હિર ભરત (Heer Bharat)
Heer embroidery is the densely worked silk thread embroidery tradition of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, practiced by women of the Kathiawari Brahmin, Koli, and Mer communities. The technique uses a long and short satin stitch in fine silk thread on silk or cotton ground, building up a surface of such density that the ground fabric is completely hidden — the finished embroidery has the tactile quality of woven silk rather than stitched thread. The color palette is distinctive: hot jewel tones (magenta, turquoise, gold, emerald) in complex floral and figurative compositions — peacocks, elephants, human figures, and stylized flowering trees — that draw on both Mughal floral convention and local pastoral imagery. Heer embroidery is specifically made for the trousseau — girls begin embroidering at age 7–8 and may spend years completing the pieces they will carry to marriage. The tradition is critically endangered as trousseau culture diminishes and the 5–8 years of pre-marriage embroidery work is no longer economically viable.
Risk level: Critically Endangered · Not inscribed; GI registered (Saurashtra Heer Embroidery, 2020)
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