Shikargah Tales | Heritage Reimagined

Banarasi weaving is a language shaped over centuries - rich with its own motifs, compositions, and codes. At Tilfi, we see this language not as static, but as alive. Tradition is never rewritten, only refined: its vocabulary expanded through subtle shifts in scale, balance, and form. For us, heritage is both an anchor and invitation - a foundation on which new ideas can take root.

The Legacy of Shikargah

Rooted in the royal hunting traditions of medieval Persia,Shikargah - literally “hunting ground” - began as an artform of pursuit and grandeur. Under the Safavids and later the Mughals, these lush scenes of lions, deer, elephants, and peacocks found form in miniature paintings, manuscripts, and brocades—symbols of majesty and regalia. Woven into Banarasi textiles, Shikargah became an enduring emblem of splendour, artistry, and storytelling, its dense compositions carrying the imprint of centuries of cross-cultural imagination.

Tilfi’s Reinterpretation

Tilfi’s Shikargah Tales reframe this historic narrative with a gentler gaze. Moving away from conquest and pursuit, our interventions explore the wilderness as a living world in its own right—where animals rest in repose, foliage hums with quiet vitality, and nature is observed rather than subdued.

We look not to conquest, but to contemplation. Our textiles become an invitation - to pause, to observe, and to find beauty in the wild as it is: untamed, unhurried, and whole.

Expanding the Vocabulary: from lexicon to landscape

Across seasons, we have expanded the vocabulary of Shikargah in multiple directions. Some explorations introduce animals rarely seen in classical depictions, such as leopards and panthers, extending the lexicon while retaining its essence. Others subtly shift the Banarasi grammar: the stately walk of a lion traced along a hemline, or a koniya, traditionally a floral or paisley corner, reimagined in the noble profile of a lion.

This season, the lens has widened. In textiles inspired by the Ranthambore Fort, once a hunting ground and now a sanctuary, tigers inhabit its pavilions and peacocks perch upon its dome, the narrative itself is revised. At its most conceptual, the Camouflage series pays homage to nature’s art of concealment. Stripes dissolve into grasslands, spots vanish into stone. The woven terrain itself becomes the medium of revelation, its secrets visible only to a lingering eye.

With each exploration, the shift is clear: from the spectacle of the hunt to an invitation to observe and contemplate.

Ingenuity in Weave: Design in Dialogue with Craft

Ingenuity at Tilfi arises from mastery of practice, held alongside deep reverence for tradition. This mastery allows us to play, to adapt techniques to inspiration, and to translate concept into textile with precision. Only with deep command of practice can the design vocabulary be stretched with integrity. Each motif and pattern finds its voice through the technique most suited to its nature.

When the animal itself is the focal point, Meenakari brings its form alive in colour and detail. To pronounce the majesty of a lion’s stride, we turn to Kadhua, where each motif is painstakingly handwoven as if sculpted on silk. For camouflage, the Zari Vasket technique creates brocaded surfaces textured like terrains, where figures emerge slowly from their environments. Each choice reflects not only technical command but also a thoughtful response to the narrative we wish to weave.

The result is textiles where design and technique meet in seamless interplay, mirroring the balance of tension and harmony in the wilderness itself.

Heritage and Ingenuity

In Tilfi’s hands, Shikargah is both memory and imagination, heritage honoured, yet quietly evolved. We remain in dialogue with tradition, pushing its language forward in ways that are thoughtful, surprising, and true. 

For us, ingenuity is not departure but continuity: the craft of Banaras alive in motion.

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