Kantha is a type of embroidery popular in West Bengal, India.

The use of kantha is

popular in saris traditionally worn by women in Bengal, but any garment or cloth with
kantha embroidery (having a border of decorative running stitch motifs) is called a
kantha garment.

ABOUT THE STATE

West Bengal, is land of many social reformers

like Subhash Chandra Bose, Ravindra Nath
Tagore, Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo
and many more. During the time of India's Area 88,752 sq.km
independence, Bengal is divided in to two,
East Bengal and West Begnal. The East Capital Kolkata
Bengal merged with Pakisthan and West
Language Bengali
Bengal with India. On linguistic basis West
Bengal got a status of separate state in India
Districts 19
Union on 1st May 1960. Later the East Begal
demanded for a separate nation and in 1971, Population 80,221,171
it got the separate status of a country as Male 41,487,694
Bengladesh.The state is bounded on the east Female 38,733,477
by Bangladesh, west by Bihar, north by
Bhutan and Sikkim and south by Bay of Literacy 94.59%
Bengal. Here two third of the population
depends on agriculture. West Bengal is known
for its beauty and prosperity.
GEOGRAPHICAL:

Click on the map to enlarge

West Bengal was created as a constituent state of the Indian union on 15 August
1947 as the result of partition of the undivided British Indian province of Bengal
into West Bengal. West Bengal covers the bottle neck of India in the east,
stretching from Himalayas in the north to the Bay of Bengal in the south. It is
bounded on the north by Sikkim and Bhutan, on the east by Assam and
Bangladesh. On the south by the Bay of Bengal and on the west by Orissa, Bihar
and Nepal. It has therefore, three international frontiers-to the north, east and
west. The state lies between 27o13'15" and 21o25'24" north latitudes and 85o48'20"
and 89o53'04" east longitudes.

West Bengal has two natural divisions. The

Himalayan north comprising the districts of
Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Bihar and the
alluvial plain that lies south of it.West Bengal is
essentially a flat, featureless alluvial plain large
portion of it being a part of delta of river
Ganga, only one per unit of its area in the far
north is really mountainous. The plateau fringe and the Purulia triangle of upland
along her western border, comprises about six per cent of the total area. The
northern part of the district of Darjeeling is hilly to mountanious. Its border to the
north being fenced with rising mountain ranges of the Himalayas. Downwards, the
mountains slope down to hills and as the borders of Jalpaiguri district are reached,
the hills give way to rolling humid plains known as the Dooars. The Singalila range
along the border with Nepal rises to nearly 3,700 metres, and is well wooded with
rhododendron trees. The Dooars forests are densely wooded with evergreen
vegetation and are the resorts of wild animal including the Royal Bengal tiger,
rhinoceros, elephant, antelope and snakes including Python.

The central region or the 'Malda Pouch' comprising the districts of Malda and West
Dinajpur is geographically an older area than the Gangetic plains below. It has a
slightly higher land level watered inter-mittently by hill rivers among which the
Mahananda with its winding course is the largest. It pours into the Ganga a little
above Farakka in Bangaladesh.

The southern region, starting in the north from

the point where the Ganga demarcates in the
boundaries of the districts of Malda and
Murshidabad consists of two geographically
distinct areas. "Western Plateau Fringe"
consist of the Purulia district and the western

Courtesy for Picture part of the districts of Birbhum, Burdwan,

Prakash Saha Bankura and Midnapur. The highest point of
Kolkata this plateau, named Goraburu Hill in Purulia
district is 677 metres and the lowest point is
85 metres above the sea level where the up land ends in Midnapur district on the
northern bank of the Subarbarekha river the altitude falls to 50 metres above the
sea level. The plateau forms the tail-end of the chhartisgarh state of Orissa and
Madhya Pradesh.

The rest of the southern region is a vast alluvial plain, except for the western
plateau fringe and the sub-montane area of Darjeeling district, the entire length
of WestBengal is one rolling up land. The vast alluvial plains of the state spread
from Jalpaiguri and Siliguri in the north to the Sundarban creeks and its Kanthi
littoral in the south. The southern region is bisected by the Bhagirathi
(Hooghly)river, one of the two forks of the Ganga that take off from top of
Murshidabad district. The plain land on the western bank of the Hooghly river is
largely formed by the deposits carried by a system of hill rivers rising in the
western hills that pour their waters into the Hooghly and form part of the Gangetic
delta. The main river in this system is the Damodar, Bengal's 'River of Sorrow'. The
plains to the east are watered by distributaries of the Ganga branching off in West
Bengal as well as Bangladesh. One feature of these plains is the existence of
shallow lagoons called 'dahas'or 'boonrs', formed by beds of distributaries that got
silted up above and below and of low marsh lands called bells that become flooded
during the rainy season.

The coastal fringe likewise is of two distinct characters, west of the Hooghly the
coastal strip in Midnapur district called the Contai or Kanthi strip. It consist of sand
dunes and salt marshes mingled with each other. The marshes are formed behind
well-developed sand bars. At places there are large shifting sand dunes, which have
a tendency to blow landwards and encroach upon the cultivated land behind them.
Vistas of Casuarinas plantation are being developed all along the coast to fix the
dunes and stop sea erosion. The Japanese quick growing creeper Kudzu is also
being planted. The natural vegetation consists of clumps of Keya bushes. Their
fragrant flowers are collected to produce the famous Kewra scent.

The Sunderbans

The Hooghly river estuary that covers the entire southern portion, nearly a fourth of
the total area of twenty four Parganas district consist of the remarkable tropical
forest called the Sunderbans. The major portion of this Sforest is located in the
adjoining Bangladesh district of Khulna and Barisal. The region is entirely alluvial. It
is crisscrossed by a network of naturally forming arterial streams branching off from
the major waterways and almost wholly consist of swamps and morasses
abounding in quick sands. Close to the sea-belts the jungles are thick and hardly
penetrable on account of the boggy character of the soil and the treacherous-sharp
pointed spikes of the Sundri (mangrove) trees. The Sunderbans are abound in
royal Bengal tiger, leopard, rhinoceros, wild hog, deer, monkeys, python, different
species of Cobra and other snakes and many varieties of birds. The rivers are
abound in Crocodile, shark and many kinds of fish.

The jungle prevent major erosion of the coastline, the tidal incursions of saline
water from the sea and the torrential flow of water in the river during the monsoons
cause frequent and considerable changes in the land area above the jungle fringe.
Here is a constant war between nature and man for saving the rice producing
agricultural land from being inundated by brackish water or being rapidly eroded by
the sea. Huge earthen dykes are constructed around agricultural settlements called
Chauks. The hinter land between the Damodar and the Hooghly and right up to the
border of Bangladesh is served by dead or drying channels of the Hooghly. This
area is called the Moribund Delta.

Climate

West Bengal has a tropical climate. The plains are hot except during the short
winterseason.
The mountanious region in the north is cold. On
account of its altitude but th

ere humidity is high. The classical tradition speaks of

six seasons-Spring, Summer, the rainy, Autumn, mild
Winter and severe Winter. Only four clearly marked
seasons with a brief interregnum of spring are
observed, namely the hot season, the rainy season,
the post monsoon season corresponding to autumn
and the cold season. The hot season lasts from mid-
March to mid-June, with the day temperature ranging
from 38o C to 45oC in different parts of the state. At
nights, a cool southerly breeze carrying moisture from
the Bay of Bengal is usually present. The high
temperature often causes troughs of low pressure to form on the plains which are
compensated by sudden briefs storms known as kal-baisakhi or 'nor-westers',
accompanied by thunder showers. These summer storms can be quite destructive.
The hills of Darjeeling district are pleasantly cool in summer, the higher reaches are
sometimes enveloped in heavy fog. On some days, one is rewarded by the sight of
the majestic snow-girt Kanchanjunga and the eastern Sikkim ranges and the
greenness of the wooded hills and gorges that abound on all sides.

The monsoon arrives by a middle of June. Its scouts start arriving about two weeks
before its normal onset. This is called the Chhota monsoon which breaks the hot
spell of summer. The monsoon rains in west Bengal are caused solely by the
current of wind from the Bay of Bengal.

Variability is a characteristic feature of the monsoon in west Bengal as well as

Bangladesh and Orissa which all receive the impact of the south-west Bay current.
Breaks in the continuity of rain are not unusual, the resultant thoughts of low
pressure develop into cyclone storms especially towards the end of the season and
in early autumn.

A welcome change in the weather begins to be distinctly felt towards the end of
September. Autumn in West Bengal is the season for festivity in the fields the
golden grain of paddy starts ripening and is harvested towards the end of the
season. The conclusion of the round of the festivities marks the onset of the winter
in mid-November.

Winter, which lasts about three months, is mild over the plains, the average
minimum temperature not falling 15o C. It is attended by a cold and dry northern
wind, substantially lowering the humidity level. Winter is the season for the rabi
crops-pulses, potato and vegetables and citrus fruits that grow on the Darjeeling
hills. There occurs a short interregnum of clouds and rain usually the last week of
December and the first week of January, caused by the incursion of the western
monsoon coming all the way from the Arabian Sea. The cold is severe on the hills
and there are sometimes sleet and snow on the higher reaches during the days of
rain.

The weather gets warmer by the middle February, which heralds a brief spring
season lasting about a month during which the deciduous trees break out in young
green leaves and flowers. But this mellow season is too short-lived and the heat is
turned on until with the coming of April, clammy summer comes in full blast and
the annual cycle of seasons rolls on once again

Rivers and Water Ways

The hilly region in the north comprising the

district of Darjeeling is cut through by deep
gorges ofthe Teesta which flows from north to
south between mountainous banks rising two
to three kilometres above the stream. The
Teesta on debouching into the plains south of
Darjeeling at Sevoke, flows in a mighty stream
on straight line towards the south east until it
pours its waters into the Brahamaputra in
Courtesy for Picture
Bangladesh. Other rivers, smaller than the
Prakash Saha
Teesta, rising in the Himalayas are Jaldhaka,
Kolkata
the Torsha, the Sankosh and the Raidak. Of
these the Torsha is the most turbulent. These rivers, carrying the back of the
monsoon waters of the huge catchment area of the Himalayas. During the dry
reason they are navigable in the plains below. The Mahananda rises from springs in
the Dow Hills forest, below Darjeeling town falls in the spectacular cascade named
Pagla-Jhora in to the sloping plains of southern Darjeeling district and fed by three
other similar rivers the Mahanadi, the Balason, and the Machi runs a zig-zag course
through Maldah district into the Padma in Bangladesh.

The central region is watered by the Mahananda as well as such rivers arising in
the plains as the Tangan, the Punarbhava and the Atrai the former two combine
their streams and flow into the Mahananda and the Atrai flows into the Padma in
Bangladesh. The southern region is served by two river systems. One for plateau
and the plains west of the Gangetic delta and the other for the Gangetic delta itself.
In the former area, a number of rivers originating in the western plateau flow down
in a south easterly direction and join the Bhagirathi, the main westerly channel of
the Ganga moving down to the estuary of the Bay of Bengal. Of these the north
most is the Mayurakshi, which is fed by tributaries Brahmani, Dwaraka, Bakreswar
and Kopai. A little to the south the river Ajay rising in the hills of Bihar, flows down
the plateau fringe, marking the boundary between Bankura nd Birbhum districts
and joins the Bhagirathi at Katwa. Three other small streams Khari, Banka and
Behula were one distributaries of Damodar, but are now meandering streams. The
biggest river of the plateau fringe, the Damodar, also rising in the Bihar hills runs
down in an easterly course until it takes a turn to the south and flows into the
Hooghly river. Hooghly river is called as 'River of Sorrow'.

Further south is the Rupanarayan made up of two streams, Dwarakeswar and Silai
or Silabati. It joins the Hooghly near the estuary at Haldia and its impressive width
up to Kolaghat is due to the tidal action on estuary. Still farther south are the
Kansabati or Kasai and the Subarnarekha, the latter rising in the Orissa hills and
striking the boundary between the states of Orissa and West Bengal.

In the remainder of the southern region, the main channel of Ganga called Padma
runs into Bangladesh where it joins to Brahmaputra and the two rivers runs into
one of the broadest estuaries of the world and later meets Bay of Bengal below
Noakhali in Bangladesh. The main body of the Ganga waters being carried by the
Padma. The main channel with in a West Bengal is the Bhagirathi named in its
lower reaches the Hooghly river by the British taking off at the head of Murshidabad
district, the Bhagirathi flows southwards into a sea past the port city of Calcutta.
Near the Sea-mouth it is joined by the Rupmarayan at Haldia. The other main
channels the Bhairah and the Jalangai were mighty waterways on account of
changes in the land level due to seismic factors and the deposition of heavy
quantities of salt the Bhagirathi has been reduced to a spill channel. The silting of
the main channel river itself has assumed such alarming proportions that steamship
navigation up to the Port of Calcutta has been seriously hampered by rise and
spread of Sand banks. An effort have to resuscitate its flow has been made in the
shape of the Farakka Barrage project which has completed in 1974.

The channels near the bay mouth are broad and comparatively free from silt
deposits. Tidal bores coming up from the sea on full-moon days during late
monsoon and in autumn sometimes rise to a height of over six metres at the
estuary, to about three metres in-land at Calcutta.

The other main channels in tidal basin are the Manganga or Baratola, the
Saptamukhi, the Thakuran, the Malta, the Gaushaba and the Raimangal which
skirts the boundary between West Bengal and Bangladesh in the extreme south. All
the channels are safe and pleasant during fair weather months for navigation by
country boat and streamers, affording as they do a unique view of the majestic
Sunderbans.

Natural Vegetation- Forest of the Darjeeling Hills | Tropical Mixed Evergreen

Forests of the Foot Hills | Deciduous Forests Of The Plateau Fringe | Mangraove
Vegetation Of The Sudarbans
Natural Vegitation

Forests of three distinct areas exist in the state. These are the forests of the north
which include the mountain temperate forests and the tropical forests of the
Duars, the deciduous forests of the plateau fringe and the mangrove forests of
Sunderbans. Of these the northern forests are the most important.

Forests of the Darjeeling Hills

These forests are related to altitude and aspect. Below 1000 metres there are
tropical evergreen forests. Above 1000 metres the effect of altitude is definitely
felt. Subtropical forests are found in between 1000 and 1500 metres. Terminalia,
Cedrela, Michelia, Various laurels and Bamboos are found in this belt.

Temperate forests are found from 1500 to 3000 metres. They contain some
varieties of oaks and conifers. Magnolia campbellii and large rhododendrons tree
are also found in this belt. Much of this forest area has been cleared for
tea gardens around Darjeeling and Kurseong. Beech and birch are found in many
areas. Conifers are found in slightly higher situations. There are dense forests of
deodars nearly all along the Dow Hill ridge which continue up to Senchal, and
clothe the entire Tiger Hill. Birches are found all round Darjeeling. There are few
deodars on the Ghoom ridge, where oaks are more common. Due to the
occurrence of mists on the southern slopes, the trees are covered with mosses and
orchids. Many kinds of sweet temperate berries are also found in the undergrowth.
Magnolias and oaks occur around Kalimpong while conifers cover higher slopes
and peaks. Above 3000 metres, silver fir is very common. It is common in the
Singalila Range. Dwarf rhododendrons also occur here. Higher up are Alpine
meadows, smell bushes and flowering plants.

Tropical Mixed Evergreen Forests of the Foot Hills

Some of the most dense forests of West Bengal occur in the foothills of the
Himalayas. Many of them are protected. They are generally well managed and
properly exploited. Much of this forest is moist deciduous and here sal (shorea
robusta) is the most common and valuable tree. Other common tree associated
with sal forests are Champa (Michelia Champaea) and Chilauni (Schima Wallichii),
Khair, Gamar and toon. Bamboo is also found here. Vistas of tall grasses grow
along the rivers. Evergreen laurels and other moisture loving plants are found
mixed up with the deciduous forests.

A broad belt of these forests stretches along the entire length of the northern
districts. It is broader towards the east in the Duars. Here low-level tea gardens
have taken a heavy toll of the forests. Corridors of these forests penetrate the hills
along the river gorges of Mechi, Balason, Mahanadi, Tista, Jaldhaka and many other
smaller streams.

This forest is very dense. There is much

undergrowth of shrubs and bushes. Orchids cling
to the trees and giant creepers form a
tangled mass of impenetrable vegetation. Wild
animals abound in the jungles which include the
rare one-horned Indian rhinoceros, the elephant
and the Bengal tiger. Sanctuaries have been provided for them at Mahananda,
Gorumara (National Park), Chapramari, Neora Valley (National Park), Jaldapara
and Buxa (Tiger Reserve).

Soils of these forests are naturally rich in humus. Along the river beds the soils are
found in broad belts of sterile sands and pebbles. At some places high banks of
these gravels are found.

People -Racial composition | Education | Dress | Food Habits

Racial composition

In their racial composition, the inhabitants of West Bengal present a prolific inter
mixture of five separate racial strains. The oldest stratum of the population is
Proto-Australian in origin. The element called Nishadic is found preponderantly
among the tribals in the plateau fringe and beyond into Chhotanagpur and central
India. They are long headed, dark skinned, broad-nosed and short in stature.
Variously labeled as Negritos and Negroids, their physical features are evident
among the lowest castes of Bengal, mainly the peasants.

The next wave of immigration was by a long-headed race with a taller structure,
sharp nose and prominent chin, known as Dravidians. This race is believed to have
come from the northern Mediterranean littoral, shortly in their wake came the
round headed Sumerians, also called Armenoids, from western area, via, Persia.
 The next considerable racial element to come into the western
part of Bengal is the round headed Alpine or Indo-Aryan race
with its fair skin, oval face, prominent nose and long body.
The fifth racial strain, the Mongoloid is represented in the
population of the Darjeeling district of northern West Bengal,
which is of the Tibetan type. Undoubtedly Mongoloid features
show unimistakable traces among Hindu as well as Muslim
rural people of north Bengal districts the Koches and Rajbanis
of the Dooars plains shows additional traces of mixture with
the eastern Mongoloids of the Burmese type.

The five main racial strains are inextricably intermixed, and it is practically
impossible to find a pure racial type in the population. On the whole it may be said
that the main elements of the Bengali race are the long headed
matrilineal Mediterranean type which brings our Dravidian affinity and the round
headed Mediterranean type who associates with the people of upper India. As
regards the so-called lower castes of the state, these elements are of much lesser
importance. The predominant element here being the proto-Australoid in varying
proportions.

Education

In the whole of the rural West Bengal and in the most of the municipal areas the
primary education is free and compulsory. Free supply of text books have been
under taken. Girls education up to standard VIII has been made free in rural and
urban areas, including Calcutta.

Dress

The common Bengali dress is the dhoti and a stitched upper garment - a shirt, a
Punjabi Kurta or a half-sleeved vest. The urban population has started
favouring pyjama and trousers for convenience and economy. The western style of
dress is being adopted by the more affluent as a status symbol replacing the
achakan-pyjama and the Shamla Pugree, there is a general absence of any kind of
headdresses, Muslims cover there head during prayer and religious ceremonies.
The women invariably wear the waist to ankle length sari in a graceful style. The
upper part is covered by different styles of blouses.

Food Habits

The Bengali is predominantly a rice eater. All but the very devout Hindus eat fish
as a principal item of their food. He has a sweet tooth and everyone who can
afford them enjoys sweet meats made with milk casein (chhan) of which a large
variety have been evolved. Another essential item is dal (pulses) which
supplements their protein requirements. A large assortment of vegetablesand
seasonal fruits completes the dietary. Bengalis prefer to other beverages, the habit
of taking sweetened tea has a spread to there remotest villages. Chewing of pan
laced with lime, Kattha and arecanut is universal., so is the smoking of tobacco,
either plain in the form of bidi or mixed with treacle and spices for the hookah.
Cigarette smoking has been spreading to rural areas but is still something of a
symbol . Drinking of palm juice today and home made alcoholic brews is largely
confined to industrial labour and the tribal population

Kantha stitching is also used to make simple quilts. Women in Bengal typically use
old saris and cloth and layer them with kantha stitch to make a light blanket, throw or
bedspread, especially for children. Kantha is very popular with tourists visiting
Bengal and is a specialty of Bolpur/Shantiniketan, and is similar to the decorative
running stitch of Japanese sashiko quilting. Kantha originated from the way in which
Bengali housewives mended old clothes by taking out a strand of thread from the
colorful border of their saris and making simple designs with them.

Kantha also means throat. The name Nilakanth is given to Lord Shiva, literally
meaning "blue throat" after he swallowed the poison that resulted from the churning
of the ocean, or "Throat chakra". Kantha is also used as an adjective to describe a
style of necklace that lies close to the throat, open at the back.

Kantha used as bed for a baby

[edit]Kantha embroidery of West Bengal

Kantha is still the most popular form of embroidery practised by rural women. The
traditional form of Kantha embroidery was done with soft dhotis and saris, with a
simple running stitch along the edges. Depending on the use of the finished product
they were known as Lepkantha, Sujni Kantha etc. The embroidered cloth has many
uses including women's shawls and covers for mirrors, boxes, pillows etc. In the best
examples, the entire cloth is covered with running stitches, employing beautiful
motifs of flowers, animals birds and geometrical shapes, as well as themes from
everyday activities. The stitching on the cloth gives it a slight wrinkled wavy effect.
Contemporary Kantha is applied to a wider range of garments such as sarees,
dupatta, shirts for men and women, bedding and other furnishing fabrics, mostly
using cotton and silk.

About West Bengal

West Bengal

West Bengal is a state in eastern India. With Bangladesh, which lies on its eastern
border, the state forms the ethno-linguistic region of Bengal. To its northeast lie the
states of Assam and Sikkim and the country Bhutan, and to its southwest, the state
of Orissa. To the west it borders the states of Jharkhand and Bihar, and to the
northwest, Nepal.

Bengal is famous for the rich tradition of weaving handloom cotton & silk textiles
among the tribal and semi-tribal people in the districts . Jamdanis,Tangail ,
Nilambari,Rajbanshis,cowdial woven saris and kanthas, are few names which are
renowned across globe. The sarongs of the Polia,beautifully patterned,
multicoloured, narrow jute carpets on similar looms are made by the tribals of West
Dinajpur.

The cultivation of mulberry silk and its weaving is carried out in the plains of West
Bengal. The other districts where silk yarn is made are Murshidabad, Birbhum,
Bankura, Maldha and Purulia districts. The district of Maldah on the north bank of the
Ganga is today the most important centre for silk rearing in West Bengal.Tapestry
material was made from Baluchar silks which were originally used by nawabs and
Muslim aristocrats of the Murshidabad district as; however Hindu noblemen used the
raw silk.

Murshidabad silks are popular for hand-printed designs and other materials which
are also printed with wooden blocks. Calcutta and Srirampur in the Hooghly district
are the main textile hand-printing centres in West Bengal.Traditional silk sari
weaving is also done at Vishnupur in Bankura district which bear a lot of
similarity with the kataki designs of Orissa. In the districts of Bankura, Birbhum,
Purulia, Murshidabad, and Maldah the weavers make plain silk fabrics in rich and
varied textures using Tussar and mulberry silk.

Kantha is an indigenous household craft, made the rural women in West Bengal; it is a
specialty of Bolpur-Santiniketan and remains also the most creative of all embroidery
styles in this part of India.
Origins:
Kantha also means throat. The name Nilakanth is given to Lord Shiva, literally meaning,
“blue throat” after he swallowed the poison that arose as a result of the churning of the
ocean, It is also known as the “Throat charka”. The origin of Kantha traces its history to a
period not less than a thousand years. Its images reach back to even earlier sources, preand
post- Vedic. Some symbols such as the tree of life, the swirling cosmos, and the sun
are taken from the primitive art. The later influence of Hinduism, in the making of
Kanthas for religious ceremonies, pujas, weddings and births, gave the art its place as a
vehicle of significant cultural meaning. The textile printing tradition of Bengal dates back
to a few centuries. Wooden block printing on cotton and silk have achieved a distinction
in the Serampur Hooghly district. Batik printing done mainly by women have undergone
years of experimentation. If ever there was a true sorority in the world of ideas, it must
have been in the field of quilt making. Women, all over the world, took up the
responsibility of providing everybody with the warmth against the cold. Kantha making
is a “women’s art” .It was the Bengali housewife who helped the art of embroidery to
evolve. From embroidering her husband’s initials on his handkerchief to sewing pieces of
discarded cloth with colorful threads to make Kantha, the lady of the house busied herself
with needle and thread as soon as her domestics’ chores were over.
The earliest mention of Bengal Kantha is found in the book, “Sri Chaitanya
Charitamrita”, by Krishnadas Kaviraj which was written some five hundred years back.
There the poet says, Sachi, the mother of Chaitanya, sent a homemade Kantha to her son
at Puri through some pilgrims. The same Kantha still can be viewed in Gambhira, at Puri,
displayed in a glass case.
The second earliest reference is in Zaman’s book about the famous artist A. Tagore. Who
seemed to have encountered a woman in a village in a district of Srihatta of Bangladesh,
who recorded her life story in her Kantha spanning a period starting from her marriage to
old age. Bengal Kantha making is a little different from other quilting artistry. The
material is different as well as the stitching method.
From a very long time, Bengal cotton and silk have been known in the world market for
its finesse and quality. Bengal “muslin” was an item of export even at Perecles’s time.
When such beautiful creations were worn and old, Bengal women did not see any reason
to throw them away. Beautiful sari borders were preserved, the soft dhotis were placed
layer upon layer and stitched in sari borders; thus started the first recycling art of the
world. The stitching patterns of Bengal Kanthas are simple, but it can be very intricate
depending on the inclination of the Kantha maker. Bengal Kantha makers reflect their
traditions in choosing their designs. The real value of Kantha embroidery lies in its fine
craftsmanship and vignette of daily folk life motifs being a favourite of the embroiderers.
In Bengal, Kanthas were originally used as baby’s diapers, or wrappers for laying
newborn babies in the courtyard while they were massaged with mustard oil. The idea of
using this embroidery commercially, originated more in urban groups. The number of
2
layers used to vary according to the use of which the Kantha was meant. Normally the
top and bottom layers of a Kantha were white or of a very light color, so that the
embroidery done with faded threads drawn from the sari borders were not lost. At present
day, due to the high cost of handcrafted materials, Kantha making for the baby’s diaper is
not cost effective at all. However, in the early seventies, there had been a revival in
Kantha art in both the Bengals. Sreelata Sirkar derived inspiration from Pratima Devi of
Santiniketan and started designing Kanthas for teamwork. Thus, she not only received a
dying art, but also made room for a great economic activity for West Bengal women.
Kantha is characterized by the pattered running stitches.
History of the meaning:
Kantha is like a personal diary, a letter one writes to a particular person, and is not meant
to be ready by all. In East Bengal the Kantha was a personal expression, an art-craft that
was made spontaneously, even whimsically. It was never commissioned by rulers, nor
ordered by the landed gentry. No two pieces are the same. It was craft that was practiced
by women of all rural classes, the rich landlord’s wife making her own elaborate
embroidered quilt in her leisure time, and the tenant farmer’s wife making her own
thrifty, coverlet, equal in beauty and skill. The Kantha is an invocation to the gods and
spirits for the prosperity and protection of the family. A real Kantha is able to narrate a
story, and is much more compact in design and it is made out of used materials. It has
been passed on for generations, from mothers to daughters and is largely a “dowry”
tradition.
It shows signs of decline today, beginning with the urban area, where career women have
no time for such “pedestrian” skills. The pastoral tribes, whose mainstay for the women
has been embroidery, did not have the impetus to market their goods to generate a
comfortable income. Traditional embroidery is so interlinked with every dimension of
living, and often an esoteric idiom, that it is nearly impossible to slot them into
categories. Very often, the embroidery traditions in each region point community reveal
caste identities, status and the village of its origin. The Hindu Kantha makers would tend
to choose from religion motifs, like gods and goddesses, the “alpanas” representing lotus
flower, conch shells, various birds and beast like peacock, parrots, elephants, lion, tiger,
whereas the Muslim women are usually restricted to geometrical designs and plants and
flowers. Within that restriction, they are able to create wonderful artifacts in “ jainamaz
Kantha”, “ dastarkhan”, or “gilaf embroidery”.
The craft is being practiced today by millions women mainly in the districts of Birbhum
Burdwan, Hooghly, 24 Parganas North and South and Murshidabad. Even as it has
evolved from being a subsistence activity done for personal satisfaction and
metamorphosed itself to a viable economic activity, Kantha still maintains a strong
cultural and social significance in the Bengali society. It has become a mean of livelihood
today and yet maintains itself as a household craft in many senses. Many of the women
engaged in this craft continue to practice it from within their homes.