BHUBANESWAR: Odisha’s ‘Karuna Silk’ initiative is drawing visitors to the ongoing India International Trade Fair (IITF) in New Delhi. Weavers of Routapada in Khurda district - who make ‘Khandua Patta’ of Lord Jagannath and his siblings at Srimandir - are demonstrating the making of Karuna silk at IITF. Karuna silk - also called peace, vegan or cruelty-free silk - is a gentle, non-violent method of making silk from Eri silkworms, without killing them.
The project was piloted in October last year in five districts - Keonjhar, Athagarh, Khurda, Nayagarh and Sundargarh involving around 700 sericulture farmers. This year the department has been able to expand the initiative to 14 districts with 2,500 silk farmers.
“Karuna Silk, a new venture by the Department of Handlooms, Textiles & Handicrafts, has become the USP at Odisha Pavilion in IITF this year. Visitors are taking a keen interest in knowing about this innovation story of ours”, said the principal secretary of the I&PR department Sanjay Kumar Singh.
The Karuna Silk project ensures that silkworms are not killed to make silk, unlike the traditional method under which it is extracted after boiling the cocoons with live worms inside. For this purpose, the department has adopted castor-based Ericulture.
Sources said a typical Mulberry silk saree is produced by killing 10,000 to 20,000 silk worms. Similarly in the traditional process, 5,000 to 7,000 silkworms lose their life in the making of a Tussar silk saree.