updated on January 03, 2006


Nakshi Kantha: Folk textiles art exclusively from Bangladesh

 

From time immemorial has the Bangladeshi women tradition of recycling wornout saris by converting them into usable and durable quilts, bags, bookcovers, mirrorcases and others. Both the hindu and muslim women claim the best acumen of making Kantha textiles.

These nakshikantha are made during their leisure times particularly during the rainy season or before the bitter winter invades the villages of the Ganges delta.

The motifs of the Nakshikanta depict often hindu festivals, folk festivals,marraige ceremonies,lotus,Lord Buddha´s footprint, different fishes, snakes, boats,Tom-Tom, flowers, elephants, umbrellas, Rathajatra(Procession of Chariots), Swastika( symbolizing the early Indus valley civilization), trees,wheels as universal order, etc.,etc. The muslim women especially concentrate on the geometrical motifs. Still in the remote villages of Bangladesh the expectant mothers own their last trimester of the pregnancy by making Nakshikantha for the new-born baby believing that wraping the newborn baby by Nakshikantha heralds fortune to the family and protects the baby from inflicting disease. Like Russian woodendolls Matriushka, one can never find two similar Nakshikanthas in this planet. Sri Chaitanya(1485-1533), the hindu krishna- cult prophet and reformist draped him often with Nakshikantha .

Since the emergence of Bangladesh 1971 has Nakshikantha regained its esthetical values. 1990 at the Edinburgh Folk Festival for the Commonwealth Countries drew Nakshikantha the best attention by winning a prestigious prize. Among the priceless art collections of Queen Elisabeth-II, ex- President Bush, Pope Johannes Paulus, Robert MacNamara and late President Mitterand all of them has a common possession that is a piece of Nakshikantha .


B i b l i o g r a p h y

Ahmed,Wakil:Banglar Loka-sanskriti.(Bangla Academy,Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue,Dhaka 1000,Bangladesh.Text:Bangla.)

Islam, Shafiqul: Nakshikanta,article published in the Swedish quarterly magazine SYDASIEN, Nr.3.1994, årgång 18. Please see the scanned picture.Text:Swedish.The same Nakshikantha table-cover you just have seen in the scanned picture was donated to the Deptt. of Indology,Stockholm University by the author of the article, 1994.

Kramrisch,Stella:The Art of India,London 1965. "Kantha", J.I.S.O.A. Vol VII 1939, scanned text of the article coming soon.

Uddin, Jasim:Nakshi Kanthar Maat(text Bangla), English translation "The Field of Embroidered Quilt " E.M. Milford and Rev.Willium Mcdermott,Dhaka 1964.

Zaman, Niaz:The Art of Kantha Embroidery, ISBN 984 05 1228 5, University Press Ltd.,Red Crescent Building,114 Motijheel C/A, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh.Text:English.

 

 

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updated on January 03, 2006