27-09-2013, 02:43 PM
CHAMBA RUMAL
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Introduction
The Chamba Rumal , is a form of embroidery that flourished in the eighteenth and early twentieth century in the mountain region of north India.
Running through Chamba, Kulu, Kangra, Guler, Mandi and Suket, the craft witnessed explicit distinctions between 'elite' and 'folk art'.
The languishing craft of the 'Chamba Rumal' refers only to the delicately embroidered rumals created by royal and elite women who had access to the professional services of trained miniature artists.
These miniature artists not only drew the theme to be embroidered on the rumal in charcoal, but also provided the women who would be embroidering the rumal with a sophisticated colour palette
Traditions
It was customary to gift embroidered rumals in a girl’s marriage.
Subjects like wedding scenes were popular and were repeatedly embroidered.
This handicraft , being an important item of the dowry, was dependent for its existence almost on the social custom i.e. wedding.
No marriage ceremony would be reckoned complete with out the gift of Chamba rumal by the relatives of the brides.
STITCHES
.The stitch used in embroidering the Chamba Rumal was the do – rukha, double satin stitch which, as its name implies, can be viewed from two (do) sides or aspects (rukh). The stitch is carried both backward and forward and covers both sides of the cloth, effecting a smooth finish that is flat and looks like colours filled into a miniature painting. No knots are visible, and the embroidered rumal can be viewed from both sides. It thus becomes reversible.
Criss Cross stitch
The use of criss cross stitches , which comprise a simple
technique of crossing two stitches of equal size in the shape
of a cross (X) can be discerned in several rumals. This stitch
as a unit comprises a running band mostly in red colour ,
arrayed usually in straight or circular line identically visible
on the both sides of the fabric. This criss – cross stitch is no
longer practiced by any contemporary embroider in Chamba .
Important Works
So far, the oldest dated rumal is a 16th century creation that is supposed to have been embroidered by Bebe Nanki, the sister of Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith in India. This is now preserved in the Sikh shrine in Gurdaspur in Punjab. A rumal depicting the battle of Kurukshetra - from the Indian epic Mahabharata - is to be found at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. This oblong piece is supposed to have been presented by Raja Gopal Singh of Chamba to the British in 1833.