A cluster is defined as a geographic concentration(a city/town/few adjacent villages and their adjoining areas)of units producing near similar products and facing common opportunities and threats. An artisan cluster is defined as geographically concentrated(mostly in villages/townships)household units producing handicraft/handloom products.In a typical cluster,such producers often belong to a traditional community,producing the long-established products for generations.Indeed,many artisan clusters are centuries old Artisan.

About Abhohar Cluster:-

Abhohar  Cluster falls under Punjab State in Muktsar district.

The Abhohar cluster is able to form 200 plus Artisans & 15 SHGs supporting the strong work force. The mobilisation gains momentum day by day.

Embroidery of Punjab:-

Embroidery of Punjab has an age long tradition and the major centres of this traditional art of embroidery are located in different parts of Punjab.The well known embroidery of Punjab is the Phulkari embroidery.The artisans involved in embroidery work in Punjab are deft in creating several kinds of embroidery stitches on shawls, cardigans, scarves, table covers, cushion and bedspreads.

Embroidery of Punjab is the art of creating intricate designs on fabrics with different coloured threads.The Phulkari embroidery is the connotation of growing of flowers.Thus, the motifs and patterns of Phulkari essentially contain floral designs and motifs. The artisans use bright and vibrant colours to accentuate the floral patterns and these patterns are found in almost all traditional attires.

Following the tradition, the embroidery of Punjab is done on handspun khadi cloth.Simple darning stitches are made using un-spun silk floss thread which is called `pat`.This particular design needs intricacy and delicacy and due to this certain fact, the Punjabi embroidery has become one of the most sought after forms of embroideries.Depending on the variation of the embroidery of Punjab, the stitches vary from vertical, horizontal to diagonal.The artisans create salwar-kameez, shawls, heavy dupattas, stoles, sarees, etc using Phulkari and other embroideries that are hugely practiced in Punjab.

The embroidery of Punjab, predominantly the Phulkari embroidery was done on the `odhnis` in the past eras.Over the years the ancient form of embroidery of Punjab became heavy and intricate.The heavily embroidered `odhnis` came to be known as `bagh`which means garden.In this style the embroidery covered every inch of the entire base material so that the cloth was completely invisible. This embroidery uses vibrant colours like white, dark blue, red, black and brown.The artisans use a few motifs like Satrangas which are seven-coloured motifs and panchrangas that are five-coloured motifs in the embroidery works.The most common and beautiful motif used in the embroidery of Punjab is based on the wheat and barley stalks that grow all over Punjab.The Phulkari embroidery is used in creating attires and clothes for different occasions.The communities of the artisans who are engaged in embroidery of Punjab create Chope which is a red coloured cloth that has Phulkari on the borders and edges.This type of cloth is presented to a bride by her grandmother, just before the wedding.

Raw materials:-

1.Dress Materials

2.Embroidery Cloths

3.Needle

4.Different Colour Threads

Process:-

The embroidery is done from the wrong side.The pattern is controlled by the counting of the thread, but quite often the outline of the pattern is embroidered on the cloth in green thread.The needle picks up only one thread at a time, so that the back of the pattern is delineated with single lines of color in extremely fine stitches.In the front the stitch ranges from 1/2 to1/4 cms in size.In the bagh, a single thread of the base material separates one pattern from the other.Thus an area is divided into twelve squares by this fine line, the squares themselves being covered with stitches going in different directions.As it is done on a thick material the embroider can work without a frame.The stitches used are darning, stem, herringbone, satin, straight, back, running, blanket, split, cross, and chain stich. The Bagh, literally meaning garden, has a variety of patterns inspired by nature.The panchranga and the satranga, five and seven colors respectively are some of the richer variations of this style.The bawan (fifty-two) bagh beats them all, as it has 52 different geometric patterns embroidered in one piece.Phulkari differs from bagh, as in the former larger portions of the base material are visible, the design being scattered.In the latter, the embroidery covers the surface so as to become the material itself.In another form, the chope, which is presented to the bride by her grandmother-in-law, the embroidery is done in yellow with occasional touches of blue or green only on the borders, the field, always red is left plain.Here there is no right or wrong side, the stitches being even on both sides.

Techniques:-

The phulkari stitch derives its richness from the use of the darning stitch placed in different directions---

1.Vertical,
2.Horizontal
3.Diagonal.

The motifs used in the embroidery are `karela bagh`, `gobhi bagh`, `dhaniya bagh` and `mirchi bagh` which are based on motifs inspired by vegetables. On the flip side of it, `shalimar charbagh `and `chaurasia bagh` are motifs based on the renowned gardens.

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How to Reach:-

How to Reach:-

By Air:-

Chandigarh and Amritsar are the two major airports, connected to other cities in India by regular flights. Indian airlines do have regular flights from Chandigarh to Delhi, Lucknow, Leh, and Amritsar.

By Road:-

Highways connect major cities to the state capital. NH 1 or the Grand Trunk Road connects the state with most of the north as well as east India.

By Train:-

Punjab is well connected with other parts of the country by rail. Chandigarh, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Pathankot and Jalandhar are the major railway hubs in Punjab.