In an attempt to keep our content accurate and representative of evolving scholarship, we invite you to give feedback on any information in this article.


    This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.


    ARTICLE

    Nilak Phulkari

    Map Academy

    Articles are written collaboratively by the EIA editors. More information on our team, their individual bios, and our approach to writing can be found on our About pages. We also welcome feedback and all articles include a bibliography (see below).

    A type of phulkari made on a neela khaddar, or base cloth, dyed with indigo, the nilak phulkari is characterised by red and yellow embroidery. A small amount of iron is sometimes added to the indigo to generate a darker shade of blue. Unlike chopes and suber phulkaris, nilak phulkaris are never used in wedding rituals.

    The blue and black shades of nilak phulkaris have been variously associated with Krishna, who is depicted with blue skin, or the neelambari musical raga, which represents longing. Young girls in Punjab sometimes begin making simple nilak phulkaris before they make more elaborate or ritually significant embroidery.

    Sainchi Phulkari/Nilak Phulkari; Punjab, India; c. 20th century; Handspun cotton plain weave (khaddar) with silk and cotton embroidery in darning, running, chain, and buttonhole stitches, glass mirrors; 226.1 x 134.6 cm; Philadelphia Museum of Art

    Examples of historic nilak phulkaris can be found in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

     
    Bibliography

    Our website is currently undergoing maintenance and re-design, due to which we have had to take down some of our bibliographies. While these will be re-published shortly, you can request references for specific articles by writing to hellomapacademy@map-india.org.

    Feedback
     
     
    Related Content
    loading