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Colors and looms - Chapter II

I woke up with the charming sounds of looms! It was not far away from Kolkata and I had even not travelled whole night, but somehow I fell asleep. I never realised my love for looms before. The condition of the road ahead was also not good . So I got into consciousness. We crossed the railway track and reached our destination - Begumpur!!

It was named Begumpur during the time of the Pathans. Begumpur is a handloom centre about 23 kilometres away from Kolkata and is situated in the district of Hooghly in West Bengal. For decades, weavers of Begumpur were famous for their cotton sarees with Mathapar (plain border). But with the increase of power looms and lack of interest in sarees, the production as well as the earning of weavers got affected . Where once weaving was the primary mode of earning, people started moving in production and export of collar and cuffs. Thanks to the great initiative of our state Government who not only helped the weavers earn their daily bread but also saved the awesome art of work from destruction.

The village of Begumpur is the main village where the Handloom Industry grew up and gradually it spread to the nearby villages. Other than Mathapar sarees, they have also started making various designs on cotton handloom sarees. The outcome is mind blowing. Begumpuri sarees are comfortable, easy to maintain and very graceful.


All the looms used in this area are fly shuttle frame looms., locally known as 'Thak-thaki Tant’. These are traditional looms used over a long period of time. Dobby and Jackard are attached to these looms for creation of various designs. We have been to the Begumpur Handloom Cluster office from where we got what we were looking for, the authenticated Begumpuri cotton Sarees. We experienced all the steps of making a saree from making colours to dying cotton and then making of sarees and it was a great experience indeed.

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