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Kalamkari Arts

Kalamkari is the craft of painted and printed fabrics. It derives its name from kalam or pen with which the patterns are traced. It is an art form that developed both for decoration and religious ornamentation.

In Andhra Pradesh, Kalamakari is done in Machilipatnam and Srikalahasti.

There is evidence to show that block painted fabric resist-dyed with indigo that was exported from India as early as 1938. The blocks of block printing were made by specialist block-makers, but sometimes the printers also made their own blocks.

In Andhra Pradesh, block-printed fabrics come from Machilipatnam, Chirala, Vijayawada and Tuni.