Colourful Textiles of Amritsar & Gujarat – India
Fri 23 Oct – Tue 10 Nov 2026 Special Interest

Amritsar is renowned for its vibrant Phulkari textiles, particularly Phulkari dupattas, known for their intricate floral embroidery and vibrant colors. The city’s markets, especially Katra Jaimal Singh, Hall Bazaar, Kapda Bazaar, and Guru Bazaar, are hubs for finding these beautiful embroidered pieces. Phulkari is a traditional embroidery art form from Punjab, characterized by its intricate threadwork and colorful designs. Founded in 1577 by the fourth Sikh guru, Guru Ram Das, Amritsar is home to the spectacular Golden Temple, Sikhism’s holiest shrine and one of India’s most serene and humbling sights. The hyperactive streets surrounding the temple have been calmed to some extent by recent urban landscaping, including graceful pedestrianised walkways, but duck into any side alley and you’ll soon discover Amritsar’s fantastically frenetic old-city bazaars, sheltering a sensory overload of sights, sounds and smells.

Gujarat is India’s westernmost state with a long coastline open to the Arabian Sea. From time immemorial it has been a centre of trade and commerce, with an influx of migrants and invaders from different lands who brought with them their distinctive crafts, textiles and tradition. The prosperous princely states and mercantile families of Gujarat patronised artisans who made for them rich fabrics for clothing and furnishings. Kutch forms the northwest border of India with Pakistan to the north, the vast saline and marshy desert of the Great Rann of Kutch covering most of its northern and eastern area, the Gulf of Kutch to its southwest, and vast semi-arid grasslands dotted with pastoral villages. This is one of the most rural and pastoral areas of western India, with the number of livestock heads exceeding the human population. South of the Gulf of Kutch and west of the Gulf of Khambat (Cambay), Saurashtra is the largest region of Gujarat comprising the entire Kathiawad Peninsula. Saurashtra was once divided into more than 200 princely states and fiefdoms, and their forts, palaces and mansions hold interesting repositories of textiles and crafts.

The vast plains of mainland Gujarat are flanked by the Aravalli hills to the north, the Satpura and Vindhya hills to the east, the Sahyadri’s to the southeast and the Gulf of Khambat to the west. This part of Gujarat, often referred to as Mainland Gujarat, is largely urbanized. The city of Ahmedabad in the heart of the plains has a long textile history which can be explored in its superb museums.

During this tour we will explore a wide range of textiles from Phulkari traditional emrbrodry from Punjab, coarse cotton and wool rugs woven in Kutch at villages near the Pakistan border to elaborate double ikat sarees woven for rich business families, from colourful embroideries of the village women of Kutch to sophisticated tapestries of the royal palaces. We will also get to see rare weaves like the Patola and the Tangolio, crafts like Rogan that are now practised by only a few families, and heirloom pieces of embroidery made for women’s trousseau.

Polly Woolstone

Polly Woolstone has taught Art and Textiles for over 30 years.  She originally trained in illustration and graphic design at Canterbury College of Art. Since retiring from full-time teaching she has developed her own artistic practice and now works predominantly in mixed media and textiles. Much of her inspiration comes from her visits to India.

Julia Oxlade

Julia Oxlade has run her own business for over 30 years and has always enjoyed travelling.  These trips, especially those to India, continue to influence her textile work, which is mainly hand stitch and mixed media.