About Tamil Lambadi embroidery:
- The Lambadi community has been practising the craft of Lambadi embroidery for a long time, which has served the purpose of decorating their own attire and household items.
- It has been an integral part of their identity, and the Lambadis have made constant efforts to maintain it.
- The intricate embroidery is done by Lambadi women on cotton and silk fabrics, using colourful cotton threads.
- The traditional embroidery designs are all geometrical patterns with squares, rectangles, and circles.
- They have also been influenced by the local forests, birds, fruits, and flowers.
- The elderly women of this tribal community continue to wear the Petia, their traditional five-piece dress which is made with Mushru silk from Kutch.
Key facts about the Lambadi community
- The Lambanis are also known as Banjaras, and most of them are found in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu, and Karnataka.
- This community settled across the country with different names, have permanently abandoned their nomadic lifestyle and settled in their settlements called Tandas.
- They speak Gor Boli, also called Lambadi which belongs to the Indo-Aryan Group of Languages. Lambadi has no script.
