Looning Rural Renaissance
When Saroja Naik stepped into the small loom shed in Hoseri, it felt like coming home. Years ago, she had been trained in handloom weaving but she was yet to put it to use. In 2018, a short-term training session organised by the Kadike Trust changed everything. With encouragement from the Trust and the Weavers Service Centre, Saroja was gifted a new loom shed and reintroduced to the rhythm of weaving. That modest shed became the birthplace of what would later be known as the Bagal project.
In this hamlet, nestled in the village of Yelajith near Byndoor in Karnataka’s Udupi district, a quiet transformation took shape. Around a large Renje tree—locally known as the Bagal or Bakula tree—are gathered men and women, all drawn by a common dream. They call themselves the ‘Bagal Bandhugalu’—friends of the Bagal tree. “We started the Bagal project because many people in Hoseri were motivated by Saroja’s story,” explains Mamatha Rai, who, along with BC Shetty, leads the Kadike Trust.
The project formally began on Gandhi Jayanti in 2023. “We began the training with just eight participants,” Rai recalls. A master weaver from Thiruvananthapuram, Chandran, guided the sessions, but the real strength of the programme lies in its flexibility. Participants can continue farming and household work while learning at their own pace. For Padmavathi, this balance is life-changing. “Earlier, I would travel for several kilometres to work in a factory. But weaving is something I can do from home at my own pace and time.”
The Bagal initiative is the second major effort by Kadike Trust. Their first, launched in 2018, sought to revive the traditional Udupi sari. In the 1980s, over 5,000 weaving families were active in Udupi. By the time the Trust intervened, only 45 weavers remained. With support from NABARD and the Weavers Service Centre, they trained women in batches and even compensated them for their time. Today, more than 120 weavers operate across two districts.
The response for the Bagal project has been heartening. From Krishi Vigyan Kendra to the Tulu Sahithya Academy, Akrithi Publications, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, and even IIM Bangalore, support has poured in. “IIM-B even used our stoles as part of the dress code for their executive MBA convocation,” smiles Rai.
What began as Saroja’s quiet return to the craft has blossomed into a full-fledged community movement. Plans are already underway to build a dedicated weaving centre in Hoseri. But for now, the Bagal Bandhugalu sit in their open sheds and under their beloved tree, weaving resilience into every inch of cloth.