Google doodle celebrates textile heritage of India on 77th Independence Day

Independence Day 2023: Search giant Google on the 77th Independence Day of India celebrated the rich and diverse textile legacy of the country by coming up with a special doodle depicting a digital tapestry of interwoven fabrics. The doodle has been illustrated by Namrata Kumar, a New-Delhi based artist. The artwork has drawn inspiration from a range of textiles that India offers, weaving the varied “swatches” into a vibrant story of India.

In a post on the Google Doodle portal, the internet behemoth shared the vision and inspiration of the artist in coming up with the commemorative artwork. The doodle depicts ‘swatches’ of weaves drawn from Kutch embroidery of Gujarat to fine ‘ikat’ work of Odisha and ‘Pashmina kani’ woven textile of Jammu and Kashmir to ‘Kasavu’ weave of Kerala, covering regions across the country, placed next to each other in a textile grid of sorts, with ‘GOOGLE’ depicted in the centre with embroidered letters.

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Artist Kumar on Google’s portal said she “researched and identified the diverse textile craft forms present in India”. “I sought to cover a broad spectrum of techniques, encompassing embroidery, different weaving styles, printing techniques, resist-dyeing techniques, hand-painted textiles, and more. Additionally, I wanted to ensure that I represented different geographical regions of the country in a balanced manner,” she said.

Today’s doodle celebrates India’s Independence Day. On this day in 1947, a new era dawned as India became independent from the British rule, Google said. Symbolic of this first day of independence, an annual flag-raising ceremony is held at Red Fort, Delhi, with the prime minister in attendance. Citizens sing the national anthem and commemorate leaders of the independence movement, it said.

The artist said throughout the creative process, the “overarching goal was to honour and celebrate India’s textiles and their profound connection to the nation’s identity”.

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“My hope was that through this artwork, I would be able to shed a light on the rich cultural heritage and artistic brilliance of India’s textile traditions and create something that would resonate with audiences through the Google doodle platform,” she added. In this artwork, each textile showcased is a “testament to the collective craftsmanship of skilled artisans, cultivators, weavers, dyers, printers, and embroiderers”. Together, they create these extraordinary textiles that embody the essence of India’s creative spirit, the search giant said.

(with inputs from PTI)

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