Pipili applique

Pipili applique chandua, practised by the darji sewing-caste families of Pipili village between Bhubaneswar and Puri, has been the state-granted ritual craft of the Jagannath temple at Puri since the twelfth century — the enormous chariot canopies and the deity umbrellas for the annual Ratha Yatra are stitched here each year, and the office of the applique master is a hereditary one in the Puri Chhatisa Nijog. Bright patches of cotton — hingula red, haritala yellow, kali black and sweta white — are cut into mythic animals, lotuses and mirror-work shapes, sewn in reverse on a plain ground with chain and buttonhole stitch, and finished with cowrie-shell edging. Pipili applique received a Geographical Indication tag in 2008.