Gagan Moharana
Appliqué artisan
Artisan
Khordha

Gagan Moharana is a 70-year-old appliqué artisan based in Bhakarsahi, Banamalipur, Khordha district, Odisha. He learned the craft through hereditary transmission and has spent decades practicing and sustaining appliqué traditions rooted within the community’s domestic and social life. His knowledge reflects long-term engagement with materials, techniques, and local systems of production shaped through repetition and experience. Using textiles, thread, and hand-based stitching processes, his work focuses on appliqué objects intended for household and decorative use. Within the regional context of Khordha, the craft extends beyond ritual associations and remains closely connected to everyday forms of utility and domestic aesthetics. His work circulates through local markets, Utkalika, and regional exhibitions and fairs. Across his career, he has received recognition through various honours and presentations acknowledging his contribution to the craft tradition. His practice today reflects both continuity and endurance, sustained despite changing markets, material pressures, and growing uncertainty surrounding the future participation of younger generations in hereditary craft occupations.
Gagan Moharana, senior appliqué artisan from Bhakarsahi, Banamalipur, Khordha district, Odisha, preserving traditional handcrafted textile and household décor craft traditions through generations