The quaint inexperienced village of Athimalaipattu, 14 km from Arani in Tamil Nadu, wakes up earlier than dawn. By daybreak, the roads are alive with color: lengthy rows of silk threads stretched rigorously from finish to finish, crushed gently to carry out their shine. Youngsters run round, carrying ropes, sticks, and scissors, serving to their weaver-parents with this centuries-old step often called avenue warping, after which the threads discover their technique to the loom, able to be woven right into a silk saree.
Studying from heritage artisans a should
“Why is that this course of completed earlier than dawn?” somebody requested, perking up.
The query lower via the regular warping rhythm of a weaver. Doubts about his centuries-old household craft have been uncommon. “After dawn, the warmth will break the silk threads, and they won’t be tensile and tight to be drawn as sarees,” he mentioned, trying up. It was Swathini Ramesh, a scholar of the Nationwide Institute of Trend Expertise (NIFT), Chennai. She hurriedly scribbled his reply in her pocket book as she was keenly observing.
Swathini and her 19 classmates, after finishing their second 12 months of Bachelors in Design (textile design), got here and stayed in Athimalaipattu for per week to study their silk saree manufacturing as a part of their Craft Analysis and Documentation element, as prescribed by the Union Ministry of Textiles.
“As a part of their curriculum, college students from all NIFT centres, together with Chennai, go to craft clusters akin to Arani that concentrate on conventional crafts. This helps them to develop respect for the age-old arts of India,” mentioned Professor Divya Satyan, Director, NIFT Chennai.
They’re supposed to remain, work with the artisans, doc the craft and current it as a report. “It helps to protect and doc heritage artwork and craft. Then, it provides the scholars the concept to take these conventional crafts to a brand new degree. Then, within the closing 12 months, they return to the cluster for a collaborative undertaking and implement interventions – like easy methods to utilise assets with out affecting the setting,” mentioned Affiliate Professor G. Krishnaraj, textile design division at NIFT Chennai.
Bringing classroom classes to life
“This was the prospect to see the idea of our lecture rooms come alive in threads and looms,” mentioned Arushi Bansal, one other scholar who visited Arani with Swathini. Though they’d a loom of their classroom, seeing a full-sized handloom in Arani left them awestruck. “We did weave a cotton material, within the dimension of a handkerchief, in school. Nevertheless it was not the true deal,” mentioned Swathini.
“Those in Arani have been giant and have been in a pit,” mentioned Arushi. A pit handloom is a standard loom with a picket body, and it’s used to weave silk or cotton. The weaver sits above a shallow pit within the flooring. Pedals within the pit management the up-and-down motion of the warp threads (the lengthy vertical threads), whereas the weaver’s palms move a shuttle carrying the horizontal threads via them. By repeating this rhythm over hours, the threads slowly flip into material.
“I laughed when one of many college students requested why the loom sits in a pit as an alternative of on the bottom. I defined that it permits me to work for hours with no break. Sitting above the pit with my ft inside makes it straightforward to function the pedals, whereas my palms stay free to move the shuttle and handle the threads,” recalled Venkatesan A, a 37-year-old weaver from the village. This loom helped his posture. “I don’t must bend over the yarn and harm my again.”
Arushi mentioned she learnt extra throughout the week with the Arani weavers than she had in two years of classroom examine. “The hand-eye coordination these weavers have comes solely from observe. In the event that they must transition to a different color within the saree, the weavers lower round 4,000 warped threads manually, then they take the opposite color and knot it with the 4,000 ends earlier than weaving. The arduous work put into weaving a saree in a handloom was inspiring,” mentioned Arushi.
Professor Krishnaraj mentioned that saree designs can’t be completed casually. “The scholars noticed looms of various sizes and capacities. That’s after they might perceive that just some looms permit two-inch-long designs, whereas others let designs with a size of 4 inches. There is no such thing as a design that corresponds to one-size-fits-for-all.”
The scholars additionally visited the mulberry plantations and sericulture areas from the place silk originates from silkworms.
Revisiting their studying centre
The Arani weavers are very hospitable individuals, mentioned Swathini. “They gave us meals, saved flowers on our head and even accommodated non-Tamil-speaking college students in our batch. They taught me weaving of their handlooms too.”
Through the seventh semester, the scholars are requested to return to the clusters to work on a undertaking. “I wished to make use of pure and plant-based dyes to create a bridal put on model with their silk. They agreed to ship me the silk so I might dye it with pure dyes. They even saved a piece for natural-dye silk sarees on the market of their cooperative society showroom,” mentioned Swathini. “They inspired me that selling pure dyes is vital as a result of it’s much less hazardous to the setting.”
After school, Swathini began a model and has an outlet in Thiruverkadu, Chennai and sells these pure dye sarees, sourcing silk from Arani, amongst totally different locations in Tamil Nadu.
Arani silk is totally different, regardless of being an hour away from Kanchipuram. “Kanchipuram silk is a really heavy and conventional materials. However Arani silk is extra up to date with fashionable motifs, largely used for workplace and informal put on. Arani can be well-known for checks (designs). These sarees additionally weigh much less,” mentioned Swathini.
Arushi, then again, plans to collaborate with the Arani weavers to advertise and popularise their manufacturing with social media and branding. “They gave a non-Tamil speaker like me a lot love and care. They didn’t even communicate English, however I might perceive what they have been speaking with some signal language and weaving practices. They opened up their homes, looms, and craft secrets and techniques to us.”
“The youthful technology are steadily drifting away from our household and generational artwork. We wish extra weavers to affix us. Our cooperative society gives handloom coaching with a small stipend too,” mentioned Venkatesan.
Printed – September 04, 2025 05:23 pm IST