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In this episode of Made In, we explore how India's centuries-old crafts are still practiced today. In Kannauj, Pranav Kapoor of Pkapo preserves a 2,000-year-old tradition of making attar, India's traditional perfume, using ancient distillation techniques. In Lucknow, House of Kotwara and Divani create intricate chikankari and zardozi embroidery, with some garments taking months to complete. Discover the skill and artistry that is keeping some of India’s oldest craft traditions alive.
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00:05We are literally carrying on a practice that has been going on in the city for 2000 years.
00:09It is fully analog, there are no machines.
00:11It is a skill that is passed down generationally.
00:14This is something that you can only learn on the job when you give it that kind of time.
00:19Chicken curry really is the celebration of summer,
00:22is the celebration of everyday life.
00:25Having something very sensitive, delicate on your body,
00:27which is handcrafted, which has a language of its own.
00:31The architecture and the motives carry a huge relevance in this craft of Zardozi.
00:38And more so in Lucknow, there is this very strong Mahi push motive.
00:44It's the motive of wellness and luck and you see these all across Lucknow.
00:50And even in our craft, we try integrating those motives today.
01:03Atar is essentially bottling nature.
01:06If you look at a flower and if you think of bottling a flower into a bottle, that is the
01:11process of Atar.
01:12Atar is literally cloning nature in its truest form, in its rawest form, in its rarest form.
01:18We have literally replicated a flower that you see in the field and put that in a bottle.
01:24Kannauj is an ancient place.
01:26Kannauj was the capital of the Northern Empire for the longest period of time.
01:30It has history, it has art, it has culture.
01:32And it is the perfume capital of India.
01:34It is one of the oldest perfume capitals of the world.
01:37So we are here at the distillery in Kannauj, at the ML Ram Narayan Distillery.
01:42The distillery is about 100 years old and today what we are showing is the practice of ancient perfumery,
01:47which dates back 2000 years.
01:50Everything that you see here is a process that has been going on for over 2000 years,
01:55which is passed down father to son.
01:57It is fully analog, there are no machines.
02:00It is a skill that is passed down generationally.
02:03This is something that you can only learn on the job when you give it that kind of time.
02:09Plucking happens in the morning at the farm.
02:11We do the spreading of the ingredients and then they are put in the still for steam distillation.
02:16It takes about 5-6 hours of distillation for the materials to collect in water.
02:20We add water in a 50-50 ratio, 50% plant material and 50% water.
02:26Then the deg is what it's called, the copper still is called deg.
02:30The deg is sealed using a mixture of Fuller's earth, which is Multani Mitti.
02:35You use that, you seal it, you add a bamboo pipe and you add heat.
02:39The heat then rises and passes through the bamboo pipe where it collects drop by drop and condenses into a
02:45liquid
02:45in a vat that is placed behind which is submerged in cool water, which is pulled fresh from the ground.
02:51And the next day, the water and the oil are separated.
02:53The oil is then stored for ageing and after it has done at least a month on the shelf is
02:59when we can use it to create
03:00other blends or modern perfumes as you would say.
03:04Their skill is so efficient and so good that without a temperature gauge, they can literally just touch the still
03:12and get to know whether the heat needs to be increased or decreased.
03:16Now, this is something that you can only learn on the job when you give it that kind of time.
03:20It comes with experience.
03:22So, these are people from Kanauj.
03:24These are people which are unskilled labour who over the years or spending time at the distillery have become skilled
03:31artisans.
03:31By learning these techniques of how to man the stills and how to work around delicate ingredients.
03:36Because all these ingredients have a very different heat index that they need.
03:48So, this is my safe space.
03:49This is where I create a signature scents that people reach out to me for.
03:54And for me, creation is something that I really love because it creatively challenges me.
04:01And to create a fragrance, I first form a narrative in my head as to what am I encapsulating in
04:08a bottle.
04:08Is it a feeling? Is it a place? Is it a person? Is it an emotion? Is it a colour?
04:12And on the basis of that, I will pick and choose certain ingredients that would help me complete that visual
04:18and make it a reality.
04:20Everybody has their own unique touch because all perfumers are looking at the world in their own unique way and
04:25their own unique experience.
04:26And that's what makes every perfumer different from the other.
04:29So, you know, the process of perfumery is, in Kannauj at least, has been sustainable right from the start.
04:36Where everything that we do, every plant material that goes in the still, has a purpose once it is distilled.
04:43And this is a practice that has been practiced for generations.
04:46So, I find that really fascinating, you know, like the ancient ways always carried a lot of wisdom in it.
04:56Lucknow is the only place in the world which has the GI for chicken curry.
05:02So, it's a very special craft.
05:05And this is one of the rare crafts where only women do chicken embroidery.
05:10You will not find men doing that.
05:13So, in a sense, the craft continues because a mother teaches the daughter, the daughter teaches her daughter.
05:18So, it kind of grows organically.
05:22Kutwara is my husband's ancestral state with a recorded history of over a thousand years.
05:29Well, my father was a very progressive, passionate humanist.
05:35And he was very keen that nobody should be unemployed in the village of Kutwara.
05:41So, he tried to create a kind of way of sustaining livelihoods.
05:45Chicken curry is originally a cotton thread embroidery on a sheer cotton fabric.
05:53They say it was established in the 16th century by Empress Noor Jahan, the wife of Emperor Jahangir.
06:02She created this chicken embroidery, which was white thread on white muslin to give it the feel of very intricate
06:12craft similar to that of Jamdani of Bengal.
06:17And India at that time, and even now, it's a tropical country. It needs a lot of muslin.
06:25Even I see people working with their hands. As a painter, there's nothing bigger than working with my own hands.
06:32And working with your hands gives you the confidence of approaching craft, being able to create something magical out of
06:39craft.
06:39When we started doing chicken embroidery in Kutwara, we had named certain designs after certain craftswomen.
06:48So, there was a particular design which was called Jannatun. There was a particular design which was called Asma.
06:54Because it was our way of respecting the craftswomen. People say how many hours, but actually it's months that go
07:03in creating one piece of garment which is full of chicken embroidery.
07:08As far as the embroidery goes, there are 32 stitches. To learn those stitches takes a long time. And not
07:15every crafts girl knows all the stitches.
07:18Some are skilled in two stitches. Some are skilled in only jali making. Some only do tepchi. Some only do
07:25shadow.
07:26So, that also has now become very segregated. So, to be a master craftswoman in chicken embroidery is, I think,
07:34a good 8-10 year long journey, if not more.
07:37It has four types of jalis, which is like creating a lace, a net. And the beauty is how to
07:45put several stitches together on a fabric and create a lace-like mysterious effect.
07:53Chicken itself is a year-long process. So, it begins with putting pen on paper and first you conceive the
08:00design.
08:00The design then has to be given to a block maker who is going to then sharpen that design to
08:08make it a perfect mirror image as has to be used.
08:12And the blocks are made by a very skilled craftsperson and only made in Lucknow.
08:17That is a few months process. After that, it is cured in oil and then it's ready for use.
08:24Then, the garment has to be stitched and ready. And then the block maker has to use a special indigo
08:33dye with a water-soluble glue.
08:35And then the block is dipped in that and translated onto the fabric. After that, there is an experimentation of
08:43what stitches need to be used on the various parts of the design.
08:47And then it goes to the crafts girl for embroidery. Now, this can take any amount of time from two
08:55weeks to a whole year depending on what exactly is the expression that is required, how many stitches and how
09:01big is the garment.
09:08For us, Zardoz is our being. It's who we are. It's our bloodline. I am associated with Zardoz because of
09:17my grandmother.
09:19Had I not been exposed to her trunks and her heirlooms, I don't think I would have understood the meaning
09:26of nostalgia.
09:26These were heirlooms that were handed down to her from her mother, her mother-in-law, her aunts.
09:35This needs to be a part of our generation and for the generations to come.
09:40This is not something that can get left in the trunks and the wardrobes and the museums of the world
09:46because if that happens, these will only be stories that will last a certain generation.
09:50So Zardoz is a very, very fine embroidery technique.
09:56It was stitched using silver and gold threads and majorly used for the royal court room or the ceremonial royal
10:04dressing.
10:04It originates from the Persian influx and the Mughals played a very, very pivotal role in bringing the craft to
10:13India.
10:14A typical day at the workshop begins with meeting with the design team.
10:19We all sit down to ponder over all the activities going around.
10:24And the beauty is that so much of multiplication of the craft is happening at the same time, at the
10:30same place.
10:31Who are these master craftsmen?
10:33When there were royal courts, there were karkhanas of the royal courts.
10:37And what was a karkhana?
10:38It was a workshop where hundreds of artisans would sit down to create the royal outfits for the kings and
10:46the queens.
10:46These master craftsmen are generations of those skilled artisans that existed at that point of time.
10:54But the journey of an artisan begins with learning the craft from either his mentor, his teacher or from his
11:04family.
11:04And then from an artisan, he becomes a skilled artisan.
11:08And from a skilled artisan, he becomes a master craftsman.
11:12And the variation or the difference between them is the nuance of the craft.
11:18Let's say we were curating a bridal lehenga.
11:21Very simple.
11:23It would start at the designer's desk.
11:25And that's where the imagination begins of what is the fabric?
11:29What is the color?
11:30What is the craft that we are using?
11:33So, which technique of zardoz will give life to this ensemble?
11:38Once that is done, we move on to the khaka stage where the khaka artist will write the khaka as
11:44per the design brief.
11:45The khaka then goes on to the adda where the khaka is translated on the fabric through a process called
11:53chapai.
11:53Once the chapai is done, that's when the zardozikar sits down on the adda.
12:00And adda is basically a frame on which the fabric is put together.
12:06And that is where the process of zardozi will start.
12:10And that's when the artisan is going to do the outline.
12:14And then decide which technique goes where.
12:18Which color of the material is going to go where.
12:20Are we going to use dapka?
12:22Are we going to use nakshi?
12:23Are we going to use dori?
12:24Are we going to use bejeweled stones?
12:26Are we going semi-precious route?
12:28All of that is then done in sync with the design team.
12:31So the designer will be sitting with the artisan.
12:35There will be a master craftsman who will guide the artisans.
12:39And the designer guides the master craftsman.
12:42The whole turnaround time for a beautiful zardozonswam is nothing lesser than six months.
12:49This heirloom jacket is a beautiful depiction of the Ganga Jamna Tehzeeb of Awadh.
12:55What you see here is a Hindu deity, the Srinath Ji, who has come alive through the craft of Zardozi.
13:02And the entire craft has been crafted by a Muslim community.
13:06And that's what makes it so unique.
13:08The community coming together and the secularity of this craft is what makes it so, so different.
13:16It's a craft that binds the country.
13:18It's the craft that brings people together.
13:21Today, handcraft is the new luxury.
13:25The discovery of detail.
13:28The discovery of how somebody else has dedicated so many thousands of hours to give you that beauty.
13:36We are not trying to modernize this craft at all.
13:38The whole essence of this craft is for it to stay the way it does, because that's the beauty of
13:43it.
13:43People should remain sensitive to what the hands can do, what the eyes can do.
13:48The human touch has to be valued.
13:51And with the human touch, you have to value the ecosystem, the culture around it.
13:56THE BORido
13:58The human touch is how rezonal life.
13:59The human touch, you have to stay there, the human touch.