Charminar Cheeralu, is a small dye project taken up by my brother and me, to document the beauty of Charminar, a monument situated in Hyderabad, in the form of sarees. Charminar is known for its beauty and elegant geometrical structures. Around the monument, one can get the most gorgeous Hyderabadi pearls, and of course, Irani chai with Osmania biscuits. We started out by making a mood board and creating a colour story for the project.
From the images of the monument, we arrived at the following abstractions and played with colour and composition. These explorations were ideated, put on paper, and then finalised digitally on photoshop.
The explorations were then used to create the below layouts for a series of six sarees. the pallu of each saree is towards the right, and the detailing was done digitally.
From the above layouts, three were finalised, and sketched onto human figures. This helped us visualise the saree layout better, and accordingly, some changes were made.
The actual making of the sarees was done at NID, with the aid of the dyeing and sewing labs. Some of the techniques used in the entire process of making these two sarees were Batik resist dyeing, Clamp dyeing, ombre dyeing, hand embroidery, and stitching, all done by hand.
Photoshoot of the finished cotton mull sarees.
Collaboration with Rumi Varma
Models: Megha Mohan and Samykta
Photography: Mira Varma
Models: Megha Mohan and Samykta
Photography: Mira Varma
