The traditional art of Kalamkari uses vegetable dyes as colours and utilises unique pens made from the bamboo tree to paint by hand on cotton or silk fabric. The Persian term “Kalamkari,” in which “Kalam” means pen and ‘Kari’ means workmanship, encapsulates the origin of the word “Kalamkari.

This craft requires 23 time-consuming procedures, including starching, cleaning, hand painting, block printing, and dyeing. Traditional motifs made by craftspersons in Kalamkari include flowers, peacocks, paisleys, and celestial figures from Hindu epics like the Mahabharata and Ramayana.