KASHIDA OF KASHMIR

Kashmir, the fairyland, the heaven on earth, no wonder has produced a type of embroidery that is rarely
surpassed in its beauty and artistic value. Unlike the kasuti of Karnataka that reveals the influence of
religion and architecture, the kashida of Kashmir reflects the influence of Nature. Another point which
needs to be mentioned here is that Kashmir includes menfolk among its workers and the men actually
outnumber the women workers.

COLORS AND MOTIFS USED

Working under the inspiration of their natural surroundings, the embroiderers of Kashmir have introduced
into their handwork an abundance of motifs of gorgeous colors. The rich blues and purples, the fresh
greens, the vital yellows and the warm red bespeak of the grandeur of Kashmir. One finds innumerable
shades of colors and all the designs are evenly balanced.
While the flowers, leaves, fruits and birds form the main motifs in the designs of Kashmir embroidery,
animals and human beings have no place in them. Among birds the most popular ones are the parrot, the
magpie, kingfisher, woodpecker and the canary. Butterfly designs are also to be found, but the flowers
and foliage are the dominant motifs. A large variety of flowers of tremendous colors, shapes, sizes
namely Lilly, lotus, tulip, saffron, iris, bunches of grapes, apple, almond, cherries, plums etc all appear in
Kashida. The chinar leaf is the motif most abundantly used along with Cyprus tree. Several forms of
cones, cone shaped mango motif, the Kalka or Badami Buta are produced in infinite verities.
The ground fabric on which embroidery is done is composed of various types of wool like Pashmina,
Shahtoosh, Aslitus, verities of silk, cotton and linen. Usually embroidery is done on the undyed material of
white or cream background. However, according to the demand, dyed fabrics of various colors in darker
shades such as black, navy blue, brown, bottle green, maroon and so on are also being used.
The embroidery thread employed earlier was fine quality woolen yarn. Gradually woolen yarns have been
replaced by rich and lustrous silk threads. Over due course of time, the expensive silk has also got
replaced with rayon. Cotton threads of bright colors with good color fastness are also being used to large
extent. The embroidery is composed of wide spectrum of colors of light and dark shades such as crimson
red, scarlet red, blue, yellow, green, purple, black and brown. Earlier natural dyes were used for dyeing
yarns. The dyers had expertise to produce as many as 64 tints and shades in single color. However
presently synthetic or chemical dyes have replaced the original natural dyes.

The technique of Kashida originated with darn stitch, used as a finish to the shawl by the Rafugar. It is
simple running stitch which gives woven effect on the shawls. The three main stitches in kashida
embroidery are the satin stitch, the stem stitch and the chain stitch, while the herringbone and the darning
stitch are also employed occasionally. Kashida work is variously classified and special names are given to
different types. The word Kashida is a general term used to describe several verities like rafugari, sozni
(satin stitch), zalakdozi (chain stitch), vata chikan (buttonhole), doria (openwork) and talaikar (gold work).
Some other stitches like Chinateb (surface satin stitch) and tropateb (long and short stitch) were also
used.

Rafugari: It literally means darning. It is usually used on scarves and shawls which are generally smaller
in size (called as Pattoos). High class of rafugari is worked with the same type of material as that used for
the base. The interweaving produces a beautiful texture in the fabric. Kashmir Pashmina, shatush and
alwan are the materials largely used for this class of work. A high class shawl is expected to have the
design worked evenly on both the sides and may take about a couple of months to complete.
The embroidery on shawl is done at different parts like border, corner, centre, all over scattered and
accordingly the names are given in regional language.
 Hashia: The border design which runs all along the length of the shawl on either sides. It could
be in either single or double and sometimes even triple.
 Phala: It is the embroidery done on both the ends of the article, popularly known as pallu.
Different names are given to the varied number of rows of Buta in the Phala. When in two rows it
is called Dokad, up to 5 rows Sekhad and more than five it is called Tukadar.
 Tanjir or Zanjir: It is the border with chain stitch running either above or below the phala
 Kunj Buta: It is a cluster of flowers in the corner.
 Matanbagh: It consists of floral sprays.
Products: Product range produced by Kasida includes shawls, saris, dress materials, children’s clothes,
cushion coves, handkerchiefs etc. however there are 3 main floor coverings that are produced with
Kashida embroidery:

1. Namada: They basically comprise of waste wool which cannot be cleaned very well. The wool is
mixed with other fibres also and felt to make a compact mass of woolen fabric. The felt piece was
pressed properly but generally it can be seen the centre was thicker and the edges were pressed
out more. Finally came the turn of embroiderers who enriched the lifeless felt into beautiful pieces
by adorning them with the kashida embroidery. As the base material was thick the embroidery
done could not be very fine and mainly chain stitch was used. The Namadas were made in all
shapes and sizes and they served as asnas, jainamaz, bedspreads and even as curtains during
cold winter season. Some were also used to wrap precious jewellery and books.
2. Gabba: It is unique type of floor covering. It is prepared from torn woolen blankets or shawls after
being washed and dyed in various colors. Since they are made from old and discarded products
they are quite cheap. It basically consists of patchwork wherein patches of various sizes, shapes
and colors are joined together with help of different stitches like ari and zalakdozi. Bright color
combinations consist of yellow, green, black, red and white. The design comprised of mainly
geometrical designs and the products are mainly used as carpets, rugs, bed spreads etc.
3. Chain Stitch Rug: It resembles the gabba carpet and can be manufactured economically as the
base is hessian cloth or thick cotton and coarse wool is used for the floral motifs and designs.
These rugs try to copy intricate Persian carpet designs by the use of very fine embroidery. They
are used as wall carpets, asans, cushion covers etc.