Indian Handlooms Present & Future - National Handloom Day

The weaver's courtyard is suffused with rhythmic tension between the weft and the warp, resonating with the sounds of 'thad', 'tak'... 'tak' from the loom. At the same time, his partner spins magic through her hands with unwavering attention creating the yarn, the essence of any handloom weave. The entire family is engaged in performing different activities to produce the indigenous handloom. A piece of handwoven fabric goes through days of toil and hard work.

Taking turns on the same loom while the other completes their daily chores, each saree is a beautiful story of love, patience, artistic vision and struggle woven into the beautiful piece of cloth.

This incredible craftsman holds together the weft and the warp and works his magic on the silken wonder. A Handloom weaver's art is at his fingertips while effortlessly moving the shuttle and honing their craft through practice and precision. One can co-relate the perpetual motion of life with the art of weaving. Each stage is characterised by distinctive sentiments and lasts for a spell before the next one takes its spot.

INDIAN HANDLOOM - A HISTORY OF SPIRITUAL ATTACHMENT

India is a pristine ground of spirituality with thousands of years of history. A land held tight to its archaic traditions embedded with fruits of its deep-rooted culture passed on through generations with emotions intact. Our handloom weavers have practised the very essence of our spirituality and culture through the art of weaving.

The weavers have kept us secured to our roots by choosing to pursue and preserve this age-old art while being deprived of their rightful dues. Over centuries lakhs of people have been involved in the weaving industry, most of whom are rural, and 70% are women. However, the majority of them are destitute. Constant competition from cheap and inferior power loom products has threatened their livelihood and sustenance of Handloom products. Due to this disparity, the younger generation is forced to discontinue this legacy. 

INDIAN HANDLOOMS PRESENT AND FUTURE

Today, the time has come to take up the grit to empower the handloom sector towards an entirely new direction, equipped with the robust forces of new talent and resolute technology; this will indeed empower consumers by providing high-quality products. With India's Make in India Campaign, it is time to create a name for India's priceless Handloom products. So let us welcome the effort of the weavers to provide an exceptional standard to our handloom products, creating an unprecedented market for high-quality handlooms. 

A BRIEF PROCESS OF WEAVING A HANDLOOM SAREE

First, the length of the house is covered with several rows of handspun yarn. When woven into a fabric, this length, which is approximately 10 metres long, will yield 24 metres. 

The yarn is then dyed with the initial base colour with natural ingredients.

The yarn is stretched out on poles in the sun to dry when the dyeing procedure is finished. Sunlight is crucial to this process because it enables the yarn to dry naturally without shrinking or losing its colour.

The yarn is then put on cones for the loom when it has dried completely and fully dyed. For every 24 metres of fabric, 32 cones of yarn are required.

The process mentioned above does not do justice to the amount of work that goes behind weaving a handloom saree. The entire procedure goes back to sourcing cotton or silk, which is then handspun by the women; numerous pre-loom and post-loom activities make a handloom special. Each process is performed with utmost care and precision to ensure the highest standard and quality. An Indian Handloom weaver may take anywhere from 18 hours to 8 months to weave a handloom saree, depending on the intricate details and precision required.

MAVURI CELEBRATES NATIONAL HANDLOOM DAY

Mavuri makes a conscious effort to source its weaves directly from the weavers, eliminating the intermediaries; this ensures that the weavers are fairly compensated for their artistic skills and effort in weaving the wonderful handloom sarees. So, on this National Handloom day - August 7th, let's celebrate the rejuvenation of this sector and the spirit of being Indian.