Today we celebrate the 11th National Handloom Day….
Sometimes I feel sad that we need to keep aside one day in the year to celebrate handlooms in a country where we wore handlooms every single day!!! But it’s good that at least now we recognise the 2nd largest workforce in the country on this day.
The following infographic is from the press release issued by the Govt of India –
I have been wearing a saree everyday for nearly 35 years now… I am a self professed saree addict. BUT, I never knew the difference between a handwoven and a powerloom saree till ten years back. My wedding sarees were bought from a weaver that my Athimber (uncle) knew in Kanchipuram and in all naivety I assumed that Kanchi Silk sarees were all handwoven. Have made so many wrong purchases in complete ignorance !!
It’s so easy to dupe a customer who isn’t aware of the differences …. and not every customer can study handlooms and weaving techniques. Government of India came up with the Silk Mark and the Handloom Mark to ensure retailers attach these tags only to those sarees that are truly pure silk (silk mark) and those that are handwoven (handloom mark). But even that doesn’t seem to be sufficient. There has to be a more rigorous implementation of these tags.
The silk mark only assures you that the yarn used to make the saree/cloth/scarf is pure silk.
If you want to get a handwoven product look for the handloom mark –
Since 2015 I have become a lot more aware of handlooms and now I buy sarees only from selected weavers/aggregators/curators. I know them personally and that way am assured that the sarees are genuinely handwoven or handpainted or block printed etc. If you read my blogposts regarding a particular kind of saree, you will find information about these genuine sellers.
Today’s Saree – A Rare Block Print called Akola Chundri
While scrolling through FB in June this year, I stopped at a particular page that spoke of a unique hand block printing called Akola Chundri. This type of block printing is done at Akola, Rajasthan. Check out this FB page – Tara Leela.
Managed to get in touch with the owner of the page, Sonia, and enquired about the Akola Chundri Mulmul sarees that she had posted about. They did have a few in stock and I immediately booked one. Little did I know that my dear friend, Meenu was also part of this revival story.
It seems as though the Akola Chundri hand block printing gave birth to the more famous Akola Dabu print and slowly went out of fashion. This block print appears to be like tiny stars shimmering amidst leaves and flowers. That’s the best way I can explain it.
It felt very special to wear this saree today because this hand block printing is getting revived … very slowly but surely.
To get one of these Akola Chundri beauties contact Tara Leela. Alternatively you could connect with Rashmi @ +919819325391
Happy National Handloom Day. Do buy at least one genuine handwoven piece every time you buy something new .. it will keep our weaving heritage alive and feed a weaver. I keep saying this and I will keep on saying it – a handloom saree is the most inexpensive art that you can wear and enjoy for many years.
Do read the press release from Govt. Of India – National Handloom Day 2025, Weaving Innovation into Tradition.
#ILoveHandloom #IWearHandloom
Nice saree mam.
Thanks Gopinath