Toda Embroidery

Toda embroidery, known as pukhoor, is the distinctive red-and-black counted needlework of the Toda pastoral tribe of the Nilgiri hills. Worked without any frame on an unbleached white cotton cloth, the women count the warp and weft threads and stitch dense geometric motifs in red and black wool, so precisely that the design appears almost woven and looks the same on both sides. The motifs are drawn from Toda life and nature, and the finished cloth, called a putukuli, is worn as a shawl and holds deep ceremonial and cultural meaning for the community. Passed down among Toda women over centuries, the embroidery is inseparable from the tribe's identity, rituals and dress. Today it has become a source of income for Toda women and a celebrated example of Nilgiri tribal art, valued by collectors and museums.