Hyderabad-based artist embroiders Ramayana, cites Ayodhya Ram Temple as inspiration
Mar 11, 2024
Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], March 11 : Hyderabad-based artist Aparna Kanumuri has stitched the entire narrative of Ramayana through the art of embroidery.
Kanmuri's "Ramayana' is a labour of love that she says she began during the pandemic lockdown and is made to resemble ancient scriptures written on leaves.
She took around one year to stitch the entire Ramayana. Her passion for the Ramayana, coupled with her mastery of embroidery, culminated in a breathtaking masterpiece that serves as both a visual spectacle and a testament to her unwavering faith. 
Kanumuri said, "I have been very fond of embroidery from childhood. I have learnt all this embroidery art from my mother and grandmother. I have been pursuing it a lot. Instead of doing only tablecloths and others, I have been doing a lot of portraits and other embroideries. During lockdown, when I heard of the Ayodhya Ram temple Bhoomi Pooja, I thought that I wanted to contribute to my next generation something that can be remembered. I finally decided to do Ramayana."
She said that she started the Ramayana embroidery at the same moment during the Ram temple 'Bhoomi Pooja'.
"I started with whatever material I had at home and started the Ramayana embroidery at the exact same moment of the Ram temple Bhoomi Pooja. I used to work about 10 hours a day or sometimes even more than that. I did a little more than 100 panels, which I could complete within one year," she said.
The artist said that she had ensured that the Ramayana embroidery looked very colourful to attract the children.
"Ramayana is a very big epic, making it compact, deciding the important steps, the script was all a big task. I have written very little script in Telugu. I have also made sure that it is very colourful so that children also will be very attracted and interested to know about our history. I thoroughly enjoyed doing it. It was like a meditation to me."
Kanumuri's son, Anchit said he was proud of her achievement and it was her attempt to keep alive the art of embroidery.
Anchit said, "This Ramayana which my mom has made is not an easy task. It's more than 100 pages with all the minute details. Most people do not have the patience to sit and do it. This is a grand scale now and something that can be looked at for generations. This is to keep the art alive and also to keep the story alive. This is something very unique, it is a great accomplishment. I am very proud of my mother."
