At the Cotton exposition, organised by the Awadh Hathkargha Hastshilp Evam Gramodyog Samiti, at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, there is a wide variety of traditional hand-crafted and handloom fabrics. Around 110 artisans from 14 states are participating. The Samiti is aiming to sell quality crafts at a reduced price by taking out the middlemen.
“I have not seen scenes from the life of Kutch, including the Garbha dance, depicted on cloth before,” says Rhia Mathew, one of the visitors to the Gujarati stall. Churidar sets, with mirror work, Dhori work, and bandhini are being sold here.“The bandhini from Gujarat as well as Rajasthan are available,” says Javed Alam, the secretary of Cottonfab. “The states, which are next to each other, have developed the craft of ‘tie and dye in vegetable dyes.”
Saris, churidars and running material, with block print, Baag print, and Batik print form a greater part of this exhibition. Chanderi churidar sets are sold for Rs 1360-5000 while Kurthis from Himachal Pradesh are sold at Rs 250-850. The Banaras handloom cotton, Mahaeswari cotton, raw silk, plain silk, and jute silk are also available as running material at Rs 180-300 per metre. The rainbow-hued Manipuri saris and intricate brasswork on Tassar silk are a delight to the eyes.
Aplic work designs from Aligrah, available at Rs 1000-13000, and Lucknowi chikan work are among the highlights of Cottonfab-2013. “The Lucknowi chikan work is usually very expensive, but the kurthis and saris are well within one’s budget,” says Sheba Baby. Incidentally, kurthis cost between `380 and `680, while saris cost range from Rs 480-1800.
In addition, rice puffs, beautiful bed covers, bedsheets, and curtains from Tamil Nadu, Jaipur bangles, chairs from Haryana, jointless handmade glass bangles, which costs Rs 20-30 per pair, Sitapur rugs and Hyderabad pearls are available. The exhibition concludes on May 30.