This is a cotton fabric, hand painted with vegetable dyes in shades of blue, brown and ochre using a bamboo pen. It smells faintly of sour milk - this is because cow’s milk is used in the decorating process.

Kalamkari painted textiles have been produced in India since the 13^th Century on cotton or silk material. The designs usually illustrate stories from Hindu myths. This painting depicts a story from the Bhagavad Gita in Hindu mythology. The warrior Arjuna was a great archer and is depicted here on Krishna's chariot before a momentous battle. Arjuna was worried because he knew that he would kill his own cousins in this battle. Krishna explains to Arjuna that he cannot kill what is eternal and advises him to do his moral duty.

Krishna is usually represented with blue skin. I love the decorative concentric circles of the great chariot wheel and the way that the horses are represented in profile; with their legs all aligned. There are many similar versions of this image.

Supplier: www.somabooks.co.uk.The website indicates the books available but the crafts on sale are splendid, too, as the image shows.