Kalam
The bamboo pen with a felt-like tip used to draw and fill in colour in hand-drawn kalamkari.
Also: kalamkari pen, kalam
Kalam means pen. In kalamkari of Srikalahasti in Andhra Pradesh, the artist works freehand with a bamboo stick whose end is wrapped in cloth or hair and tied, so that it holds liquid like a brush. Dipped in a black made from iron and jaggery, it draws the outline of gods, flowers and creepers. The colour is then put in with a second kalam, with mordants applied for reds and with indigo dipped for blue. Cloth is also washed and treated with milk and myrobalan before the drawing begins. The work is slow and can take weeks for a single large piece.