Phulkari – embroidery from Punjab

Phulkari, meaning ‘flower work’, is a spectacular style of embroidery
peculiar to Punjab, and traditionally, it was an essential part of Punjabi
everyday life. Phulkaris are the part of women’s dress worn over the shirt
and as a shawl. They were also used as bed covers and carpets.
Phulkari was a part of a girl’s dowry prepared long before the wedding.
The quality and quantity of phulkaris and baghs – embroidery works
closely resembling phulkaris – determined the social status of the family.
So, each family tried to do their best to produce as much and as beautiful
as they could.

To wear the phulkari on the wedding ceremony was obligatory. One
corner of a shawl contains a nazar buti (flaw) to ward off evil.  It is
believed that originally this unique technique of embroidery came with the
Jats, a group of people who migrated to the northern part of India and
Pakistan from Central Asia. Peshawar, Sialot, Jhelum, Rawalpindi and
Hazara were traditional centers for this work.

The stitches in phulkaris derive their richness from the darning stitch
placed in different directions – vertical, horizontal and diagonal. The
embroidery is done from the wrong side, on its cotton side. The cloth
primarily used – and preferred by the women – was the home-spun,
locally woven and dyed khadi. It was strong, long-lasting and served as a
warm dress during the cold winters in the north. Palasa flower (flame of
the forest), acacia bark, indigo and madder root served as dyes. A silk
floss called pat is used for the embroidery.  

To keep the embroidered part clean while working on the cloth the
finished portion was rolled and covered with a muslin cloth. Designs
varied from village to village or region to region and were given suitable
names descriptive of their form. While phulkari was used to ornament
cloth, the bagh ensured that not even a square inch of the base cloth
was visible.

The bagh was considered a symbol of marriage and among the wealthier
elements of dowry, sometimes up to fifty-one pieces of various designs
were given to the bride. She, in turn, wore them for auspicious and
ceremonial occasions. In some parts of Punjab it was customary to drape
the new mother on the eleventh day after the birth of the child when she
left the maternity room for the first time.

Traditional north Indian embroidery designs, such as phulkaris, have
today become trendy in interior design and as collector items. The
exquisite phulkaris are works of art that look impressive in interiors
of many different kinds, and they create a pleasant contrast between
contemporary and traditional when put on display amidst modern
furniture. At the moment, phulkaris are not necessary expensive. An
old phulkari that is a rare collector item may already cost dearly, but
traditionally patterned phulkaris from the beginning of twentieth
century are still relatively inexpensive.