Watch: How Weavers of Kanjeevaram Sarees Keep Tradition Alive

“Just like rice is nurtured by a farmer’s family, similarly every saree is the labour of many hands.”

Just like rice is nurtured by a farmer’s family, every saree is the labour of many hands. From yarn to fabric, the entire weaver’s family toils towards this. One spins, one dyes, one weaves. So when you buy a saree, you support a poor family. You support our traditions. When you support our traditions, you support our economy.

Shashikala, AD, Weavers’ Service Center, Kanchipuram

This is the story of weavers in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu who make the renowned and intricate Kanjeevaram sarees.

This short film talks about and features national award winning weavers, who offer significant insight into the techniques, the tradition, the intricacies and the hard work that goes into making these traditional handlooms, featured on the Registry of Sarees Facebook page.

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The Registry is an effort to “revive old motifs and techniques and recognise a few weavers honing their craft against the onslaught of rapid mechanisation,” reports The Hindu.

The eight-minute video sheds light on the evolution of technology and training and is interspersed with beautiful shots of the weavers’ exquisite handiwork.

Shashikala highlights how the weavers have kept the Kanjeevaram alive for so many years and even increased its visibility outside India. “When we go to another country, people recognise us by the silk we wear, the nose ring and the tilak on the forehead,” she says.

The video highlights that there are ample weavers to propagate the craft, and there is no dearth in demand. D Karthikeyan, Assistant Director for Weaving at the service center emphasises how they focus on training the weavers, especially those below 35 years of age, in the intricate technique and technology involved in making these sarees. “So the next generation also is definitely interesting and they are coming into the field,” he says.

B Krishnamoorthy is a national award winning weaver, three generations of whose family have been in the profession. However, now only his cousin carries on the tradition besides him.

As of October 2015, Krishnamoorthy had woven 5,000 designs without repeating a single one and maintains a patchwork of these designs on a tapestry, which he hopes will serve as a reference for future generations.

Having dedicated four decades to the Kanjeevaram, Krishnamoorthy had told Amrutha Varshini of The New Indian Express that these designs are scarce and that he has seen “many weaves, designs and colours fall through the cracks and slip away” over the years.

However, the video doesn’t talk about the socio-economic divide that exists between the weavers and those who buy their products. According to Mrinal Pande’s article on scroll.in, 55 percent of weavers’ families in India, including those in Kanchipuram, continue to live below the poverty line.

It also highlights the gender bias that exists in the handloom industry, despite the fact that they make up over 70 percent of the workers.