Here’s an artist who uses earthy elements to create designer spreads

The colours are vibrant — red, green, yellow...all of them put together making for pretty patterns on the dhurries spread on the floor. We are at one of the umpteen stalls at the ongoing Chandigarh National Crafts Mela, but what makes us stop in our tracks is the sheer vibrancy in this artist’s work. A third-generation weaver, G Raju hails from Varangal district in Andhra Pradesh and has kept alive the dying art of Kalamkari. “All of the dhurries that you see have been tediously woven on a handloom back in the village. If I put in 12 hours of work, I am able to weave a small dhurrie,” explains the weaver. Once the dhurrie is woven, he painstakingly prepares natural vegetable dyes to colour the dhurrie. “I use all natural elements such as tree barks, jaggery water, dried flowers, fruits to make the different colours,” says Raju as we notice block-printed dhurries boasting of floral and geometric patterns. “For each pattern, a new block in wood is made,” shares the weaver, who after each application of colour, lugs his dhurries to a running stream near his village for as many as five ‘cold’ washes. “To retain the colour, I then have to boil them in hot water to get the perfect colour,” explains the artist who admits there’s a lot of hard work that goes into all of it. “For the power looms can never replicate this weave and neither can chemicals match the natural colours,” he stands proud. We couldn’t agree more.