Wide range of silk sarees up for grabs at two exhibitions in Mysuru

Mysuru: With weddings around, two expos that started here on Friday are a feast to tourists as well as locals as they can buy traditional silk sarees directly from artisans and weavers from across the country.

Over 70 weavers from 14 States have set up stalls at the 10-day 'Silk India Festival' hosted by Hasthashilpi Artisans and Weavers Welfare association at Nanjaraj Bahaddur choultry on Vinobha Road. Besides this, the 17-day handloom mela "Samskruthi-2020" at JSS Urban Haat has 50 weavers from 16 States.

Sadly for the artisans and weavers of Hasthashilpi Artisans and Weavers Welfare Association the sale, demand and production of sarees has come down by 70 percent due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Speaking to the Hans India, Abhinand T S, Managing Director, Hasthashilpi Artisans and Weavers Welfare Association said, "over 450 weavers from across the country are our members. We host 60 silk saree expos in a year across the country where the weavers get platform to market their sarees. We used to do business of at least Rs 50 crore to Rs 70 crore a year. But this year due to the pandemic, the business has dropped by 70 percent. After the last exhibition we hosted in March at Kanpur, we could only host four exhibitions after lockdown restrictions were relaxed since October, at Shimoga and Hubli and Indore in Madhya Pradesh. We used to have at least Rs 50 lakh business per day. But at our Indore expo, the business nosedived to Rs 4 lakh a day. The only saving grace is Shimoga and Hubli expos where we did over Rs 18 lakh business a day (over 25 percent).

People are still scared to come out to buy sarees due to coronavirus. The other reason for dull business is shrinking income of people in the wake of Covid-19. The orders for silk sarees has come down by 70 percent. They had no business for six months from April to September. Weavers are taking up other jobs as they do not have enough money to buy raw materials. We are hoping for the business to improve once the vaccination is available by July next year," he said.

In a silver lining to the dark scenario, the six months hiatus when there were no exhibitions, the weavers have come up with sarees with creative designs at 48 stalls at the Silk India Festival. They include Ilkal, Molkalmoor, Crape, Georgette, Arini and printed silk sarees from eight districts in Karnataka. They have organic Tussar silk sarees from Bihar, Kanjivaram from Tamil Nadu, Dharmavaram, Mangalagiri, Gadwal, Uppada, Pochampalli sarees from Andra Pradesh, Lucknowi chikan work, Mulberry, Jamdani, Jamawar silk and chiffon silk sarees from Uttar Pradesh, designer sarees from Maharashtra, Patiala and Phulkari sarees from Punjab, Sambalpuri, Ikkat, Bomkai sarees from Orissa, Raw silk, Kosa silk sarees from Chhattisgarh, Maheshwari, Chanderi silk sarees from Madhyapradesh, Baluchari, Dhaka Muslin, Boutique print, Kantha work, Zardosi sarees from West Bengal, Muga and Eri silk sarees from Assam, Kashmir silk sarees from Jammu and Kashmir, Kota silk, Handblock print sarees from Rajasthan.

Mr Abhinand said that all Covid precautionary measures are being taken as per the guidelines of State and Central governments.