Chamba

Rumal
(Himachal)
Introduction
Himachal, the term is derived from sanskrit
where ‘HIM’ means snow and ‘ACHAL’ means
lap. Himachal Pradesh is embedded with
Hmalayan mountains, and is surrounded by
Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and
Tibet. Geographically the state is divided in to 3
zones: a) the Shivaliks : lower foot hills, b) the
Zaskar : mid Himalyan zone, and c) the
Pirpanjal : the Himalayan range.
History
• History reveals that the state of Himachal was ruled by
the brave and chivalrous Ranas and Thakurs.
• During this era Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism
existed in the area, but the poems of Sant Tulsidas,
Sant Kabirdas, Jayadeva, Ramananda gave impetus to
a new form of art, inspired by the Vaishnava doctrines.
This Vaishnava cult gave emphasis on spiritual
experience through loving his neighbors.
• This principle formed the basis of kangra style
paintings. There are evidences that this luxurious
embroidery was done in pahari areas like Churah,
Chamba, Kangra, Sayali, Basohi, Nurpur, Jammu,
Kullu, Mandi and so on.
• The embroidery depicted a fine, delicate, perfect
manual work and was also called as the ‘Needle
miniatures of Himachal’ or ‘Pahari Rumals’ during the
eleventh and the twelfth century A.D.
• This art was also prevalent in Punjab as Bebe Nanki
(sister of Guru Nanak Dev Ji) had embroidered a rumal
and presented to him on his wedding day which still has
been preserved in Gurudwara of Gurdaspur.
• Kangra and Chamba were known for the unique and
exquisite miniatures during that time, that they
were looted time and time again for their paintings
and their embroidery respectively.
Some of the miniatures
(paintings) from kangra:
Motifs and the
Stitches
• Reflecting back in to the Pahari embroidery, almost all
the motifs namely human figures, birds, flora & fauna
were highly stylized and disproportionately drawn.
• Colors used were very bright, bold and brilliant. The
Pahari style was evolved by the ladies of Chamba and
their attendants, which led to the complete
development of images of the miniatures, the folk style
was replaced by subdued colors in the 19th century and
got quite the popularity in the century.
• Traditionally the base cloth used was of two types of
unbleached cotton cloth, first one being light weight,
fine, delicate, cambric like, manufactured in Sailkot,
Amritsar, Ludhiana; second being hand-woven,
coarser, relatively heavier Khaddar, however Tassar
silk was also used in white and cream shades.
• In later time this cloth was replaced by the mill made
cotton cloth. Today, according to the taste, demand,
fashion trends and availability, the ground fabric used
can be terycot, organdie, linen, poplin and muslin.
• Hand drawing or free style was the mode of tracing
the motif or the designs, carried out exclusively by the
ladies.
• These women drew the figures of their own creation
and produced the images of their deity on the material
as visualized by them.
• Earlier charcoal was used for tracing the outlines but
now oil method is being used.
• The artists ‘chitra’ used to prepare the designs for
rumals, who had sufficient knowledge about pahari
paintings started using the motifs from the paintings,
they not only drew the motifs also guided the women
about the color combination.
The ‘CHITRA’ tracing the design for the women
Threads used
•The threads used for embroidery were untwisted
pat, which gave rich effect against dull rustic cotton
ground.
• However, the infinite shades and tints of bright
brilliant and contrasting colors were used. Most
commonly used colors are red, yellow, green, blue,
crimson and purple.
• Blue is always used as krishna; red, blue, and
white colors are used for the brahma, vishnu and
mahesh respectively.
• Gopis in vivid colors of yellow and green or dark
pink or crimson combination. The outlines are
always worked with black.
Stitches
•The embroidery is done with double satin stitch done
both ways, where the effect is reversible.
• It is so fine that not only the background is hardly
visible but it is very difficult to identify the right side,
since the work is never started with a knot but with a
back stitch and the threads are never joined with knots
either.
• It was also observed that in some of the old wall
hangings chain stitch was used for outlining as well as
filling the motifs, in which it is easy to make out as to
where the artist stated from.
• However, chain stitch was not used on the rumals
though gujjar women sometimes even used darning or
herring bone in their creations.
Motifs
• A greater population of Himachal Pradesh are
Vaishnavas, believers of lord Krishna, the
reincarnation of lord Vishnu.
• The motifs are collectively brought from the life
history of lord Krishna.
• There also exists a compatibility between the
movements of the human and the animal motifs in the
needle craft.
• Motifs, in Himachal embroidery consists of symbolic
animals like leaping tigers, running goats, cantering
horses, fleeting rams, jumping deer, etc. along with
these the bird motifs comprised of peacock, sparrow,
or parrots. Sometimes these motifs are used to fill up
the empty spaces.
• Rumals comprised of elliptical framework having two
to three inches of floral bodies on all four sides. Centre
of the rumal has creeper and guldastas are in the
corners. Sometimes the complete rumal has motifs of
animals, birds, trees creeper and foliages giving an
impression of a bagh (garden).
Main Themes
The themes used in chamba rumals are:

• RASAMANDALA this theme depicts the stories about

Lord Krishna and Radha together .
• KALIYA DAMANA this theme depicts the stories of
Lord Krishna slaying the demons.
• SAMUDRA MANTHANA this theme depicts the
stories of Lord Krishna capturing the 7 headed water
snake.
• RUKMINI HARANA this theme depicts the stories of
the incidents that happened on rukmani’s wedding .
• BATTLE OF KURUKSHETRA this theme depicts the
stories from the mahabharat.
• RAGA RAGNI this theme depicts the 4 ragas(songs).
• ASHTA NAYAK this theme depicts the mood swings
of the male and a female relationship.
• MINJAR MELA JALUS this theme depicts the famous
minjar mela
 Presented by :
Uday karan uppal