This long piece of painted textile is known as 'kalamkari'. The kalamkari textile is 'painted' with a pen then stencilled and dyed. The use of vegetable colours including indigo was popular but has been replaced recently with chemical dyes. The kalamkari technique was used to illustrate Hindu mythology and to create ritual textiles for temple worship.Mythological kalamkari are generally produced in horizontal format that runs like a comic strip from left to right, following earlier traditions of scroll paintings. The themes from the lives of Krishna (as depicted here), Rama and Shiva are popular.The kalamkari tradition originated in Andra Pradesh during the Deccan Sultanate (14th-16th centuries).
