Ashish Kumar/West Champaran. There was a time when clothes were manufactured not by big computerized machines, but on machines made of wood. Which the artisans themselves used to make with their own hands. Today those skilled artisans and traditional machines have been replaced by giant machines running automatically. The magnificent performance of handloom is rarely seen anywhere now, but there exists a place in West Champaran district, where the people of the tribal Tharu community have kept the handloom alive even today.
Once upon a time, the handloom, which used to run in 7 districts of the state, is now confined to West Champaran district only. In Harnatand of the district, even today, tribal women make wonderful warm clothes and bed sheets in the same traditional way, which are bought by enthusiasts on a large scale.
State’s only handloom center
Harnatand, which comes under VTR area, about 90 km from the district headquarter Bettiah, is such a beautiful place, where the tribal women have preserved India’s civilization and culture very beautifully even today. In fact, here is the only handloom center of the state, where even today warm clothes, bed sheets and pots made by hand on wooden frames are manufactured. The special thing is that the tribal women here are completely expert in this work. They have made it a good means of their livelihood. Director of the center Harendra said that this handloom center located in Harnatand was established in 1984. Although their ancestors have been doing this work for the last 300 years, which is going on from generation to generation.
1 shawl gets ready in 1 hour
Harendra said that even though handloom is on the verge of extinction today, the demand for the items made here is on a large scale. The special thing is that the work here continues for 12 months. A woman makes and prepares 1 shawl in just 1 hour. There are a total of 40 wooden frames at the centre, on which a total of 40 women artisans work. In such a situation, about 100 shawls and many other things are prepared in a day.
There is a huge demand
Harendra told that if we talk from April to October, then in these 6 months, 25 thousand shawls, 27 thousand bed sheets, 5 thousand muffler-sweaters and 23 thousand pots are prepared. As far as the sale is concerned, it is sold in certain districts of the state like Patna, Siwan, East Champaran and West Champaran. The thing to understand is that despite being expensive as compared to other clothes, they are widely preferred.
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FIRST PUBLISHED : July 24, 2023