Love for Handloom Sarees

Today, on the seventh day of August 2020, Friday, the sixth edition of National Handloom Day is being celebrated. The Union Textile Minister, Smriti Zubin Irani, of the Union Ministry of Textiles had announced earlier that the day would be celebrated through a virtual event to avoid any mass gathering amid the coronavirus pandemic. In view of this event, she had asked celebrated personalities and masses to share images of themselves adorned in handloom clothing, jewellery or any other form of handcraft item. To honour this novel idea, I decided to showcase tonight one of my favourite sarees from my handloom collection.

This electric peacock blue number is one of the finest sarees in my cupboard. It is a Bengal weave handloom saree, the region of origin being unknown to me as I had bought this back in the year 2017 from a reseller at my hometown of Siliguri, who supported the local handloom weavers by selling their finished products from door-to-door. Among a pile of sarees she had pulled out of her bag, this particular one caught my attention the moment I laid my eyes on it. I just could not let my eyes off it. It was like "love at first sight". My dear mother too had her eyes on the same saree, but my love for it had no match. My heart, mind and soul wanted this saree at all costs.

The fine weaving with large temple patterns on the border area is what gives the saree its slightly traditional yet classy look. The pallu is a multi-striped contrast area with handwoven tassels at the end of it. The finish of the saree is coarse but smooth to touch. The colour is vibrant but not tacky, with a shine that can only be describes as the shine you see on a peacock's neck. Pair this saree with an oxidised metal jewellery set and you are ready to rock any public gathering.

National Handloom Day - History & Significance

In 2015, the Indian Government had declared August 7 as National Handloom Day to commemorate the Swadeshi Movement which was launched on this very day in 1905 (a whole of 110 years from then) in the Calcutta Town Hall to protest against the partition of Bengal by the British Government. The handloom sector is one of the major symbols of the cultural heritage of India. Not limited to that, it is one of the major sources of livelihood, especially for women from weaker economy section. These women constitute around 70% of the weavers of allied workers in this sector. it is to acknowledge their contribution to the socio-economic fabric of our nation that this day is celebrated in due honour of the handloom community.

How to differentiate between authentic handloom and power-loom?

Handloom, these days, is a dying skill which is rapidly being replaced by power-looms for they produce faster and at cheaper rates. Handloom sarees are woven by hand, and power-loom sarees by machines powered by steam engines. A handloom, by very nature of it being woven by hand, will have rugged uneven surface due to knots, thread pulls, etc., giving it an ethnic appeal. Handloom sarees are woven by pinning the saree to the loom. They often have equidistant pin marks or holes on the top or bottom of the saree or near the borders, known as selvedge. Though they have a rough surface, handloom sarees are soft in texture. One other way to identify an authentic handloom saree is tassels at the end of the saree which are made from the extra threads left at the end of a pallu.