Indian Motif Mysteries-Unveiled

From lotus and paisley to geometric and architectural patterns—here’s mapping the motifs that are intrinsic to Indian visual culture and couture.

- Amrit Sarkar

In India and the sub-continent, textiles are not just drapes, they are living pieces of history. From tiny mirrors of a ‘tribal Kutchi hut’ to peacocks and lotus motifs of a grandiose Hindu fort, jaalis and geometric shapes of a mosque or a darbar to a banana tree sculpted on an Indian temple—architectural motifs, which otherwise are in a deep slumber of anteriority resting in our temples and forts have always come back to life through textiles. As if fashion is the flagbearer of our art, architecture, and history, embellishing the old into new, being handed over to pass down historical secrets, and familiarising every generation with it. Isn’t it awe-inspiring to find how a motif like a kalash that meant prosperity a thousand years ago still denotes the same meaning today, even in chic bridalwear in an ultra-modern spatial context? We went to a few fashion designers for answers, who are manning this bridge between the past and the present to tell us more about the secrets behind Indian motifs, its rootedness, its timeless appeal, and their accounts left us fascinated making us trying to put the jigsaw puzzle together.