Textiles & crafts

Phulkari and bagh

The 'flower work' of Punjabi women: geometric embroidery in golden and crimson silk, worked from the back of the cloth. A bagh, 'garden', covers the whole shawl; brides were given them at their weddings.

Phulkari, 'flower work', is the embroidery of Punjabi women: geometric patterns in silk floss, golden yellow, crimson, orange and white, worked in darning stitch from the back of a coarse cotton cloth, khaddar. When the whole cloth is covered, it is called a bagh, a garden.

Phulkaris were made by women for their daughters' weddings, often beginning at a girl's birth; a grandmother might start one for a granddaughter. The patterns could include wheat, birds, trains and scenes of village life.

After Partition the craft declined. It is now revived commercially in Patiala and is collected by museums around the world.

Gallery

8 works

Embroidery on a shawl from Punjab - flip sideKritzolina · CC BY-SA 4.0

A Phulkari with traditional flower pattern on unworked backgroundChiswick Chap · CC BY-SA 4.0

Embroidery on a shawl from PunjabKritzolina · CC BY-SA 4.0

Embroidery on a shawl from Punjab - front and flip sideKritzolina · CC BY-SA 4.0

Pictures from Wikimedia Commons; select one to see it full size with its credit.

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