Weaves from Bandarulanka (Andhra Pradesh)

                                                  

    Bandarulanka is a small village in East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh. This village is famous for its beautiful handloom sarees. There are highly skilled weavers whose families still depend on this skill for their living. Its more of a family heritage which is carried further from generation after generation. These are simple cotton sarees woven using 80 count yarn and come in contrasting colors which vary from pastal to dark shades to suit the taste of both urban and rural women.

                

          Weavers here weave the sarees mainly on prior order. Once they get the order they source the thread from Vijayawada,Chennai and Thanuku and the zari from Surat . The thread is then dyed in the required color. These threads form lumps which are then spun with a spinning wheel which is called Ratnam  (similar to charka used by Gandhi ji). This is mainly done to untangle the thread.

                                                      

 All the spun thread that is needed for one whole saree is then again spun over a bigger machine called Janthram. This machine is like a big cylindrical wheel and it can spin thread for 4 to 6 sarees at once.

                                                

The thread which is needed for one saree is then moved to a machine which is called Maggam on which the final saree is weaved .

                                       

                                          

 The weaver weaves the saree under guided instruction of a person who knows what the client wants. This person is responsible for sourcing all the material and designs needed. There is another person who sets the design in the Maggam . 

                                             

Once this is done the weaver takes from 7 to 14 days to weave one saree weaving 8 to 10 hours a day and for all this they get paid around 60 to 100 rupees per day based on the design and difficulty level.

 Due to the increase in yarn cost, poor wages, increase in maintenance cost of the machines and cost of living lot of weavers are shifting to other means of earning.

                                 

        Veerabhadra handlooms is one such organization in Bandarulanka where they still make these sarees. You can call at 08856230426  if you want to buy these beautiful sarees or if you are interested in knowing more about these sarees or want a guided tour of their handloom they would be more then happy to talk to you J . So next time you are planning to gift something to somebody……or wearing one yourself do remember by buying these sarees…  you are not only owning yourself a beautiful handloom but also your helping this art stay alive.

                           ( Thank you Swathi and Veerabhadra handlooms for sharing the information and Thankyou Vimal for the beautiful photography and incase any body wants to use these images kindly contact him at vmalvfx@gmail.com)

                                                                                      

                                                                                                                  Happy day 

                                                                                                                 Noyamora J