BHUBANESWAR: Maniabandha, famed for its silk sarees and non-violent form of silk weaving, has been selected as one of the best tourism villages in the ‘crafts’ category this year.
The award was announced by the Ministry of Tourism on the occasion of the World Tourism Day on Friday. Located in Badamba tehsil of Cuttack district, the village’s textile tradition is a mix of Hindu and Buddhist beliefs.
To promote tourism in the ‘Soul of India’ (India’s villages), the ‘Best Tourism Villages Competition’ was introduced last year with a focus on identifying villages which preserve and promote cultural and natural assets through community-based values and commitment to sustainability in all aspects.
This year, the ministry received 991 applications from 30 states including Odisha, out of which 36 villages were recognised as winners across eight categories of the competition. Maniabandha won in the ‘crafts’ category.
Located close to the ‘Diamond Triangle’ of Lalitgiri, Ratnagiri and Udaygiri, Maniabandha is one of the largest Buddhist villages in Odisha with over 520 Buddhist families. All are engaged in handloom work.
There are eight Buddhist temples in the village. They follow both Buddhism and Jagannath culture which reflect in their weaves. While everywhere else silkworms are boiled alive to obtain silk fibre, Maniabandha’s weavers extract silk thread from the cocoons shed by the worms.
Maniabandha village has 688 weavers having 624 looms. They operate through the Maniabandha handloom cluster which has recently applied for the Geographical Indication (GI) tag for Maniabandha saree.
The cotton and silk sarees woven here with hand-spun threads dyed in traditional vegetable colours have earned a global market for their unique designs and texture.
“It is a recognition of all villagers’ joint efforts to keep alive this age-old craft for generations,” said Arjun Pal, a weaver.