Sanchaari ID · SAN-M-000119
Handmade Kowdhi quilts by rural women artisans of Uttara Kannada, Karnataka — an initiative of BuDa Folklore.
Speaks Kannada
Lyaavi-Kowdhi Collective is an initiative of BuDa Folklore. BuDa Folklore is working with Kowdhi artisans from rural villages in the Uttara Kannada region. The rural women of Uttara Kannada region are the collective contributors with BuDa Folklore in reviving this age-old traditional art of quilting. Through this reviving process, BuDa gave life to a platform for many Kowdhi artisans of the village. These quilts are sold at exhibitions and during workshops
Kowdhi is a traditional hand-quilting technique from the Uttara Kannada region, passed down through generations of women. A Kowdhi quilt is traditionally made using seven layers of old, used fabric — often sarees, dupattas, and other scraps stitched together to form the base. On top of this layered base, colourful fabric scraps are hand-stitched in concentric patterns — starting from the outer edges and moving inward toward the centre — a rhythmical process that gives the quilt both its structure and its vibrant appearance. This traditional method of quilting makes use of waste old cloth pieces and cotton scrap cloths collected from tailors, friends and relatives. Each fabric is hand-washed before the quilt is made, and hand-washed again after the quilt is ready.
The process is deeply rooted in storytelling, sustainability, and community rituals. Kowdhi making becomes a meeting place for women after a long day's labour — a space for conversation, friendship, appreciating each other, and exchanging skills. Kowdhis are also frozen stories of birth, death, geography, and the landscape of the artisans' immediate surroundings. To gift a quilt, sewn with old clothes of the family, to the daughter who gets married often carries fond memories of the maternal home
BuDa Folklore has worked closely with the village women for over 15 years. Most of the quilters from the villages are 50 years or more, and every house in these small settlements has at least one quilter keeping this tradition alive. They are from different communities, including scheduled castes and nomadic tribes. Master artisan Nirmalakka was honoured at the International Quilt Festival in Chennai in January 2019 as a special guest
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