Embroidered Dreams: A Personal Appreciation of Bengali Kanthas

In exhorting the monks to wear such stitched rag garments, the Buddha made an aesthetic statement when he compared them to the rice fields of Magadha (modern Bihar state) as if he was looking down from the Rajgir hill. From the air the fields appear as patchwork consisting of small, uneven plots separated by raised, mud and stone borders.

photo credit: Microlight Cambodia