Lambada embroidery

What is Lambada embroidery?

Lambada embroidery is needlework done by Banjara women. One finished piece can hold several crafts at once: patches of cloth joined together, other fabrics set on top as appliqué, beads, and the surface stitching itself. For shine, the maker fixes on small mirrors, cowrie shells, coins and buttons. The patterns stay geometric, laid out in gridlike order. The community wears this work as its own dress: a full skirt called the phetiya and a blouse called the kanchali. The same decoration also lives away from the body, on wall hangings, bedcovers, cushion covers, belts, headbands and bags. In 2010 the Sandur variety of the craft received a Geographical Indication, an official tag linking a product to its home region.

Where does Lambada embroidery come from?

This is the needlework of the Banjara, a tribal community. Its known centres lie in Karnataka, at Sanduru, Bellary and Bijapur, and in Hyderabad, a city of Telangana. Sanduru lends its name to one branch of the craft, Sandur Lambani embroidery. No account of when or how the style began is recorded. What carries a date is its official standing: in 2010 the Sandur branch was entered on India's Geographical Indication register, a listing that ties a craft's name to the place it is made.

How is Lambada embroidery made?

Each piece is worked by hand, with no loom involved. The base cloth is built up in layers: patches joined as patchwork, other fabrics set on top as appliqué, beads stitched down, and surface needlework over everything. Shiny additions are fixed on as well, among them small mirror pieces, cowrie shells, coins and buttons. Designs come from geometry, set out in gridlike arrangements. The same hand skills serve both dress and household goods alike.

Colours, motifs and borders

The patterns are angular and orderly, mostly geometric shapes set in grids. Texture and shine come from the additions: small mirrors, cowrie shells, coins and buttons stitched flat, with beads threaded among the stitches. Appliqué adds blocks of contrasting cloth, and patchwork lets separate pieces join into one new surface. Because the work tops a phetiya skirt and kanchali blouse, the finished outfit is colourful by design.

How Lambada embroidery is worn

Among the Banjara, the embroidery is worn rather than framed. Women pair a phetiya, a gathered skirt, with a kanchali, a blouse; both carry this decoration, along with coins, shells and mirrors that catch the light. This is community dress, not a saree drape, though the same needlework also finishes other garments. Away from clothing it covers belts, headbands and bags, so it can be carried as an accessory even without the full outfit.

Styles of Lambada embroidery

The craft moves easily between surfaces. On the body it dresses the phetiya and kanchali; at home it becomes wall hangings, bedcovers and cushion covers; outdoors it turns into belts, headbands and bags. A named regional branch, Sandur Lambani embroidery, carries a Geographical Indication granted in 2010, setting the Sanduru work apart from the wider Lambada style. Other branches of the craft are not separately named.

What Lambada embroidery means

In 2010, Sandur Lambani embroidery received a Geographical Indication, India's official mark for crafts bound to a place. The listing protects the name of the Sanduru branch. The work itself rests on Banjara women, who stitch, patch and appliqué their own clothing and a range of goods beside it. For the community, the decorated phetiya and kanchali are its visible dress, and the spread into bags, hangings and covers carries the style to a wider public.

Questions people ask about Lambada embroidery

Good reading and sources

• Sandur Lambani embroidery gets GI tagThe Hindu, Article

• Lambada embroidery on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data