Hand painting

What it is

A hand-painted saree is one on which an artist has painted the motifs directly on the cloth with brush, pen or other tools. Unlike block or screen printing, no mechanical repeat is used, so each piece is unique, and even a series of similar sarees will differ in small ways. Painting may follow a folk tradition, such as Madhubani from Bihar or Pattachitra from Odisha and Bengal, or may be free artistic work. The paints can be natural dye, pigments or modern fabric colours that are fixed by steam or heat. Hand painting is used on silk, cotton and georgette sarees, and often on borders and pallus, with a plain or simply woven body.

How it is made, step by step

The cloth is washed to remove starch, stretched flat on a frame or table, and sometimes treated with a thin coat to stop colours spreading. The artist sketches the outline lightly with a pencil or chalk, then draws final outlines with a fine brush or a bamboo nib dipped in black. Colours are filled in layer by layer, with brushes of different sizes, often starting with the lightest. In Pattachitra, the painter uses natural pigments from stone, soot and plant materials mixed with a gum. After painting, the cloth is dried, then fixed by steaming or ironing for fabric colours, and washed. A heavily detailed saree can take a few weeks, and artists often work in family groups.

The motifs and looks it is known for

Madhubani painting uses bold black outlines and flat bright colours, with fish, peacocks, suns, lotuses, and scenes of gods and village life, and is made in Bihar. Pattachitra of Odisha, from Raghurajpur, shows Jagannath, Krishna stories and floral borders with fine lines and strong colours. Bengal patachitra includes narrative scrolls. Warli painting uses white stick figures on a brown or dark ground, and is from Maharashtra. Kalamkari work with hand-drawn pen is related. Contemporary painters add abstract florals and landscapes. The look is painterly, with fine details, and the colours may sit on the surface, giving a slightly stiff hand if the paint is heavy.

Where it is made

Mithila region of Bihar, around Madhubani and Darbhanga, is the home of Madhubani painting, long practised by women, now also by men, and it is applied to sarees in workshops. Raghurajpur in Puri district of Odisha is a heritage crafts village for Pattachitra, and Naya village in Midnapore, West Bengal, is known for patachitra of the Chitrakar community. Srikalahasti in Andhra Pradesh is the home of pen kalamkari. Santiniketan, Kolkata, Jaipur, Chennai and Bhopal have studios that make hand-painted sarees on silk, cotton and chanderi. Some silk-producing centres, such as Bhagalpur and Mysore, supply the cloth to painters, and a few cooperatives handle sales.

History in brief

Painting on cloth is very old in India and includes temple hangings, scrolls and ritual cloth. Pattachitra in Odisha is linked to the Jagannath temple at Puri. Madhubani wall painting is a long-standing women household tradition in Mithila, and it reached wider attention when it was moved to paper in the twentieth century, following a drought in the 1960s when craft organisations encouraged artists to paint for sale. After that, it moved onto cloth as well, including sarees. Both Madhubani and Odisha Pattachitra hold Geographical Indication registrations. Hand-painted sarees as a fashion category are mostly a modern development, drawing on these older traditions.

Buying and caring for it

Look closely at the brush strokes. Hand painting shows small variations in line thickness, slight overlaps and tiny irregularities, and the colour is deeper in places where the brush paused. Prints show uniform dots under magnification and the same pattern repeating exactly. On the reverse, soaked-in dye or paint should show through on lightweight cloth. Ask the artist or shop who painted it and whether the paints are colour-fast. Dry clean is the safest option, particularly for natural pigments. If you wash, use cold water, mild soap, and no scrubbing, and dry in shade. Keep away from perfume and water, avoid hard ironing over the paint, and store with a cloth cover.

Where to look

• Madhubani painted saree: Bihar folk painting in bold lines on silk or cotton.
• Pattachitra saree: Odisha and Bengal scroll painting style applied to cloth, with deity and floral motifs.
• Raghurajpur: Heritage crafts village in Puri district, Odisha, known for Pattachitra.
• Naya village patachitra: Painters of the Chitrakar community in West Bengal.
• Warli painted saree: White figure drawings from Maharashtra on dark cloth.
• Srikalahasti pen work: Hand-drawn kalamkari of Andhra Pradesh.
• Santiniketan painted silk: Studio hand painting on silk from West Bengal.

Care

• Prefer dry cleaning, especially for natural pigments.
• If washing, use cold water, mild soap and no scrubbing.
• Do not iron hard over the paint and keep away from perfume.

Sources and further reading

• Madhubani art on Wikipedia
• Pattachitra, Wikipedia