The Pichwai Bloom Platter

Hand-stitched tassels and a pichwai bloom on one side. Navratna patola on the other. Sixteen hours, six women, one platter.

What it is

A small two-sided platter, 6.5 inches across. One face carries a stacked pichwai flower in pink silk, with cut petals layered in ascending sizes for a fuller bloom. The other carries a digitally printed navratna patola in bottle green and orange. Thirteen tassels run around the edge, every one of them stitched by hand from inside the platter. The base is sturdy MDF. 97% of the work is done by hand.

What's included

• 1 × Pichwai Bloom Platter
• 1 × Floral-cut fabric pouch with thread closure for storage

Where & how to use it

• Daily decor — console table, sideboard, floor accent, or wall piece using the silk loop stitched into the back
• Pooja and rituals
  • Rakhi platter with kumkum and chawal
  • Base for placing an idol of any deity
  • Prasad base during Ganesh Chaturthi
  • Kalash base during Navratri
  • Diya holder during Diwali
• Gifting
  • Single piece as a wedding favour
  • Set of two as a housewarming gift
  • Hostess gift for any festival

Dimensions

• Basal diameter: 4 inches (10.16 cm)
• Total diameter: 6.5 inches (16.51 cm)
• Thickness: 0.85 inches (2.16 cm)
• Volumetric Weight: 118 grams
• Actual Weight: 274 grams 

For scale: roughly the size of a bread plate. Sits comfortably on a console table or doubles as a generous coaster.

Materials & why we picked them

• Pink silk (bloom side): soft sheen that catches light without looking synthetic. Cut and stacked into petal layers for depth.
• Digital-printed fabric (patola side): the navratna pattern is digitally printed in bottle green and orange. We chose digital print specifically because the colours will not fade, even with years of light exposure.
• Wooden beads (25 mm, tyre-shaped): the anchor of each tassel, wrapped with fine cylindrical beads for shine.
• Cylindrical beads (silver element): these give each tassel its glint. Honest note: over many years, silver-element beads can develop a darker patina. Some buyers prefer the aged look; others gently polish them. This is natural aging, not damage.
• Dull golden beads (fibre): 85 in each tassel bunch, poured by hand. Because they're fibre, not metal, they will never tarnish or dull.
• MDF base: sturdy, holds shape, won't warp with normal use.
• Silk thread: every tassel is stitched into the platter from within. No glue gun, anywhere. This is what makes the platter last decades instead of years.

The craft

• 16 hours of focused artisan time per platter
• 6 women involved in making one piece
• 13 hand-stitched tassels, each anchored from inside the platter — not glued
• 85 fibre golden beads poured into each tassel bunch
• 97% handcrafted, 3% machine-finished

The work is split across three locations. The bead bunches are poured by women in Kadi. The 3% machine work — the cutting and base shaping — is done at our Sanand GIDC unit. The final stitching, tasselling, and assembly happens entirely by the women in Kalyanpura.

The story

Pichwai is the temple-art tradition of Nathdwara, painted and stitched for Krishna devotion. Patola is the seven-colour silk-weaving tradition of Patan, Gujarat — once worn only by royalty. Putting them on opposite sides of the same platter is our way of saying both belong in your home, not just in a museum. Three Gujarat villages, six pairs of hands, sixteen hours of work. One small platter.

Care & longevity

• Wipe with a damp cloth if dust gathers in the fabric
• Keep away from moisture and direct sunlight
• The fibre golden beads will not dull, ever
• The digital print will not fade
• The cylindrical silver-element beads may darken over many years — this is natural patina, not damage
• Hand-stitched construction means nothing will peel or come loose with normal use

What to expect when it arrives

• Slight variations in tassel spacing — every pair of hands stitches a little differently
• No two platters are identical, even from the same batch
• A faint scent of fresh fabric and wood, which fades within a day
• The platter will feel substantial — the MDF base is intentionally heavy for stability

What you will not get:

• Machine-perfect symmetry
• Any glue marks, anywhere — we don't use glue guns
• Synthetic-looking shine — the silk has a soft natural sheen, not a plastic gloss

Packaging

Your platter arrives wrapped in a floral-cut fabric pouch tied with a thread closure, inside an outer protective shipping box. The pouch is reusable — keep it for storage or pass it on with the platter as a gift.