Phulkari — The Flower Work of Punjab

Phulkari references appear in Punjabi folklore for centuries — most famously in the love ballad of Heer Ranjha by Waris Shah. It was never courtly art. It was made by women, at home, for their daughters.

In a phulkari, the base cloth still shows between motifs. In a bagh ('garden'), the embroidery covers the entire surface — no khaddar visible. A bagh could take a woman a full year to complete and was reserved for the most important weddings.

The traditional stitch is a simple darning stitch — but worked in silk floss called pat, in fierce colours: mustard, magenta, crimson, emerald. The palette is loud on purpose. Punjab does not do quiet.

Chope phulkari from Malwa, tilpatra from Doaba, sainchi phulkari with narrative motifs of village life — each region added its dialect to the thread.

Machine reproductions flood the market, but true phulkari — hand-embroidered, on khaddar — is a slow craft kept alive by artisans in villages across Patiala, Bathinda and Amritsar. BAAG references phulkari in graphic language and print — a bridge between the loom and the streetwear rack.