The ‘Cotton and Sari Mela’ currently under way at Sindhura Hall in the city is quite different from the similar events held in the past.
Organised by Lepakshi, the flagship brand of the Andhra Pradesh Handicrafts Development Corporation, the show has amazing art pieces brought by master weavers all the way to Tirupati from Bihar, Rajasthan, Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kashmir and other States that stand out as a multicultural confluence. Women visitors to the expo are literally floored by the eye-catching ethnic wear of the respective regions.
There is a streak of similarity in most stalls selling saris. To use the weaving jargon, the ‘common thread’ passing through all the outlets is the use of different materials for the warp and weft in weaving. The stall selling Tussar silk saris, which attracts a significant number of women, uses this phenomenon very conspicuously. “While the Munga and Yeri silk varieties are famous in Assam, we use the Tussar and Matka silk,” says Abhimanyu Kumar from Bhagalpur, Bihar. Similarly, the Bengali cotton saris also get a bright and fine texture due to this factor.
“Cotton and jute threads are interwoven in our saris, which get a majestic look,” explained artisan Babul Kanti Dey of Kolkata. Such saris do not require starch very often, he added.
Meanwhile, visitors are also making a beeline to the Jaipur handprint sari outlet. Saris, bed sheets, bed spreads and dress material made of the famous Sanganer block print is used here.
Another similar feature in the stalls is the use of block printing by extensively employing vegetable dyes.
“Limestone, alum and many natural compounds are used to derive each of the colours,” said Rajendra Kumar Chhipa, a weaver from Sanganer town, who belongs to a family of award-winning artisans. “We have chosen the pre-Navaratri festival for the expo, as it is during this period that we get an even mix of local residents as well as the vacation crowd,” said Lepakshi Senior Manager K. Sreehari.
The exhibition ends on October 13.
