi, the capital of India, where art connoisseurs and collectors are invited.

The women are part of a group organized by an NGO that supports and promotes the development and production of high quality Chamba rumals.

A woman follows traditional colours and patterns while embroidering a rumal that makes her town famous.

A senior lady in the group, who is also the supervisor on behalf of the NGO, embroiders a chamba rumal depicting Himachali dancers.

The Himachali dancers swirl on the surface of a Chamba rumal in the making.

This piece has a red base which is not as common. The long coat men wear is made of handwoven woolen cloth. Dancing by men and women is common at weddings in the state.

Within the contours of the drawing, spaces are heavily embossed in a backward and forward motion, with silk thread embroidery in darning stitch, crisscross stitch, herringbone stitch and satin stitch.

Outlines are in double running stitch for emphasis. Finally, the surface looks like a miniature painting in coloured thread, which is exactly what it is meant to be.

Folk figures, like those in the image, are not ‘classical’ subjects but are embroidered with the same fine embroidery skills as one with gods or kings as subjects.

Detail of a floral border that commonly frames the central images of a Chamba rumal.

It is embroidered with silk floss threads in a back and forth form of satin stitch. The resulting embossed effect is replicated on the underside as well.

When an embroidery develops to its fullest extent, its embroidered areas achieve a richness in colour and quality.

It replicates a miniature painting from afar and only becomes known as an embroidered textile art work when the viewer rubs his palm over the silky textured surface.

Read more about Chamba rumal embroidery here:

- The enchanted world of embroidered handkerchiefs
- Art merges into craft in Chamba