RAJANNA-SIRCILLA: Saturday was a particularly fragrant day at the Pragathi Bhavan, the official residence of the Chief Minister. Amid the din of the people present and clicks of the numerous cameras, one could see Textiles Minister KT Rama Rao and Finance Minister T Harish Rao holding a saree but it felt like one was transported to a garden of flowers, spices and herbs.
Was it sorcery or divine intervention?
Nalla Vijay, a young power loom weaver from Sircilla, claims it is ‘weaver’s magic’. After the success of Rajanna Siri Pattu, which has become a hit in the global market, the Ministers unveiled a special type of fragrant sarees and announced the Siri Chandanam Pattu saree brand on Saturday.
Speaking on the occasion, Rama Rao, who represents Sircilla in the State Legislative Assembly, said with these two new brands from Sircilla, the name of the town will reach corners across the world.
“It is a proud moment, both for the power loom weavers of Sircilla as well as the Telangana government,” he said. With 27 fragrances — such as cardamom, sandalwood, basil, saffron and camphor — each saree takes about 15 days to be made and costs about `12,000, Vijay tells TNIE.
He stands by the claim that the fragrance will stay for two years even after being washed multiple times.
During the recently concluded Bathukamma festival, 10 women from across the State placed orders for the fragrant sarees, he says, adding that a number of other orders were sent to customers in Hyderabad, Bengaluru and even the US with the help of courier services. However, Vijay is up to his neck dealing with the spate of enquiries for his fragrant sarees.
“Minister Rama Rao assured me that the raw material would be provided to us on a subsidy to enable us to create more varieties of the saree and help popularise Sircilla’s name across the world,” Vijay says. Currently, Rama Rao’s team and Vijay are in talks for the telephone marketing for the new brand of sarees, he adds.