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Bengali dreams on Kerala saris

Piyal Bhattacharya transforms the Kerala sari with his palette

THE MAN AND HIS CRAFT Piyal and the saris painted by him

The cream and gold kasavu sari, an embodiment of classic simplicity is elevated to an altogether newer height in the hands of Piyal Bhattacharya, a Bengali artist. Many would retract at the thought of changing the characteristic style, truly symbolic of Kerala and its culture, but to an artist, smitten by the culture of the land, the starkness of the fabric becomes a canvas to express his mind. And so Piyal Bhattacharya inspired by the beauty of Kerala murals, ensnared by the colours of Kathakali and mesmerised by Sanskrit theatre, Koodiyattam has painted and embroidered his appreciation on to the Kerala sari. He has indeed paid a fantastic tribute by raising the Kerala sari to a different aesthetic height.

Piyal's love affair with Kerala began when he joined Kalamandalam and learnt Kathakali for six years under Kalamandalam Balasubramanium. Though coming from a family of scholars it was art that drew him. "My family wanted me to become either an engineer or a doctor but my calling was elsewhere," said the artist who dreams only of designs and motifs, colours and styles.

All for art

Artistically inclined, Piyal pursued his calling and came away to Kerala and learnt Kathakali. It was here that a friend and Mohiniyattom dancer, Priya Krishnadas inspired him to paint on saris. "In fact to start me on to this venture, she gave me five of her kasavu saris. That's how it all began. Soon I was painting Kerala murals on to them, which I learnt at Kalamandalam. On the first sari I painted `Parvati chamayam. Then I moved on to Bengali `Pattachitra,' after which I started doing both embroidery and painting on to saris."

Piyal learnt the basics of needlecraft and then proper embroidery so as to explain his designs to the artisans or karigars. "My karigars are in Kolkata and they take a minimum of two to three months to complete a sari. Many times I teach them the embroidery," says Piyal whose speciality he claims is in the fine detailing of design.

To innovate with the times he has changed from the traditional colours used in Kerala murals or Bengali `Pattachitra' to the colours of the day. But it is traditional art that inspires him the most. Earlier Piyal's animal mythology paintings were bought for Tee shirts, for members of a horse-riding club in France. He has worked with Austrian and German designers too taking Indian traditional art motifs to high fashion. But presently with his experiments with the Kerala sari, Piyal is on to a traditional and yet contemporary line of saris.

Kantha, which is traditional Bangali embroidery, Ari or Kutch style, Parsi embroidery, Kashmiri works are some of the traditional crafts that he has done on the Kerala sari and so the anthropology graduate, the Sanskrit scholar, the painter, sculptor and dancer, Kalamandalam Piyal has beautifully merged his art forms on to the classic kasavu elevating it in the modern context.

The saris range between Rs.3, 000 to Rs.7,000 and are stocked at Jhalak boutique, Panampilly Nagar, in the city.

P. S.

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