Pritikana Goswami
A Kolkata master of nakshi kantha embroidery who has trained about 300 women in the craft, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2023.
Pritikana Goswami is a master craftswoman of nakshi kantha, the embroidered quilt work of Bengal. She was named for the Padma Shri in 2023 in the field of art, from West Bengal [1].
Needlework to support a family
Goswami was born on 15 October 1959 [2]. After passing her matriculation she looked for work to support her family, and with no money behind her she took whatever embroidery jobs she could find [2]. Her big break came in 1990, when Ruby Pal Chowdhury, chairperson of the Crafts Council of West Bengal, encouraged her to open a training workshop for artisans in rural South 24 Parganas [2].
Teaching women
In 2000 she moved to Sonarpur, south of Kolkata, where her centre taught women traditional nakshi kantha [2]. In 2006 she joined a Japanese-supported project linked to the Crafts Council of West Bengal, which still runs in Sonarpur [2]. Since 2016 she has been chief mentor at Hushnohana, whose Kamrabad centre has 18 skilled craftswomen [2]. She has also run training under the government’s guru-shishya scheme [2]. About 300 students have learned the craft under her [2].
She has shown her work at fairs and exhibitions across India and taken part in craft workshops abroad, including in the United States and Romania [2].
Recognition
She won prizes in West Bengal’s state handicraft competitions in 1996–97 and 1997–98, and in 2001 received a National Award from the President, later being recognised as a master craftswoman [2].
Sources
- [1] Padma Awards 2023: list of awardees — Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Accessed 21 October 2026.
- [2] Padma Awards 2023: citation for Pritikana Goswami — Padma Awards, Government of India. Accessed 21 October 2026.
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