Toiling for Telia Rumaal in Hyderabad

It takes over a month to create Telia Rumaal, and with the help of Department of Handloom and Textiles and TSCO, the weavers have already begun the work
A worker works on Telia Rumaal
A worker works on Telia Rumaal

HYDERABAD: A month ahead of the National Handloom Day, hardly any of us think about what the ancient art. The Department of Handloom and Textile, Telangana State Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society (TSCO) and weavers have been toiling to bring together the show that is promised.

Shailaja Rama Iyer, the Managing Director of TSCO gives us a peek into what has been going on behind the scenes for the celebration of the National Handloom Day coming up in August. “Government of Telangana has been actively promoting and celebrating Handloom Day since two years. They have been using this day as the foundation to promote handloom particularly among the youth,” says Shailaja.

Featuring a significant part of the Ikat tradition, Telia Rumaal this year, the DHT and TSCO don’t want to leave any stone unturned. She laments, “This is an ancient craft and not many of us have even heard of it. It was a form that originated in Chirala and then the weavers of course migrated to Pochampalli and Puttapaka. There are barely any weavers left who are working on this process. And it is our responsibility to bring back their glory.”

Telia Rumaal involves soaking the yarn in castor oil up until the fabric completely absorbs the oil. It is then dyed, designed, and weaved into rumaals traditionally. However, these fabrics have also been made into other garments over the years. “Because they were infused with castor oil, they made for a perfect headdress in hot regions. They kept you cool,” Shailaja adds.

For a batch of rumaals to be completed might take well over a week and add to that the dying, weaving processes, it would take over a month to get the garments ready.  Featuring the Telia Rumaal this year for Handloom Day, TSCO wants to revive this ancient art as well. “The main motive of Handloom Day is to promote the craft and create a branding for these various looms. By drawing the attention towards them through promotion, ambassadors and celebrations like these, it penetrates the mind of the general public and influences them to opt for handloom which is more eco-friendly, sustainable and also fashionable,” she elaborates.

The motive is not only to promote the craft but also the effort that goes into it. She adds, “Unless the process is explained and the effort of the weavers is put forth, the consumers will not know the worth of what they are getting. It also increases the value of the weavers, their products and their dignity as well.”    

Shailaja Rama Iyer also points out that there are barely one or two families that still know the accurate process of Telia Rumaal that has been passed down from generations. “These families have been holding on to the craft and keeping it alive. We have convinced them to share the knowledge with other weavers and handloom workers so that it grows instead of going extinct. They too have been accommodating of the same as they also believe it is an art form that needs to be passed down,” she shares. 

While the regular urban consumers returning towards handloom for the aggressive branding that the Telangana Government has been doing for the same, it was a conscious decision to use and promote handloom through influencers. “KTR himself wears handloom and makes sure he suggests anyone influential person he meets to try out handloom. Mahesh Babu was one such person who also took to handloom after that. Samantha Ruth Prabhu was the handloom ambassador for a while and it drew a lot of attention to the weavers and their work.

Such promotion helps not only benefit the small businesses but also the weavers quality of life.” shares Shailaja. She also shares that the Government has been actively providing schemes and subsidies for weavers to ease their effort. “The Government provides 40 per cent subsidies on the yarn that weavers have to purchase. And these subsidies not only accommodate master weavers but also the ancillary workers. Similarly, we have been training handloom workers in dying, weaving and other processes which help them in their businesses.”

This year, before holding an exhibition by the weavers for the Handloom Day, Rina Singh and six other designers will showcase their work in handloom to promote sustainable, eco-friendly fashion.

The writer can be contacted at  srividya.palaparthi@newindianexpress.com 

Twitter- @PSrividya53

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