At House Of Ekam, our journey with Machilipatnam Kalamkari began with deep admiration and ended in complete awe. When we visited Machilipatnam in August 2025, we witnessed a craft so layered in history, skill, and cultural significance that it changed the way we viewed textile art forever.
Once known as Masulipatnam, this historic port town was a thriving centre for textile trade during the colonial era. Its intricate Kalamkari artworks travelled across the world, admired for their detail, storytelling, and artistry. Today, fragments of this legacy live on in museums and private collections globally, but the craft itself remains rare, preserved only by a handful of master artisans.
This collection is our attempt to bring that legacy back into contemporary Indian homes.
Every piece in this collection is entirely hand block printed using natural dyes derived from ingredients like jaggery, haldi, and anar, resulting in colours that feel earthy, rich, and deeply rooted in tradition. The process is painstakingly slow involving multiple rounds of printing, washing, boiling, and dyeing with a single artwork often taking 5–6 days to complete.
Atisans work with intricately hand-carved teak wood blocks, some measuring close to 40 inches in length. Many of these blocks are inspired by archival designs that have survived through decades of craftsmanship. Every motif tells a story. Every irregularity is proof of the human hand behind it. And every piece carries with it centuries of tradition, skill, and quiet resilience.
No two pieces are exactly alike, making every artwork a one-of-a-kind textile masterpiece.
This collection is more than décor. It is a celebration of Indian history, craftsmanship, and storytelling ; thoughtfully reimagined for modern homes while preserving the soul of a centuries-old tradition.
