Kalamkari Temple Hangings

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The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has the world’s most important collection of 19th-century temple hangings from South India. Commissioned by Hindu temples and monasteries (maths), and by individuals for religious use, the hangings were produced in the Kalamkari style of hand drawing, mordant-dyeing and painting. Striking in artistry, and imposing in size, these temple hangings represent a complex technique that reached its highest expression in southern India.

The majority of these pieces are from coastal Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu, with one extraordinary Ramayana hanging from Sri Lanka. All of them date from the 19th century except for one astonishing 20th-century hanging from Srikalahasti, depicting the life of Christ in the traditional Hindu Kalamkari style.

A first of its kind, this volume presents a fully illustrated compilation of nineteen pieces from the V&A collection, accompanied by translations of their inscriptions, and a summary of the story depicted therein. The ‘frame by-frame’ analyses of these narratives yield a fascinating range of stories, from versions of the Ramayana to local epics.

Bringing this previously unpublished collection together, the book provides us with a new look at the remarkable variety of regional artistic traditions, and allows us to celebrate the master craftsmen whose names are now known to us to be celebrated for the first time.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Anna L Dallapiccola

Dr. Anna L. Dallapiccola is Professor of Art History at the South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg, Germany. She has published extensively in the field of Indian Miniature painting. In recent years she has studied Sculptures and mural paintings in Temples of the Vijayanagara and Nayaka periods.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Rosemary Crill

Rosemary Crill is Deputy Curator of the Indian & South-East Asian Department of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, where she specialises in Indian textiles and Rajasthani paiting. Her publications include Hats from India, Tie-dyed Textiles of India (co-author), Colours of the Indus: Costume and Textiles of Pakistan (co-author), Indian Ikat Textiles, Marwar Paiting: A History of the Jodhpur Style, and Indian Embroiderey.

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Bibliographic information

Title
Kalamkari Temple Hangings
Author
Edition
1st. ed.
Publisher
ISBN
9781935677628
Length
192p., Illustrations; 120 Colour Plates; 9 Figures; 29cm.
Subjects