Phulkari

Phulkari (Punjabi: ਫੁਲਕਾਰੀ) embroidery technique from the Punjab region (divided between India and Pakistan) literally means flower work, which was at one time used as the word for embroidery, but in time the word “Phulkari” became restricted to embroidered shawls and head scarfs. Simple and sparsely embroidered odini (head scarfs), dupatta and shawls, made for everyday use, are called Phulkaris, whereas garments that cover the entire body, made for special and ceremonial occasions like weddings and birth of a son, fully covered fabric is called Baghs ("garden") and scattered work on the fabric is called "adha bagh" (half garden). This whole work is done with white or yellow silk floss on cotton khaddarh and starts from the center on the fabric called "chashm-e-bulbul" and spreads to the whole fabric.

The word phul means flower and kari means craft, thus its name, literally means floral work or floral craft.

Punjab is known for its Phulkaris. The embroidery is done with floss silk thread on coarse hand woven cotton fabric. Geometrical patterns are usually embroidered on the Phulkaris. Phulkaris and Baghs were worn by women all over Punjab during marriage festivals and other joyous occasions. They were embroidered by the women for their own use and use of other family members and were not for sale in the market. Thus, it was purely a domestic art which not only satisfied their inner urge for creation but brought colour into day-to-day life. In a way, it was true folk art. Custom had grown to give Phulkaris and Baghs to brides at the time of marriages. The exquisite embroidery for Baghs are known to have been made in the districts of Hazara,Peshawar,Sialkot,Jhelum,Rawalpindi,Multan,Amritsar,Jalandhar,Ambala,Ludhiana,Nabha,Jind,Faridkot,Kapurthala and Chakwal of the Punjab region. Bagh and phulkari embroidery has influenced the embroidery of Gujarat known as 'heer bharat' in its use of geometrical motifs and stitchery.

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Wikipedia