On India's 77th Independence Day, A Special Tribute By Google Doodle

India is celebrating its 77th year of Independence today, Google marked the day with a special doodle illustrating textiles from 21 different regions. Google Doodle features a patchwork ensemble of India's beautiful textiles. Illustrated by New Delhi-based artist Namrata Kumar, the artwork has drawn inspiration from a range of textiles that India offers, weaving the varied “swatches” into a vibrant story of India. 

In a post on the Google Doodle portal, the search giant shared the vision and inspiration of the artist in coming up with the commemorative artwork.

The doodle depicts 'swatches' of weaves drawn from Kutch embroidery of Gujarat to fine ‘ikat' work of Odisha and ‘Pashmina kani' woven textile of Jammu and Kashmir to ‘Kasavu' weave of Kerala, covering regions across the country, placed next to each other in a textile grid of sorts, with 'GOOGLE' depicted in the centre with embroidered letters. Artist Kumar on Google's portal said she "researched and identified the diverse textile craft forms present in India".

"I sought to cover a broad spectrum of techniques, encompassing embroidery, different weaving styles, printing techniques, resist-dyeing techniques, hand-painted textiles, and more. Additionally, I wanted to ensure that I represented different geographical regions of the country in a balanced manner," she said.

Today's Doodle celebrates India's Independence Day. On this day in 1947, a new era dawned as India became independent from British rule, Google said. Symbolic of this first day of independence, an annual flag-raising ceremony is held at Red Fort, Delhi, with the prime minister in attendance. Citizens sing the national anthem and commemorate leaders of the independence movement, it said.

The artist said throughout the creative process, the "overarching goal was to honour and celebrate India's textiles and their profound connection to the nation's identity".

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"My hope was that through this artwork, I would be able to shed a light on the rich cultural heritage and artistic brilliance of India's textile traditions and create something that would resonate with audiences through the Google Doodle platform," she added.

In this artwork, each textile showcased is a "testament to the collective craftsmanship of skilled artisans, cultivators, weavers, dyers, printers, and embroiderers". Together, they create these extraordinary textiles that embody the essence of India's creative spirit, the search giant said.