COTTON HANDLOOM

The Cotton Weavers of Trivandrum are spread across the tropical Kerelan region and can be found down backstreets and between banana and gum trees.

The metallic threads are beautiful, a luxurious finish to the kurti’s and cotton sari’s popular in the region. As such an expensive process the fabrics are costed on how many cm’s of metallic thread is used. Ask for more details.

You hear the workshops before you see them, the beat of the weaving shuttle being shunted from left to the right is a dead giveaway. Huge warps are threaded up on the wooden weaving looms depicting the given colours and designs. Various workers have different jobs throughout the building; the bobbin winders are in the back, bright room, the warp threader with her holey paddle ensures there isn’t a tangle, the carpenter fixing broken looms – all working together like a well-oiled machine. The quality is astounding and it’s hard to believe that weave that small and tight is hand woven.

The jacquard machines sit mainly unused in the centre, a sad reminder of a declining industry. Anil, the managing director of the company and our guide, tells us they are hoping for clients in this discipline so they can get the looms working again. Seeing the machines that are in use and what they are producing is inspirational.