The magically woven Udupi handloom sarees are being re-invented with fresh, modern designs to help the ailing sector regain its lost glory and retain customer interest in handlooms.
Helping the century-old traditional handloom sector to redefine itself is a young MBA graduate Mahalasa Kini. Her passion to turn contemporary wear into a comfortable-to-wear modern designer outfit is being seen as a ray of hope for the dying indigenous art.
Udupi handloom sarees, woven by skilled weavers have come a long way.
Udupi sarees, which secured Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2016, was much sought after for its lightness and flexibility.
The sarees cannot be woven on power looms and its uniqueness was in ‘butta’ and ‘pallu’, woven intrinsically to double its beauty.
Udupi sarees, which once enjoyed fame as sarees worn by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Bannerjee, lost its prominence in the course of time.
The community, especially Shettigars, after finding it hard to make ends meet with meagre earnings, opted for other professions.
A weaver was paid Rs 390 to 400 for every saree and an additional Rs 600 for making ‘pallu’ for 32 sarees by the society.
With the youth developing an inclination for other jobs, the handloom sector stopped attracting fresh talent a long time ago.
The traditional weavers, left with no options, continued weaving. The existing three to four weaving societies today have a maximum of 10-15 members.
Prior to discovering her passion in Udupi handloom sarees, Mahalasa was working for a firm in Mumbai.
Her love for the weaving of sarees since her childhood and a deep desire to keep the handloom sector alive turned her into a ‘revivalist’ and an artist.
Mahalasa told DH that she first got herself trained in the art of weaving Udupi sarees at Kinnigoli weaver cooperative society.
Armed with her newfound skills, she begun innovating and encouraged weavers to weave sarees with her fresh designs, of interest across all ages.
She next set up online marketing platforms on Instagram and WhatsApp, to help customers buy Udupi sarees directly from the weavers in the district.
Her Insta outlet, ‘Ghar by Malsi’, is also engaged in the online sale of sarees, she said.
Mahalasa says her desire for innovation and modern designs have the full backing of traditional weavers and members of Kinnigoli Weavers’ Association, Shivalli Weavers’ Associations and Udupi Primary Weavers’ Service Cooperative Society.
Mahalasa is also introducing handloom saris of Punjab, Assam, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. Her attempt to expose both customers and local weavers to the diversity in cultural ethnicity had paid dividends.
At present, she is focussed on ensuring that existing weavers get decent wages and do not abandon the occupation.
“Once the Udupi handloom sector is revived and when weaving becomes a well-paid job, youth will naturally return to their family profession,” she adds.
Though it is just a beginning, the satisfaction received by working with a less privileged community like weavers community cannot be explained, she adds with a twinkle in her eyes.