Astara Heritage

Kalamkari · Mangalagiri · Narasapur Crochet

Where the hand
remembers.

Three living traditions of Andhra Pradesh, composed anew for the contemporary home.

Explore the collection The Survey
Astara Heritage craft detail
A living archive

Origin

Some things are made for a season.
Others carry one forward.

Astara Heritage begins with a belief: tradition remains alive when it continues to find a place in everyday life.

Across generations, artists and makers have preserved stories through the movement of a pen, the rhythm of a loom and the quiet repetition of thread. Their work carries knowledge—of material, proportion, patience and place.

Every thread begins
somewhere on this map.

Fifteen crafts · Nine states · Four hundred years

The Astara Survey

Indian handwork

Map of India showing regional textile traditions
Field note —

Fifteen pins. Each one a village where a technique was invented, refined, and handed down — and where Astara still has it made.

Touch a pin to read its note.

  • Oldest entryc. 1540
  • Longest to make41 days
  • Weaver households1,284
  • Natural-dye clusters6 of 15
Kalamkari 01 Kalamkari Drawn in rhythm. Coloured by memory. Discover Mangalagiri 02 Mangalagiri Quiet structure, woven in. Discover Narasapur Crochet 03 Narasapur Crochet Light, held by hand. Discover
Kalamkari Line · Pigment · Cloth

Kalamkari · The art of the line

A story that begins
with a mark.

In Kalamkari, the line is never merely decorative. It moves, gathers and unfolds—forming flowers, vines, borders and narrative compositions across cloth.

Andhra Pradesh is home to two recognised traditions: the freehand language of Srikalahasti and the block-printed tradition of Machilipatnam.

Astara Heritage gives this visual vocabulary room to breathe—expressive without overwhelming the room.

Explore Kalamkari bedding
Mangalagiri Cotton · Geometry · Border

Mangalagiri · The discipline of the loom

Beauty, measured
in rhythm.

Mangalagiri expresses its character through restraint. Its beauty lies in the relationship between breathable cotton, deliberate geometry and the clarity of its borders.

For generations, the looms of Mangalagiri have transformed thread into textiles recognised for balance and quiet distinction.

Here, borders frame the bed with intention and finely balanced colour brings architectural calm.

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Narasapur Crochet Thread · Loop · Time

Narasapur Crochet · The poetry of thread

Delicacy made
enduring.

Crochet is built one loop at a time. There is no instant gesture—only continuity, concentration and the practised movement of the hand.

In and around Narasapur, this knowledge has travelled through generations of makers, transforming cotton thread into lace of remarkable intricacy.

Within Astara Heritage, crochet appears with restraint—as edge, runner or quiet accent—so the handwork remains visible and the bed remains restful.

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The Collection

Sorted the way it was made —
by hand, and by village.

Filter by craft to see only what that cluster produces. Every piece carries the name of the family that made it on the inside label.

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The human hand

Knowledge that only
the hand can keep.

Each piece in the survey is still made in the village where the technique was first refined. Astara does not relocate the work; it commissions it where the knowledge lives.

  • 01 Drawn freehand or block-printed with natural dyes
  • 02 Pit-loom woven, borders joined by hand
  • 03 Crocheted in mercerised cotton, one loop at a time
  • 04 Named on the label for the family that made it

Provenance

From village
to home.

When you open a piece, the inside label carries the craft, the village, and—where the maker prefers—a first name. That is the shortest distance between hand and home.

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From the field

Notes worth keeping.

01Two Languages of KalamkariRead 02Inside the Looms of MangalagiriRead 03The Women Behind Narasapur CrochetRead 04Styling Heritage Textiles at HomeRead

Astara Heritage

Made to be lived with,
loved and passed on.

One line, one weave and one loop at a time.

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