![]() Handloom is the second-largest employment provider after agriculture in India. Shawls with more intricate designs can take from 10 to 30 days, says Dinesh. A plain shawl can be made in a few hours while those with light designs can be made in three to four days. Pic: amount of time taken to manufacture a shawl depends on the design. Since natural dyes tend to fade over time, weavers use azo-free dyes which are skin-friendly.īhuttico founder Thakur Ved Ram (left) with a weaver. The cashmilon yarn used in weaving is dyed in bright colours like black, maroon, red, white green and yellow. The cost of a standard shawl of 40 x 80 inches ranges from Rs900 to Rs35,000 depending on the design and wool used. Sometimes buyers or designers provide the designs and colours and the weavers make the shawls accordingly.Īlso Read: Pedana Kalamkari: How Pitchuka Srinivasa has taken Andhra’s 15th century craft to New York’s high street Dinesh Thakur, export manager at Bhuttico says they get bulk orders from buyers and designers in the US, Europe, Japan, China, Russia and Uruguay. This is the plight of almost all handicrafts in India,” he adds.īesides domestic sales, Bhuttico exports goods worth around Rs30 lakh annually. ![]() “Youngsters are not attracted to weaving as it cannot ensure them a decent earning. But it is dying a slow death,” says Satya Prakash Thakur. “We are doing our best to preserve this handicraft. Bhuttico, as it is known today, has given a respectable livelihood to around 1,000 weaver families from Kullu valley. His father, late Thakur Ved Ram, established the Bhutti Weavers Cooperative Society in 1944 with an initial share capital of Rs23.25. ![]() I was 17 or 18 years then… she would visit the showroom often and purchase shawls… she was very beautiful,” says Satya Prakash Thakur, chairman of Bhuttico.Īlso Read: How COVID-19 and India-China tensions have changed India’s 900-year-old Patan Patola weaving I remember her visiting the Bhuttico showroom in Kullu. “Devika Rani was fond of Kullu shawls and has a big hand in promoting them. ![]() A year later, she bid adieu to the film world and moved to Roerich’s house in Naggar in Kullu valley.Īlso Read: How a hobby made Patels the last custodians of Ahmedabad’s Ashavali sarees GI-tagged Kullu shawls are known for their geometrical patterns and bright colours. After Rai’s passing, Devika Rani married Russian painter Svetoslav Roerich in 1944. The bold and beautiful actress, who was the grandniece of Rabindranath Tagore, founded the Bombay Talkies along with her first husband Himanshu Rai. The suggestion from the iconic Devika Rani gave birth to the first full-length shawl (72” x 36”), setting off the commercial weaving of Kullu shawls with their trademark geometrical patterns and bright colours. These woven Pattis, which had no fixed length, were used to make coats, caps and pyjamas for men while women wrapped them around the body to keep warm.Īlso Read: Bhujodi: Gujarat village that turned a nomadic tribe’s shawl into a global fashion statement Up till then, the locals mostly used to weave Pattis, about 18 to 22 inches wide, using sheep wool on pit looms and handlooms. In 1942, when she visited Kullu, nestled in the lap of the Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh, she asked a local weaver, Sheru Ram, to weave a shawl on his pit loom. Devika Rani, the legendary actress and the first lady of Indian cinema, was also a connoisseur of arts and crafts.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |