Alleviation: An International Journal of Nutrition, Gender & Social Development, ISSN 2348-9340 Volume 6, Number 6 (2019), 1-9
© Arya PG College, Panipat & Business Press India Publication, Delhi
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Designing of Kurtis by Using Traditional Indian Motifs

Sonika Kumari
Faculty, Department of Home Science
Arya PG College, Panipat
(Haryana), India
Email: attri.sonika08@gmail.com

Abstract

Indian textiles are extremely famous for their traditional motifs; whether these are woven or embroidered. Beautiful colors, outstanding execution and hidden explanation of these motifs always allure people about traditional Indian textiles. Traditional Indian motifs are highly demanding concept of today’s fashion industry all over the world. This study was aimed to use traditional Indian motifs for designing of different styles of kurtis to create unique combination of traditional and modern style. Different motifs were collected from various sources such as books and internet. These motifs were used to create designs for kurtis with different placements. Total number of developed designs were 10 which were evaluated by the panel of 30 judges and one best design was chosen for the development of final product. Final product was hand painted by using traditional colour combination for the motif. Evaluation was done to check the final appearance of the product which has shown excellent results

Keywords: Indian Textiles, Kurtis, Traditional Motifs.

Introduction

India: well known by its cultural heritage, intricate and delicate traditional motifs and materialization of regional diversity in textiles. Traditional motifs of India always grab attraction from around the globe for their adorned richness and royal alliance.
Word motif is defined as a most basic or smallest unit of a design and pattern which could be inspired from nature, socioeconomic, cultural and religious factors. The motifs used in traditional Indian textiles are all divergent and mainly very colourfully represented. These motifs are often also a representation of the different styles from an era gone by since ancient time when kings ruled the country.
The varieties of traditional motifs which are used in Indian textiles are boundless. Traditionally designed Indian textiles show off that these motifs are representatives of the Indian culture.
Some of the famous traditional motifs are:
Mango Motif
It is generally known as paisley or mankolam in Sanskrit and ambi in Punjabi, is widely used motif in Indian traditional textiles. Paisley motifs are the symbol of fertility and used in chikankari embroidery from Lucknow and also in kantha embroidery of Bengal.
Lotus Motif
It is also called kamal and one of the most admired motifs used in Indian textiles. Kamal symbolize the water and sky and represents the power of life. The flower with open and close petals shows the ups and downs of life. Petals of lotus also signify the diversity of the universe. There are many different forms of lotus motif which are named according to the number of petals such as “astadal padma”- eight petal motif and “satadal” -hundred petal motifs. It also represents the richness and material prosperity, related directly with the Indian goddess lakshmi. This motif is used on Indian saris and kantha embroidery.
Peacock Motif
It is found in Indus valley civilization, sculptures of Buddhist, Gupta and Mughal period. This motif is symbol of immortality, courtship and lushness. Peacock motif is commonly found in traditional designed fabrics with more inflated designs on bridal wear in some cultures, the completeness of being a woman is also signified by peacock motif.
Parrot Motif
It represents passion and courtship and commonly used in artwork which is telling the story of Lord Krishana and Radha. This motif is used in textiles of west Bengal, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
Fish Motif
It indicates prosperity and children, plenty of food as well as the generative power of the mystical. The fish motif is also a symbol of Hindu lord Vishnu who is preserver of richness and wealth. Fish motifs are extensively used in Madhubani paintings and kantha embroidery.
Elephant Motif
It is considered as the climb of kings of India. Elephant was used as a devastating weapon of wars and denoted as the God for warriors. This motif represents wealth and power and also indicates royalty, inner strength and goodness. This motif is used in printed, painted and embroidered textiles of India which shows war scenes and royalty.
Tree of Life
It explains all life on earth which is considered according to religion, beliefs, science and tradition. It illustrates the humanity in a very simple way.
Methodology
Collection of Motifs and Design Development
Motifs used in traditional Indian textiles were collected from different sources. Total 15 motifs were collected. These motifs were highly used and were under different categories such as Floral Motifs, Animal Motifs and Bird Motifs, Tree Motifs and Geometrical Motifs. These motifs were then evaluated by a panel of 30 judges and then selected motif was used to create different designs of kurtis. Total number of developed designs for kurti were 10 and all the designs were created on Corel Draw. All the designs were created with different placements by using selected motif and rated by the panel of 30 judges aged from 20 to 30 years. One top ranked design was selected to develop as a final product.

Development and Evaluation of Final Product

The top ranked design of kurti was selected to develop as a final product with hand paint technique in traditional colors of motifs. Cotton fabric was preferred for final product as cotton has more absorbance quality and more suitable for hand painting. To add some textures in creation , khadi cotton fabric was used. After production, final article was evaluated by the panel of 30 judges. Evaluation was done to verify the suitability of motif according to the article, motif placement, color combination and overall appearance. The article was ranked as excellent, very good, good fair and poor.

Results and Discussion

Table 1 shows 15 different collected motifs from traditional Indian textiles and their rankings. The given ranks were based on final appearance and the motifs suitable for hand painting. It is clear from Table 1 that motif no. 6 and 9 got highest rank that is 4.8 out of 5 in overall appearances. These selected motifs were used for designing of kurtis with different placements.

Table 2 illustrates different design placements of kurti with selected motif. Design no. 2 got highest rank that is 4.6 out of 5. The top ranked design was chosen for final development.

Table 3 provides information about evaluation of final product using traditional motif. It is clear from Table 3 that kurti got highest ranking for motif’s placement, color combination and overall appearance i.e. 4.7 and 4.6 for appropriateness of motifs according to the article.

Conclusion
This study was planned to fulfil the constantly varying demands of customers especially for those who desire the traditional designs for their apparel and other textile stuff. The designs created with traditional motifs were successfully applied on kurti with hand painting technique and the prepared article was greatly appreciated. The perception of “Designing of kurtis with traditional motifs” was to transform the traditional concept into modernize manner. This idea can be integrated successfully in textile and other field of designing and can also improve the means of employment for women at their home by designing kurtis or other textile material with traditional Indian motifs.

References Sharma A, Sharma S, Singh J and Rose M (2016) Development of Motifs: Traditional to Contemporary for Saris. Research Journal of Recent Sciences: 5 (7): 44-46.
Veenu, Katare C and Sharma RB (2016) Symbolic Motifs in Traditional Indian Textiles and Embroideries International Journal of Research in Economics and Social Sciences: 6 (3): 311-321.
https://mediaindia.eu/art-culture/motifs-on-indian-textiles. https://www.shutterstock.com/search/indian+mo.

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