EVOLUTION OF INDIAN TEXTILE DESIGN : A STUDY OVER TIMESPAN

Abstract

Indian Textile Designs has a rich vocabulary and are well known all over the world for their rich variety, grace, beauty, elegance and skilled craftsmanship. These designs are used by the craftsmen’s in weaving, embroidery, wall paintings, printing, etc. Indian designs are the references of rich culture, traditions and heritage. Over the millennium beautiful designs has not only blossomed into an intricate art but has also been consumed in recent times by overwhelming phenomenon of modernization in the form of mass production and mechanization in textile world. The rich and intricate designs have rightly called ‘Exquisite poetry in colorful fabrics’. The natural forms are woven in a highly embellished and stylized manner. A unit of a pattern or the smallest unit of a design is a motif. Often inspired by nature, architecture, culture, or religion, etc. The motifs on traditional Indian textiles are all distinct and mostly very colorful, intricate, bold and symmetrical. After assimilating the essence of a pattern, a weaver, an embroiderer or an artist implements his own interpretation of it. Since ancient time many kings ruled our country, these designs are often representation of the different styles from an era gone. Thus a stem can evolve into a flower or an animal/bird form. Decorative motifs like a leaf, fruit, flower, branch, bud, creeper, animal, bird or a tree never break the symmetry of the pattern or designs. Indian craftsmen’s always gave serious consideration to the proper utilization of the space between the motifs in a pattern. To maintain correlation and harmony between the patterns, certain geometrical patterns, textures and effects were used. The most common being checks, strips, dots, etc.