A Step into the Kantha World

A first tentative step into the new world of old Kantha textiles. Or should I say Old World?

Here is a small section of one with a scene, that I have yet to comprehend. Any clues would be appreciated.

The figures are clear but the cultural story is not known to me.

I hope the answers become clear …. if you have any clues about the scene depicted here please help!

Another section of the same Kantha:

In someone else’s notes I read that this group represents the Raas Leela – the dance performed by Gopis in their enchantment with Krishna.

Quite likely since Bengal has a rich Vaishnavite tradition as well, in which avatars of Vishnu – Ram & Krishna – are worshipped. [Goddess Durga is the most worshipped in Bengal].

More images of this and other kanthas may be found on the Wovensouls Art Gallery linked here.

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Dec 2020

4 comments on “A Step into the Kantha World”

Nancy Simpson
December 28, 2020

The picture in the Kantha you are asking about looks to me to be of the old 3-storied Dhamrai Jagannath Roth in Bangladesh. Sadly it was burned in1971 by the Pakistani army. A replacement has been built but the orgininal Jagannath said to be about 400 years old was magnificent.

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wovensouls
December 28, 2020

Thank you very much Nancy for this insight! This is extremely useful! Am so grateful to the internet that crowd-contributed learning is now possible efficiently. Am really grateful you took the time to share your knowledge!
Jaina

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Naimur Rahman
May 3, 2021

How wonderful it must be for the people to live amongst such pieces day in and day out.

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happynessqueen
May 4, 2021

Thank you for introducing me to this amazing world of colors & cultures. We saw this kind of work with our relatives but did not pay attention in those days.

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