Buddhi Batiks: Patterns of changing times
Buddhi Batiks launched their latest collection on December 6 at their Ward Place, Colombo 7 store.
The shop was a colour palette of batiks of varied patterns for all ages. Ladies tried on silk sarees with Persian Rose prints on sea-green backgrounds while men checked the sizes of simple yet elegant batik t-shirts. Dispelling the conventional notion of batik, the goods on display 
ranged from gunny purses with Sinhala letters printed using batik technology to postcards sporting classy batik designs.
“The specialty of the batik design form is that it is handmade. The printing is mostly done by women from my village of Koswadiya. They are passionate about what they do and therefore a lot of hard work goes into creating something beautiful using batik. About the latest collection…. I would say that it is very varied,” said Darshi Keerthisena, owner of Buddhi Batiks.
Darshi took over the family business in 2005 from her father Buddhi Keerthisena, a pioneer in making batik a part of Sri Lanka’s cultural identity. She received her B. A. Hons in Fashion and Textile Design from Birmingham City University, UK, and made her mark when she was chosen the International Young Fashion Entrepreneur of the Year at the Colombo Fashion Week 2008 .
The vision of Buddhi Batiks is to foster the age-old art’s evolution while uplifting rural communities whose livelihood is batik. It encourages the use of different fabrics and patterns that are not used in the traditional batik industry.
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