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Last week in Shantiniketan, I came across some beautiful Kantha pieces embroidered by women from Bolpur and nearby villages.  Kantha is one of the few embroidery traditions that has always been practised only by women. Unlike zardozi, ari or chikankari, which involve both men and women, Kantha was made almost entirely by women mostly rural, often illiterate who used old clothes to create something deeply personal. While I was admiring those pieces, I was thinking how, today, we mostly see Kantha as fashion but it was once so much more for Bengali women. The uses of kantha were very practical, to make quilts, babybwraps, mats, covers etc, but its fascinating how women used the cloth to express themselves, share their emotions, and tell their stories at a time when they couldn’t do it through writing. Kantha, essentially, is really the story of Bengali women, their creativity, emotions, and inner world stitched into cloth. And its so disheartening once you realise that this art form might be lost one day with the use of machines, and with growing opportunities the reluctance to continue with family work. The finesse, motifs, intricacy of the 18th and 19th century kantha has already disappeared. However many of the older pieces still survive in museums around the world. And I came across some of them on the internet. Sharing a few of those here. See how stunning they are!  Kantha pieces are from Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz and the Stella Kramrisch Collections #kantha #Bengal #handembroidery

• #handembroidery
• #kantha
• #Bengal

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This post was published on 08th August, 2025 by Dolon on her Instagram handle "@poutpretty (Dolon Dutta Chowdhury)". Dolon has total 63.7K followers on Instagram and has a total of 3.4K post. Dolon receives an average engagement rate of 4.21% per post on Instagram. This post has received 12 comments which are lower than the average comments that Dolon gets. Overall the engagement rate for this post was lower than the average for the profile. #handembroidery #kantha #Bengal has been used frequently in this Post.