Posted on 4 October 2026:

🎨 #YathraCanvas | Art in a Frame

Weaving Heritage, One Thread at a Time

In the lanes of Varanasi, where Banarasi brocade has shimmered for centuries, one artist is making sure India’s textile traditions keep their glow.

Dr. Jasminder Kaur is Professor of Textile Designing, Head of the Department of Painting and Dean of the Faculty of Visual Arts at Banaras Hindu University. A gold medalist at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, she has spent over 17 years in the classroom and 16 as a freelance designer of carpets, brocade and printed textiles.

Her research dives into the birds and animals stitched into Chamba Rumal and Phulkari. She has also led a UGC-sponsored study of Uttar Pradesh’s block-printing arts and served as Deputy Director of Bharat Kala Bhavan.

Her heart, though, is with the hands that make the craft. Through workshops on design, skills and marketing, she helps rural women artisans and weavers turn tradition into livelihood.

The recognition has followed: honoured by the Ministry of Textiles at Lakmé Fashion Week 2015, invited to the Prime Minister’s Box on Republic Day, and a presenter in the UK, Portugal and Mauritius.

Most recently, she took her craft to the 12th International Shibori Symposium in Basel, Switzerland.

Tradition isn’t something to preserve behind glass. It’s something to keep weaving.

🎨 #YathraCanvas