About the

Sainik Handloom - Kantha Bengal

Women in Bengal typically use old saris and cloth and layer them with kantha stitching to make a light blanket, throw, or bedspread, especially for children. Kantha is very popular with tourists visiting the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent. Kantha is a form of embroidery often practised by rural women.

Today kantha is practised in west Bengal, Bangladesh and parts of Odisha and Bihar in India. Other countries have a similar culture of layering old textiles with stitching, such as Boro in Japan. Kantha is also known as sujani, the word for stitch or a needle, and is related to suzani embroidery of Central Asia.

Where Kantha is practised today?

Today kantha is practised in west Bengal, Bangladesh and parts of Odisha and Bihar in India. Other countries have a similar culture of layering old textiles with stitching, such as Boro in Japan. Kantha is also known as sujani, the word for stitch or a needle, and is related to suzani embroidery of Central Asia.

In Sanskrit, the word “Kantha” means rags. But these blankets aren’t usually produced out of actual rags. They are a mix of old saris and other discarded pieces of fabric. Never meant to be used as accent pieces, the original intent of these quilts was to keep people warm while repurposing old fabric. To that end, they feature a very simple, straight running stitch. The patterns are often creative, spontaneous, original, and emotional. Much like quilting traditions in the United States, Kantha quilts could take years to complete and were often embroidered with patterns that told stories, expressed wishes, and indicated the quilt’s maker.

Kantha may owe its name to kontha, the Sanskrit word for rags. It was first mentioned in the 500-year-old book Chaitanya Charitamrita by Bengali poet Krishnadasa

Kantha was about upcycling old clothes and giving them a new life, but the craft also acted as a canvas for women to express their artistic talents, and was typically practised by every woman in a village for her household.

The design was first traced on to the cloth that was layered and held together with basting stitches, and then filled with coloured threads.

Today kantha is found on everything from stoles and kurtas, sarees, shawls and purses, to linen, quilts and bedcovers – all crafted to meet an increasingly global demand. International designers have also started using kantha in their collections in the past decade or so.

Kantha, which is a celebration of the daily life of rural Bengal, is one of our USP products

Now, there are so many designers who include kantha in their fashion wear that over 30,00 artisans are engaged in kantha embroidery in rural Bengal under guidance of me.

While shopping at me you will not only support the kantha artisans that made the products but will also connect into their life story.

Our company main aim that we strive hard to achieve the confidence of customers with our fair business policies and clients satisfaction we export our vintage collection kantha collected by us from various villages of west Bengal, east Bengal , orrisa,and assam to usa,uk, japan ,Netherlands , france ,hungary,and china.our company has been able to grow day by day with the help of my 3000 women artisans working hard every time.