Sreenivasa Kalamkari & Textiles

Our workshop is located in Pedana, in the Rayavaram area. We are right near the Ramalayam temple, which is a good landmark if you are trying to find us. Around here, textiles are a big part of life for many families. We do things the traditional way, which involves a lot of handwork and patience. We use wooden blocks for printing and natural dyes that we mix ourselves. It is a slow process, and you really can’t hurry it if you want the colors to come out right. The weather plays a big role in our daily work. When the rainy season starts, it’s hard to dry the long sheets of cloth outside, so everything slows down quite a bit. We have a few big cement vats for washing and dyeing the fabric. It can be a messy job, and our hands are usually stained with different colors by the end of the day. Our family has been involved in this for many generations now. We are not a big factory with automated machines. It is just people sitting together and working with their hands. Sometimes people visiting the temple stop by to see how the blocks are carved. We don't have a fancy store. Most of what we make is sent off to the bigger cities. We just stay here and keep the craft alive as best as we can.