Phulkari is an ancient and most famous tradition of Punjab. In the word Phulkari, “Phul” means “flower” and “Kari” means “work” which means ‘Flower work’. Phulkari is the art of stitching or embroidery on textiles. Phulkari was also known as “Gulkari” in Punjab. Designs of Flowers and colors are crafted in various geometrical patterns together to form up the beautiful art of ‘Phulkari’. Wearing a “Phulkari” adds delicacy, grace and simplicity to their heavy build personality. This instinct work is traditionally passed down from mother to daughter and the bride to a new village. The origin of Phulkari has not been traced as some say the traditional embroidery was brought to the lands of Punjab through the lands of Persia. In another story, Phulkari has been mentioned in the famous story of Heer Ranjha in the 15th century, during Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Reign. In the recent era, Phulkari can be found in the Swat valley in the North, through the areas of Hazaras, Rawalpindi, Jhelum, Sialkot and Lahore, modern-day Pakistan to Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala, presently Punjab, India along with the neighboring parts of Haryana right up till Delhi.
Phulkari never made for sale; it was embroidered by a family for their own use. The main product used to make by people were shawls and dupattas. People of Punjab are using in every important moment in their social occasions like wedding, birth or any religious functions, etc. Phulkari plays a very important role in a girl’s life as finishing a “Phulkari” signifies an important part for a girl to become a woman. It is mentioned in the holy book of the Sikhs “Only then will you be considered an accomplished lady when you will you — self, embroider your own blouse.”
Phulkari was made on plain cotton cloth (Khaddar) because Punjab is known for its cotton cultivations. Thread used for embroidery is manually spun, loomed and dyed with natural dyes. The most popular color of the fabric is red as people believe that it is the colour of youth while white is used by mature women or widows. While black and blue colors were kept for everyday worn shawls as they prevented from revealing stains and dirt. The thread colors used for embroidery are mainly red, orange, blue, green, white, golden, etc. Each woman has their own different style, pattern and designs which reflects their daily life.
Today women are engaged in this work for employment. Today it has become a collaborative work of many people from dealers to printers, to embroider. Once the fabric is bought, it goes for block printings. Different motif designs of various sizes are used for printing. The color used for printing is temporary dyed. After block printing, it directly goes to women artisans for embroidery work with different colors of silk threads. This embroidery is done from the wrong side of the fabric. Another interesting thing about this embroidery work is that it is done with only one color thread in a horizontal, vertical or diagonal stitch which gives the illusion of more than one shade when the light fell on it or viewed from different angles.
The motif of this embroidery is mainly inspired by Punjab’s heavily agrarian village life, which includes flowers, animals, wheat, and landscapes. Some of the design names are karela bagh (bitter gourd), gobhi bagh (cauliflower), dhaniya bagh (coriander) and Mirchi bagh (chili). Amongst animals, the most common were the mor (Peacock) Designs. There are two types of Phulkari; Bagh and Chope. Bagh (garden of flowers) takes more time, patience and material for embroidery which is done in close quarters, having an overall geometrically floral pattern. Chope is done only on the borders with one color (golden or yellowish) which is gifted to the bride by her grandmother during a ceremony before the wedding.
Other than shawls or dupattas, different products like stoles, sarees, bed covers, cushion covers, etc. are also available in the market in different colors. Artisans are also using this art in different accessories like juttis (Punjabi chappal), bags, etc.
The current scenario of this art is not in a good position as it almost disappeared in its original form due to textile industries that are imitating this art with the help of machines. There are also other socio-economic reasons like schooling, lack of interest in manual work, profitability, etc. Today an artisan has started doing embroidery from the top of cloth rather than from the wrong side of the fabric. Chiffon, Georgette, Crepe and Synthetic fabric have replaced Cotton fabric. Nowadays artisans have also started using synthetic thread and machine-made threads. Phulkari has lost in Punjab communities as machine-made products are worn by various communities in functions. There is a need for many initiatives from the institutions and Government to keep this tradition alive.
