Panjab’s Traditional Embroidery Phulkari Thrives in Modern Era

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is currently hosting an exhibition called Phulkari: Embroidered Textiles of the Punjab. Phulkari, meaning ‘flower work’ in Panjabi, is a hereditary embroidery practice from the Panjab region in present-day India and Pakistan, historically created by women for both everyday and ceremonial garments. Believed by some scholars to have origins tied to Central Asia’s Jat (farmer) community or Persian gulkari embroidery, phulkari is referenced in the Guru Granth Sahib and in the eighteenth-century epic Hir Ranjha. Traditionally, women were taught from a young age to embroider small garments such as odhinis (scarves), eventually creating the larger chaddars (sheets) that served as family heirlooms. Phulkari is typically done on coarse, handwoven khaddar (cotton fabric) using running stitches of bright silk threads, often yellow, orange or pink, though darker colours appear less frequently. The motifs—commonly flowers such as lotuses, marigolds, and Tree of Life, but also geometric forms and animals—are arranged in neat, counted-thread designs that sometimes deliberately break patterns to reveal the cloth beneath (nazarbuti), believed to ward off misfortune. Larger, more elaborate forms of phulkari include chope (borders), embroidered by a bride’s grandmother for her wedding; sainchi phulkari from the Bathinda and Faridkot districts; and bagh, an all-over design obscuring the base fabric. Before British colonialism, phulkari pieces were prized heirlooms made in regions like Sialkot and Jhelum, later gaining popularity with British officers during the nineteenth century. Following Independence and Partition in 1947, phulkari faced a decline due to mechanization and social upheaval. However, from the 1980s onwards, govt. and NGO-driven revival efforts, skill training, and formation of self-help groups have repositioned phulkari as a vibrant commercial craft in Panjab’s Gurdaspur and Patiala, adorning modern garments such as dupattas, saris, and kurtas.