Sikalnayakanpet Kalamkari : History
Also referred as Sickanayakanpet/Sikalnayakanpet/Sickinaickenpet/Karuppur Kalamkari
These kalamkari artisans were initially put up in Kodalikaruppur and
were invited by the royal courts to make outfits for the kings and
depict stories in fabrics which decorated the temple during festivals.
Over a period of time the artists were sought after for making thoranam
(a decorative hanging in temple chariots) They were given land to
develop the art further. A few of them came and settled in
Sickanayakenpet and started practicing
the art here. However, a lot of them didn’t take this as a profession
and many of them were struggling to make their ends meet during the
Zamindar period. Few samples and pictures were taken to the British
museum in the 1940s-1950s period.
Later, Martand Singh found this gem and took the art to a global scale. A
lot of foreigners were interested in knowing the art and visited this
small town in Tamil Nadu. Few of them even got their PH.D by documenting
this art. By this time, there was only one family who were practicing
this art. Late CM Jayalalitha came to knew about the existence of this
art and made sure that the decoration thoranam was bought for World
Tamil Conference during 1995.
Owing to changing customer demands, the artists started making sarees. Earlier, it used to be plain sarees with minimal designs in cotton. These days they have excelled in making these art on silk. Posting few stories here.
A complete decoration of the temple chariot with kalamkari painting 
Distressed people on a boat praying to Lord Vishnu to save them from
drowning. Lord Vishnu takes the form of fish and saves the lives.
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