Srikalahasti Kalamkari
Freehand pen-drawn cloth art from Srikalahasti, Andhra Pradesh, painted with natural dyes
A hand-painted cloth art from Srikalahasti, a town in Andhra Pradesh, where artists draw myth and epic scenes with a bamboo pen and fill them with dyes made from plants. Cut into saris, the cloth is loved for its borders and pallu, and the craft holds a Geographical Indication.
- One of India's two kalamkari styles; the other belongs to Machilipatnam
- Kalam, Persian for pen: a bamboo pen draws, a second pen colours
- Every colour is a natural dye pressed from flowers and vegetables
- Seventeen steps, from block making to washing, take the cloth to finish
- GI-protected as a handicraft; the artists' body KARUNA filed the claim
What is Srikalahasti Kalamkari?
Srikalahasti kalamkari is painted, not woven. An artist draws straight onto cloth with a kalam, a pen whose name comes from Persian, then fills the lines with dye. Two pens do the job: one cut from bamboo for the drawing, another for the colouring. Only natural dyes touch the fabric, pressed from flowers and vegetables. The work runs through seventeen steps, among them block making, treating the cloth, printing and washing. What the painters draw are tales: religious myths and episodes from the epics, set out across the fabric. Made into saris, the cloth is prized above all for its borders and for the pallu, the loose decorated end. The style comes from Srikalahasti, a town in Andhra Pradesh's Tirupati district.
Where does Srikalahasti Kalamkari come from?
Kalamkari was already being made in the days of the Vijayanagara Empire, and no closer starting date is given. The style now carries the name of Srikalahasti, a town in Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh. India counts two kalamkari streams, this one and the Machilipatnam style. The craft is entered on the national register of geographical indications as a handicraft, and KARUNA, whose full name is Kalamkari Artisans Revival and Upsurge for National Acclaim, put the case for it. Institutional backing has followed: a painting course at the Sri Venkateswara Institute of Traditional Sculpture and Architecture, under the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, trains new artists, while the state's economic development board handles promotion, training and export growth.
How is Srikalahasti Kalamkari made?
Everything starts with a pen. The kalam, whose name is Persian for pen, comes in two forms: a bamboo stick that draws the design, and a second pen that carries colour into the lines. No synthetic colour is used. The dyes are natural, taken out of flowers and vegetables. Between the plain cloth and the finished painting lie seventeen separate steps, which include making the blocks, treating the fabric so it takes the dye, printing and washing. The cloth ends up covered in hand-drawn scenes from myth and epic, and when it is finished as a sari, the border and the pallu receive the closest attention.
Srikalahasti Kalamkari, drawn
Colours, motifs and borders
The painting is the design. The artist's pen makes every line, building freehand panels of religious myth and epic story across the fabric. On saris, the style shows to best advantage in the border and in the pallu, the decorated end that falls over the shoulder, and these two parts are what the saris are best known for. Plant life supplies the palette: dyes taken from flowers and vegetables colour the cloth.
How Srikalahasti Kalamkari is worn
The painted cloth is worn as a sari. The parts that matter on the body are the border and the pallu, the free-hanging decorated end that drapes over the shoulder, and it is these that make a kalamkari sari recognisable. The fabric is painted before it is draped; the wearer carries the story panels with her, religious myths and epic tales set out in dye along the cloth.
Styles of Srikalahasti Kalamkari
Two kalamkari traditions share India. Srikalahasti stands for the freehand, pen-drawn kind; Machilipatnam is the other style, named here only in passing. Within the Srikalahasti way, the sequence is fixed: seventeen steps carry a plain cloth to a finished painting. Every mark is made by hand, pen on cloth. New painters are coming up through a formal training course, keeping the hand skill alive.
What Srikalahasti Kalamkari means
The craft carries a Geographical Indication, registered as a handicraft from Andhra Pradesh, which ties the name to its home ground. KARUNA, a body of kalamkari artists, filed the claim that won that status. The style is a livelihood as well as an art: the Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board has taken up its cause, aiming to sort out the industry's problems, train skilled people and lift income from exports. A professional painting course run by the Sri Venkateswara Institute of Traditional Sculpture and Architecture, part of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, brings on new artists so the hand skills do not thin out.
Questions people ask about Srikalahasti Kalamkari
Where does this craft come from?
It belongs to Srikalahasti, a town in Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh. That is where the painters work today, and the style takes its name from the place. Its roots reach back to the age of the Vijayanagara Empire.
How is the cloth painted?
The artist draws freehand with a kalam, the Persian word for pen. Two pens are used: a bamboo one for the outlines and a second for filling in colour. Every colour comes from natural dyes pressed out of flowers and vegetables, and the whole job runs to seventeen steps.
What pictures appear on the fabric?
The Srikalahasti painters use the cloth to tell religious myths and stories from the epics. On saris, the painted work is best known on the borders and on the pallu, the decorated end of the sari that falls over the shoulder.
Is the craft officially protected?
Yes. It holds a Geographical Indication as a handicraft from Andhra Pradesh. The claim was filed by KARUNA, short for Kalamkari Artisans Revival and Upsurge for National Acclaim.
Are there other kinds of kalamkari?
Yes. India has two kalamkari styles, and Srikalahasti is one of them. The other is the Machilipatnam style, named in the source material but not described in detail there.
Good reading and sources
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Srikalahasti kalamkari", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). EveryPallu rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
It may contain mistakes. Traditions, weaves and prices differ from one weaver, town or shop to the next, and it is not buying advice. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-03.
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