BARGARH: At a time when the handloom market is flooded with modern motifs and geometrical patterns, Harilal Meher’s loom celebrates the traditionality of the craft.
In his mid-70s, the weaver of Jhiliminda in Bargarh has not just revived hundreds of traditional Sambalpuri designs but is also using them to create contemporary patterns that have become hugely popular with handloom connoisseurs, both in India and abroad. In the process, he has also trained 5,000 weavers who, like him, are working towards popularising traditional designs in Sambalpuri weaves.
“Over the years, a multitude of designs and patterns have made their way into the design bank of Sambalpuri handlooms. For the last six decades, my work has been focused on finding old designs and integrating them with contemporary motifs,” said Harilal who was felicitated with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts department on the occasion of the National Handloom Day. In 2023, he was felicitated with Sant Kabir Handloom Award for a ‘Sachipar Dasphulia’ khadi saree.
His tryst with handlooms began early in life. Born in Bargaon, Harilal lost his father when he was a toddler. His mother then shifted to her paternal house at Jhiliminda - a weavers’ village - and pounded rice for a living. With finances being a constraint, Harilal never went to school but even as a child, the colourful dyes and threads and the hum of the handloom interested him. He kept visiting houses of weavers to see them work. By the age of 10, some weavers helped him learn tie and dye (Ikat), extracting threads and other jobs.
“I slowly started learning how to weave from every artisan in the village. It was my guru Ratnakar Meher who guided me throughout and taught me the nuances of weaving, particularly with traditional designs. Some years later, I began weaving sarees and used to sell them at Sambalpur,” Harilal recalled.
His craft was noticed by Krutartha Acharya who was the founder of Sambalpuri Vastralaya and whose contribution to Odisha’s handloom sector is considered second to none. “He gave me the opportunity to exhibit my work in other states including Delhi. It was in the mid-80s that I was given the opportunity by Jyotindra Jain, the former director of the National Handloom and Handicrafts Museum, to give a live demonstration on revival of old and traditional designs of Sambalpuri tie and dye at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. Two very old designs, ‘Bichitrapuri’ and ‘Butadar’ sarees were highly appreciated by everyone. It was then that Jain and other dignitaries asked me to revive the old and traditional designs of sarees,” he reminisced. Harilal went on to win the National award for the ‘Butadar’ saree in 1988.
What then began was a journey to every village in Bargarh for Harilal, to collect sarees with old designs and motifs from weavers. In exchange, he would give them new silk sarees. He created a repository of nearly 200 designs and revived all of them in his new weaves. Some of them today find place in the National Handloom and Handicrafts Museum at Delhi.
With the help of Sambalpuri Vastralaya, he exhibited these sarees at handloom exhibitions across the country. “Participating in these exhibitions gave me an idea of what handloom lovers wanted, the designs, colours and motifs. I began weaving my sarees using both old designs and new motifs and patterns, and continue to do so,” Harilal said. Some of the designs that he has revived in his weaves are ‘Boul Mala’, ‘Kala Phutani’, ‘Chandra Udyana’, ‘Utkala Lakshmi’, ‘Baghambari’, ‘Sachipar’, ‘Butadar’, ‘Nahi Bandhi’, ‘Ram Sagar’, ‘Asmantara’ and ‘Odia Lagna’.
Apart from weaving, the 76-year-old has so far trained 5,000 weavers in weaving and tie and dye all over Western Odisha.