Handlooms of North and Central India

While in Chennai, I had the opportunity to visit Tantuja and Mrignayanee in Luz Corner, Maylapore, my visit coming after a good 17 years, the last time I visited these were in 2005.

Gurjari (Gujarat Govt. run) and Mrignayanee (Madhya Pradesh Govt. run) in Brigade Road, Bangalore were one of my favourite places to shop for dress materials, pre-2005. The showrooms are not fancy or well decked. But they are functional and full of beautiful print, hand-crafted, handloom, authentic fabrics and hand made artefacts. These are Government run and provide employment to cottage industries and support artists at the ground level. The sarees, dress materials etc are natural fibres, last well and are super comfortable to wear and what I called breathing fabrics. Pocket and environment friendly at the same time.

Tantuja is the Govt. Of Bengal showroom and it showcases beautifully crafted sarees from all of West Bengal. If you love Bengal cotton sarees, this is the place to visit. https://tantuja.in/

Mrignayanee is the Govt. Of Madhya Pradesh showroom. They have readymade kurtas, sarees, dupattas and material. Another Haven.

Boyanika is the Govt. of Odisa haven - https://www.boyanika.com/.

Gurjari  run by the Govt. of Gujarat showcases the craftsmanship of Gujarat.  https://www.garvigurjari.in/

I just found links to some of these online. But nothing beats visiting the stores in person, feeling the smell of dyed cottons and material by hand and then buying them. 

For me, these were my very first introduction to the handlooms of the North and Central India and opened my eyes to the vast array of textiles and handlooms in our country. And of course, it helped having a really good tailor who would make lovely kurtas from the material. 

Like the SLOW movement in food, a visit to these stores I regard as the SLOW movement in clothes, leisurely, taking my time to chose and waiting for a couple of months(depending on my tailor's whims) before I could actually wear it.

My Handloom moments...