Tribal Lambadi Embroidery
porgai
Dharmapuri, Tamil Nadu
‘Porgai’ is part of the Tribal Craft Initiative and is a journey to bring back to life the fading tradition of lambadi embroidery. Porgai means ‘pride’ in the Lambadi dialect. Women groups make every Porgai masterpiece by hand, thus sharing their pride with the world and with YOU!!
Our society is owned and run by artisans. Our artisans are the centre of everything that we do and are the most respected link in our endeavour. The members of our society are able to stay in our villages, work from their homes and earn a livelihood instead of migrating to cities in search of work. This in turn gives us an opportunity for a healthier, happier and culturally enriched life.
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The local Lambadi tribe at Sittilingi migrated from the north of India several hundred years ago. They have their own distinctive dialect, costume and culture. Their tradition of embroidery was nearly lost due to lack of support and recognition. Only a few of the older women remembered how to make the distinctive geometric designs. This tradition has now been revived by the Tribal Craft Initiative, with the older women teaching the younger women.
Craft Style Followed:
Tribal Lambadi Embroidery
notable collabs
Lambadi Embroidery
Anshu Arora
Small shop
Lambadi Embroidery
On each panel, we tell our stories through embroidery, embedded with our handcrafted jewelry, which includes 25 paisa coins, as we wear our wealth on our body. We have recreated the mashru stripes in embroidery, as the embroidered panels were originally mixed with the Mashru from Gujarat. Traditionally, we used small hand-cut mica mirrors. However, for this piece, we remember the mirror work that helped ward off dangerous animals in the past, in embroidered fabric circles evocative of the mirrors. Our traditional blouse, interpreted as an art textile, is a sort of resurgence of our traditions, craft, and artistic ability.
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