Thiruvananthapuram
Kerala
The Balarampuram Cotton Kasavu Sarees, Double Dothis and other Handloom products
of the District are eco-friendly, user-friendly and world renowned. The
historical background of Balarampuram reveals that the Maharaja and his Delava
(Chief Minister) Ummini Thampi jointly decided to bring 7 weaver families
(Syalias) from Tamil Nadu and settle them at Balarampuram in a cluster, and the
lane in which they settled has today come to be known as the Syaliar Street.
Presently the number of weavers in the area and in the district has increased
to thousands and Balarampuram has got established as a brand name for the
products. The weavers of Balarampuram and Thiruvananthapuram weave rich and
sophisticated hand loom products like Balarampuram sarees, double dothis,
churidar materials, dress materials and furnishing etc.
Still, the varieties of Balaramapuram had excellent market potential and the
weavers thereon were getting reasonable income for maintaining better standard
of living. Nearly 5100 looms were engaged in the production of such fabrics and
approx. 14,000 weavers are working in this cluster. No attempt was made to
exploit the skill of such weavers, who are master craftsmen in their trade, to
produce any other variety for expanding market demand. Turnover of this cluster
is 15 crore.
Activities of the Thiruvananthpuram cluster
Primitively, the weavers were using throw-shuttle pit looms by sing street
sized warp for the production of exclusive cotton fabrics with pure zari. They
did not use any type of improved appliances such as Dobby, Jaquard, Jala, etc.
for the production of designs for cloth they are now involved in a unique type
of weaving where each and were separately controlled by hand to interlace with
weft wound in small prints. Buttas and larger type extra weft designs were
woven on the motif/pattern printed with wooden block using easily washable
vegetable Colours. This type of unique weaving of finer count cotton fabrics
with 100 percent pure zeri rapidly and extensively spread out in the district.
The variety known as “Pudava and Kavani” (veshti and upper cloth used with pure
zeri) still remains as a prestigious bridal gift in the marriages. The designs
with zeri or colored yarn, using the age-old technique still has unparallel
appeal which can attract even the most sophisticated customers. The identical
appearance of the design on the face and backside of the fabric makes it unique
and exclusive. This technique of laced weaving is practiced only at
Balaramapuram and its surrounding places.
Specialty of the region
Balarampuram and its surrounding villages is known for the weaving of exquisite
handloom product made of finer varieties yarn(up to 120’s) with cent percent
pure Jeri using unique technique called “LACED WEAVING”. Designs with identical
appearance both on the face and back side of the cloth using pure Jeri attract
the people of the state. The other products weaved in this district are Cotton
Bed Sheets, Jacquard Bed Sheets, Satin Sheet, cotton Shirting, Lungies, Turkish
Towels, Bath Towels etc.
The weavers were using primitive type throw-shuttle pit looms by sing street
sized warp for the production of exclusive cotton fabrics with pure zari. They
did not use any type of improved appliances such as Dobby, Jaquard, Jala, etc.
for the production of designs for cloth with extra warp and extra weft. The
weavers used a unique technique by which each and were separately controlled by
hand to interlace with weft wound in small pirns. Buttas and larger type extra
weft designs were woven on the motif/pattern printed with wooden block using
easily washable vegetable Colours. This type of unique weaving of finer count
cotton fabrics with 100 percent pure zeri rapidly and extensively spread out in
the district. Identical appearance of designs, including warp and weft stripes
on the face and backside of the fabric is obtained by this technique of
weaving. The variety known as “Pudava and Kavani” (veshti and upper cloth used
with pure zeri) still remains as a prestigious bridal gift in the marriages.
The designs with zeri or colored yarn, using the age-old technique still has
unparallel appeal which can attract even the most sophisticated customers. The
identical appearance of the design on the face and backside of the fabric makes
it unique and exclusive. This technique of laced weaving is practiced only at
Balaramapuram and its surrounding places. “Balaramapuram became the synonym for
the above type of handloom fabrics”.
Contact Us
Mr. P. S. Mani
Kerala State Handloom Development Corporation Ltd. [HANVEEV]
PM-32/249, Thilleri Road,
Cannanore - 670 001, Kerala
Phone: +91 - 497 - 2701804/2767976
Office: +91 - 471 - 2395122
Mobile: +91 - 9746490333
Email: manips59@yahoo.com
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