The indigenous Toda women from the Nilgiris are renowned for their distinctive, GI-tagged, black and red embroidery. Inspired by nature the pukhoor ( motif ) embroidery follows the warp and weft thread count of the base cloth. The artisans count the thread with their fingers by merely stretching the material as they work.
The indigenous Toda women from the Nilgiris are renowned for their distinctive, GI-tagged, black and red embroidery. Inspired by nature the pukhoor (motif) embroidery follows the warp and weft thread count of the base cloth. The artisans count the thread with their fingers by merely stretching the material as they work.
Over the past year or so, a team of us including two senior Toda artisans embarked on an ongoing journey to re-imagine this art form with a contemporary aesthetic on fine, sustainable fabrics and newer formats. A pronounced departure from working on the regular coarse cotton, this marks a renewed approach to the art form. After much trial and error, in close coordination with wonderful local weavers, we chose two types of beautiful fabrics conducive to the thread counting technique. Our vision was (and is) to present the exquisite beauty of this rare art form to a contemporary, aesthetic driven, appreciative world.
Seema –
Received my Toda shawl in a beautifully packaged box with a lovely hand-written note about the maker, Nirmala.
The shawl drapes fabulously, its embroidery exquisite and finished to perfection. I look forward to wearing it and sharing its cultural stories with my daughter, in the hope that she will cherish it as much as I do.
ramya (store manager) –
Thank you for your warm words, dear Seema. So happy to know that you love Nirmala’s work of art. Do share pictures with you draped in it when you can!