For a saree addict like me, visiting Chanderi was a dream come true. Every time we would drive from Gurgaon to Hyderabad or Chennai, we would see the signboard for Chanderi as soon as we neared Lalitpur. I would keep telling Krishnan that we should visit sometime. It happened during this trip.
We visited Pranpur village on Nov 9th. Mr. Venkatesh Narasimhan had shared Master Weaver Lala Ram Koli’s contact details with me and I spoke to him a day in advance. We planned to be in Chanderi for just one night and were leaving on Nov 10th. LalaRam Koli came to Kila Kothi where we were staying and we took a taxi to go to his place.
About Chanderi Sarees
Chanderi Sarees have a GI tag. They are almost muslin like and were as famed as the Dhakai Muslin. Mostly these sarees are woven with silk thread in the warp and cotton thread in the weft, leading to the lustre that’s associated with them. There are pure silk and pure cotton Chanderi sarees as well.
The motifs used are coins, peacock, geometric designs and floral. I bought a hand block printed saree with floral motifs – Bought Yesterday, Worn Today !
There are nearly 4000 weavers in Pranpur village. FabIndia is one of the largest customers for these sarees and it has been a great association with them. The Government of Madhya Pradesh is also taking extra efforts to sustain the art of weaving at Pranpur village. Digital India is making its mark here too … I paid for all my purchases through GPay !
A short video of Pranpur Village and Chanderi saree weaving –
Besides sarees, the Pranpur village also has pottery and terracotta work being done. We visited a pottery class happening at one of the houses.
A tea cup made specially for me … now I need to collect it on the way back 🙂
When we reached the place where we had left the taxi, the driver was nowhere to be found ! Finally after nearly a half hour, Lala Ram Koli found him at the nearby mosque offering his prayers. He brought us back to Kila Kothi and we called it a day.
For authentic handwoven Chanderi Sarees and suit material, please contact Lala Ram Koli @97704 44729. He is also a tour guide and can take you around to the interesting tourist spots nearby. We didn’t have a lot of time, so we promised to take up his offer on our way back.
2 thoughts on “Pranpur Village, Chanderi”