Stitches Across Time: Tracing the Chamba Rumal’s Journey to Scotland
Jyoti
Assistant Professor, Fine Arts, Saroop Rani Government College for Women, Amritsar. ORCID: 0009-0000-9761-0259. Email: jyotigotter@gmail.com
Chitrolekha Journal 8:2 2024. https://doi.org/10.21659/cjad.82.v8n206
[Article History: Received: 01 October 2024. Revised: 09 October 2024. Accepted: 09 October 2024. Published: 10 October 2024]
Abstract
The paper aims to document the century-long journey of a Chamba Rumal, an exquisite example of Indian embroidery, from the princely hill state of Chamba in Himachal Pradesh to Scotland. The Chamba Rumal was created by the Rani of Chamba in July 1898 for Jessie Ann Tuly, the governess of children. This embroidered artefact portrays Lord Krishna’s Ras Leela with Radha and Gopis and is emblematic of Chamba’s fabric artistry, which was inspired by miniature painting during the 17th and 18th centuries. The paper also investigates the history of the craft and its evolution with the patronage of local rulers such as Raja Umed Singh and King Sham Singh, who contributed to the development of Chamba’s murals. Furthermore, the paper analyzes the transfer history of this specific Rumal, currently preserved at the Glasgow Museums Resource Centre, and examines how this textile art contributed to nurturing relations. The paper emphasizes the significance of such artefacts in defining cultural memory and heritage. It shows how these objects chronicle the integrated histories of societies, their art, and the dynamics of reciprocal interactions across continents and centuries.
Keywords: Chamba Rumal, do-rukha technique, cross-cultural exchange, Indian embroidery, Pahari miniature paintings, Raja Umed Singh, King Sham Singh, Jessie Ann Tully, Scotland, Victoria and Albert Museum, Bebe Nanki, Guru Nanak.
Sustainable Development Goals: Better Education
Citation: Jyoti. (2024). Stitches Across Time: Tracing the Chamba Rumal’s Journey to Scotland. Chitrolekha Journal 8:2 https://doi.org/10.21659/cjad.82.v8n206