As we step inside any Punjabi home during a festival or a wedding, we all spot phulkari, a fabric of vibrant colours drawing attention from shawls, dupattas, and even cushion covers, each one whispering stories through every stitch.
You can almost hear the gentle hum of silk fibers being pulled through cloth by worn hands, tales woven into patterns of flowers and beautiful paisleys.
What is phulkari to the rest of us?
The term means "flower work," but its connotation is more than embroidered petals. It is, in essence, a celebratory story incorporated into the fabric of Punjab's rural existence. The threads, colored with lively pinks, yellows, deep reds, and greens, resemble not just flowers but also puffs of grain, in colorful abstract shapes.
In Punjab mothers have folded phulkari shawls away, generations of them, as part of the wedding trousseau of a daughter: vibrant, sensual blessings draped over shoulders.
It is a treasured heirloom, many art curators call phulkari, for how its motifs wander from the lighthearted sparse to the resplendent "bagh", a garden so thick with embroidery that not a thread of fabric shows through. To hold a bagh is to hold a festival.
Yet, Punjab’s indigenous handloom phulkari is not forgotten in the past. Today if one just walks into a modern Punjabi wedding today and definately they would observe a Pulkari, shimmering not just on humble cotton, but also velvet, brocade, and silks.
In Punjab Pulkari is much adorned by young brides because it is not just a fabric but a culture and wedding essential for the Punjabis.
How is Pulkari 2.0 different?
Modern designers put phulkari in trendy wrapping by mixing its motifs with mirrorwork or incorporating vibrant, modern colors.
Phulkari 2.0 is about resonance with the new gen while keeping its emotional anchors intact.
Phulkari is, in fact, a story sung in threads, one that takes weeks, sometimes months, to come alive. It's now emerging in jacket-palazzo suits, boho tops, and so on, and breathing new life into the tradition.
There's magic in the flaws as well. Dig through a grandmother's phulkari, and you may discover a misplaced stitch or an unconventional burst of colour. And this was intentionally done as it is believed that the flaws help the newly wedded brides to protect from any evil eye. This again proved that Pulkari means so much more to the land of Punjab than just a indigenous fabric art.
On every National Handloom Day, we not only celebrate a craft, but the gentle strength, joy and wisdom embroidered into every yard of phulkari. As a pulkari is wrapped around the shoulder, it prompts us to wrap, remember and admire that every thread is a whisper from Punjab's heart, gently encouraging to envelop yourself in the yarns of yesterday, today and tomorrow.
