Four corner start
Flower finish
Blessed belly
Scrappy strips
Kawandi are often called patchwork quilts, but technically they are made in an appliqué technique. Starting at one corner of the sari, the women begin to work their way around, fixing the patches in place with lines of back stitch or running stitch, until the entire sari is covered. The stitches are seen as important, as they add a distinctive ‘rhythm’ that is regarded as the part of the ‘visual signature’ of the maker, along with the colours, designs, shapes and sizes of the cloth patches that individuals choose to use. The final step is to sew at each corner of the quilt one or more folded square patches, which form a multi-layered triangle called a phula, or ‘flower.’ These serve no specific function, but they are regarded as essential to a properly finished or ‘dressed’ Siddi quilt. A kawandi would be regarded as ‘naked’ without the phula.
Finished Quilt
Quilt on display by Fabrizio Mauro, 17 “ x 28 “
PERFORMING ARTS ( DANCE AND MUSIC ) :
Siddi men and siddi women performing the ‘ Dhamal ’ dance at different occasions in Mundgod and Yellapur.
Siddi community has been thriving through music and dance and these people have integrated music and dance into a form of celebratory event for the community. Largely settled in suburbs and forests, Siddis often work as coolies and unskilled labourers on plantations They were recognised as a 25 | SHCC
