International Research Journal of Management Sociology & Humanities

ISSN 2277 – 9809 (online) ISSN 2348 - 9359 (Print)

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Shri Param Hans Education & Research Foundation Trust

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IRJMSH Vol 8 Issue 7 [Year 2017] ISSN 2277 – 9809 (0nline) 2348–9359 (Print)

Kullu handloom Industry: An Overview

Dr. Jagbir Singh Assistant Professor, Satyawati College, (University of Delhi) Ashok Vihar, Delhi-110052 Email: [email protected]

Introduction

Handloom weaving is the traditional art and craft of the Himachali people of Kullu region who have inherited this rich skill from their ancestors and they have been following this linage from the ancient times to the modern era. It provides livelihood to millions of weavers and craftsperson. In beginning, this tradition of preparing a wide range of handloom and handicraft products was originated to satisfy the demand of local people but gradually it lead to commercialization. Besides following the traditions and skills of their ancestors, they have made some changes in the designs and motifs according to the needs of the modern buyers. The exquisite handloom items of Kullu are a glory for the state of Himachal Pradesh. This industry is the backbone of the economic structure of the region. Most of the local inhabitants of Kullu are engaged in the traditional occupation of weaving and spinning woolen garments. The fine quality and harmonious color combination of the shawls of Kullu is a testimony to the enriched art and craft of the region. The beautifully woven Kullu caps bear designs from the latest in the world of fashion. The colorful and attractive woolen wear has an internationally acclaimed status. One cannot resist oneself to be thrilled by the awesome products of the small and medium scale cottage industries of Kullu.

Handloom items

The artisans of Kullu valley preserve a rich heritage of handlooms and handicrafts. There is an amazing range of beautiful handloom and handicraft products in Kullu these include shawls, caps, borders, pattoo, muffler, patti, thobi, numdha, gudma, hand knit woolens, etc.

Shawls: A shawl is a light woolen fabric measuring 1 x 2 meters. It is usually draped around and over the chest and shoulders by women. Shawls, worn by men are known as Loi or Chaddar. Usually, Merino Wool, Angora Wool, Pashmina Wool, local sheep wool or a combination of any of these yarns is used to weave the shawls. The elaborate designs Patterns of Kullu Shawls bear a strong Central Asian influence having a symbolic and religious implication. Basic colours used for Kinnauri shawls are red, orange, pink, blue, green, yellow, black and white for patterns. White, black and natural grays or brown

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colours are used as the base. White colour stands for water, yellow stands for earth, red for fire, green for air and blue for aether. But in the present times keeping in mind the customer demand, these bright colours are being replaced gradually by pastel colours. Besides geometrical designs, the shawls are also woven in floral designs, which may run all over, on the corners or on the borders only.

Kullu Shawls has the most important place among all the handloom items of Kullu. Valley also offers Kinnauri shawls, apart from the mainly produced Kullu shawls. The artistic hand-woven woolen shawls of the Kinnaur Valley are truly unique and believed to be centuries old. They are known for their elegant look, brilliant traditional patterns, quality and reasonable cost in the world. They have an important position in the economy of the valley. Twenty to twenty thousand people are partially and about ten thousand people fully earn their livelihood from the industry. Price of shawls depends upon the quality of wool and the pattern. It ranges from Rs. 100 to Rs. 12000. The handloom shawls are expensive as compared to those made on the power loom.

History of Kullu Shawls

Earlier people of the valley were out of touch from industrialized regions due to lack of transportation facilities and therefore unable to get the clothes. The cold climate prevalent is suitable for sheep and goat rearing, which also fulfills the necessity for woolens.

Initially the people of Kullu used to weave Patti, 18" to 20'' or 22'' wide, having an appropriate length. They wove it to cover their body and protecting themselves of severe cold. Men wove Patti for coats and pyjamas and women used it as Pattus.

Until 1936 pattus were made on the pitloom, but because of British influence, after that people started using handlooms. In early1940, weavers from Bushehar (Rampur, Shimla) came to the valley and their craft influenced the weaving style of the Kullu Valley and the trend of patterned handloom came into existence. The weavers of Bushehar were acquainted with the geometrical designs, which they successfully used on Pattus.

Indian film star Devika Rani came to Kullu in 1942. She got impressed with the looms and on her request Sh. Sheru Ram of Banontar village weaved the earliest urban size shawl (72" x 36"). This inspired Pt. Urvi Dhar, who started manufacturing shawls commercially. In 1957 Kullu Shawl Improvement Center opened up in the valley to invent new designs and make the Kullu shawls popular in Indian market.

Pattoo: Pattu is the traditional dress of the local women folk of district Kullu. It looks like a shawl but is thicker, heavier and longer. It is available in sizes of 2.80 x 1.40 meters and 3 x 1.50 m. This woolen fabric is woven in different colors and designs. It is thicker and heavier than shawl and the colors used are fast and bright. Pattu is worn over the clothes like a saree with a difference that instead of taking the end to only one

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shoulder, they pin both ends of it just below the shoulders on the front side with ‘bumni’ (local silver broaches), joined with a long ornamental chain. Pattoo is tied around the waist with a piece of cloth called gachchi (belt). Basically women of Kullu use pattu as their daily wear as it is a very comfortable dress, which allows them to do their daily chores besides keeping them warm. The cost of a pattu depends upon the design, color combination and quality of wool.

Muffler: It is a woollen artifice of handicraft worn around neck. Pashmina, Merino or Angora wool is used to weave it. Different colours of threads are used to weave it. Shawls and mufflers are weaved through the same process but the smaller looms are used for mufflers. Gents mufflers measure 1.70 meters x 0.30 m, while ladies mufflers 2 Mtr. x 0.40 Mtr. Mufflers were started being woven in the valley in 1940’s. Mufflers can be bought from Rs. 50 to Rs. 2500 or maybe more according to the quality of wool and pattern. Generally, mufflers made of Pashmina with Kinnauri designs are costly.

Loi : It is gent’s shawl. Local people know it as Chaddar. It is clad around and above the shoulders and is commonly made of mill- spun textile and occasionally of hand spun wool. It is bigger in size from 1.15 x 2.30 m to 1.40 x 2.80 m. Loi is woven with light woollen fabric. It is usually plain or with a narrow border at the ends. Brown, gray and white shades are generally available in lois. Pashmina lois are the costliest ones.

Borders: Borders are traditional colored long stripes woven on tiny handlooms by local weavers. Almost all patterns of shawls can be applied on the borders. Initially borders were used for caps only, but now they are being used in the decoration of other handlooms and handicraft products, for instance jackets, ladies suits, shawls, caps, neck ties etc. Earlier pure wool colored in various colors was used for the border but due to the problem of the fading of the colors weavers started using acrylic yarn. The designs are almost similar to those of woven in the shawls.

Kullu caps: The shape of Kullu cap is round in and flat on the top. It is called as Kullu topi and is known by the same in almost all the country. It is an important part of a local man’s garments in almost all the region of Himachal. In the front portion a band of colourful border is there, which is separately woven on small looms. The back portion is made of local woolen yarn, cotton or any other light material. Earlier bright coloured caps were popular but nowadays, vegetable colours are being used. The price of a Kullu cap depends on the cloth used and the pattern on the border.

Patti: It is a short width coarse fabric which is made from sheep wool. It is a handloom product and measures 46-51 cm wide having an appropriate length. This fabric is generally used for making close neck coats, pants, suthan (pyjamas), jackets etc. Traditionally, the wool obtained from the first shearing of a lamb, is used for making chola (male gown).

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Thobi:, It is spun from goat hair and is a type of floor covering. It is woven in 2 portions of half width and later joined from the centre with very complicated stitches. It is rough in texture, but provides warmth. Thobi is usually plain or available in checks or bands of black and gray. The size of the thobi varies from 2.15 x 0.9 m to 3.5 x 1.50 m and weighs approximately 600-800 gm. Thobis are generally woven to fulfil personal needs and therefore they are seldom produced for sale.

Numdha: It is the local name for a mattress, which is made by felting the wool rather than weaving it. It is prepared by mixing low quality wool with a small quantity of cotton. They are usually plain or decorated with embroidered colourful designs. The size of Numdha varies from 1.82 x 0.91 meters to 3.65 x 3.04 meters. The prices of Numdhas also depend on their sizes, quality of wool and the patterns.

Gudma: It is very soft but heavy blanket. It is woven especially in the Kullu valley as this place has a special kind of clay that is used to clean and finish a Gudma. Gudma is made from Byang wool which is having long fibres. They are available in natural wool colours and finished with red or black trimmings. Gudmas and Numdha are of same sizes. Cost of gudmas also varies according to size.

Hand knit woollen items: The womenfolk of Kullu region knit woolen articles, like woolen socks, gloves and caps. They engage themselves in these activities during winter season when they are generally free from the agricultural work. This helps them to earn money as well as to pass their spare time. Local wool or cash melon thread is used to knit the socks and instead of two needles, four needles are used to knit them. Similar to woolen socks, the gloves and caps are knitted from indigenous wool with geometrical designs over them displaying brilliant colours.

Present Status The geographical and climatic conditions of the region compelled the people to initiate these crafts but now a day it has taken the form of a fashion. In this way they are able to preserve their tradition as well as cater to the needs of modern buyers. Although all the handloom products of Kullu were known for their bright and striking colourful geometrical designs, bright colours have been replaced with pastel shades according to the taste and demand of the customers. Now natural and chemical both types of colours are used in the industry. Shawls are also weaved of local as well as yak, pashmina and angora wool. Extra weft woven shawls have also been introduced due to limitation in geometrical designs. Present weavers are also prefering acrylic yarns (cashmelon) instead of woolen yarn. New products like neckties, woolen bags, ponchos and stoles are also being produced which are becoming quite popular among fashion conscious women. Tourism also played a very important role in the commercialization the weaving products of Kullu.

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Shawl weaving is the main occupation of almost every dwelling in the valley. Most of them are settled in and around Kullu. Lag Valley, Parbati Valley and Beas Valley have higher concentration of weavers, because it is easy to procure raw- material and marketing facilities. There were 1817 small scale industrial enterprises registered on permanent basis as on 31.03.2011, having fixed capital investment of Rs. 4054.65 lakh and providing employment to 10628 persons, out of which 123 are Non- Himachalis. There were 625handloom and textile registered units in Kullu district in 2011i. There are about 20000 to 22000 weavers in Kullu district of which 50% to 60% are regular weavers. Rest of the weavers work at their homes and sell the products to the co-operative societies or independent units. The economic condition of the weavers is not satisfactory as weaving a shawl is laborious and the high cost of raw- material. They also have to compete with the products from the power loom.

Problems and the Challenges

The traditional handloom sector, in Kullu in the state of Himachal Pradesh and in the area around it, is now on the verge of extinction because of the problems and challenges faced by them. Some of them are as follows:

Power looms: The weavers are under a severe threat from the power loom products as these products are cheaper than the products of handloom. The other fact is that power looms produce a huge quantity of the products.

Marketing of Products: Marketing of the products is another problem faced by the handloom industry. There is no definite organization or co-operative society for promoting their products. They sell out their products in domestic or local market only.

Finance: The rural weavers are poor and therefore are unable to arrange the money for investment. They are unable to purchase new tools and equipments.

Raw- Material: Procurement of raw- material is another major problem of the weavers. Non- availability of raw material at suitable time and in ample quantity and quality also add the sufferings of the weavers. The non- availability of certain raw- materials locally causes cost of imported raw- material to be very high. Imposition of sale tax on the purchase of raw- material has increased cost of production. Their increasing costs have resulted in increased rates of shawls and consequently demand of shawls has fallen.

Government Incentives

Since thousands of people of Kullu are involved in handloom weaving and with time more and more people are getting employment in this field, Government has implemented various schemes for the upliftment of handloom industry and the weavers. These schemes take care of various activities such as training weavers, supplying equipments, product development, institutional International Research Journal of Management Sociology & Humanity ( IRJMSH ) Page 268 www.irjmsh.com IRJMSH Vol 8 Issue 7 [Year 2017] ISSN 2277 – 9809 (0nline) 2348–9359 (Print) support, infrastructure and marketing support etc. in an integrated and coordinated manner. The main objective of these schemes is to ensure overall development of the handloom sector and weavers. These schemes are an attempt to provide such facilities which would enable the weavers to take up production as per the demands of the market. The steps taken by the government are mentioned below:

Basic Inputs: Government has provided financial assistance in the form of margin money to avail credit facilities from the financial institutions. Financial assistance is also provided in the form of grants for procurement of new looms, dobby, jacquard and accessories which is maximum of 50% of the cost of the item. Assistance for training is provided to facilitate weavers to switch over from low value added items to high value added products.

Infrastructure Support: Financial assistance is given for setting up of water and effluent treatment plants and for process houses, having facilities like bleaching, dyeing, finishing etc. and is provided to Primary Cooperative Societies/ Self Help Group etc., those having a turnover of more than 25 lakhs and to National level Organizations/ State Handloom Corporation etc. having the sales turnover of Rs. 5 crore or more.

Design Input: To combat changing market scenario within the country and abroad, there is a provision to provide assistance for the installation of Computer Aided Design System to improve the design quality of the handloom products. This is assistance is provided in the form of grant to avail services of National Institute of Design (NID), National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Design Consultants/Freelance Designers etc.

Publicity: Financial assistance is provided to handloom organizations for projects involving expenditure towards publicity, advertisement, printing of brochures/catalogues, market research as well as production of films for promotion of sales of handlooms.

Marketing Incentives: Financial assistance is provided to prepare conditions for marketing of handloom products. It is expected that this assistance will be used for the activities which would attract consumers in order to gear up the overall sales of handloom goods.

Transport Subsidy: there is also provision to provide subsidy in the cost of transportation of finished goods to the approved outlets of the state, to the approved site of exhibition/ fairs organized by Development Commissioner Handlooms.

Social Welfare Schemes for Handloom Weavers

Mahatma Gandhi Bunkar Bima Yojna: The Govt. of India, Ministry of Textiles has launched this scheme with the help of LIC of India, for the benefit of handloom weavers and allied workers. The total premium per annum is Rs. 330/- (the Govt. of India

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contribution is Rs. 150/-, LIC Rs. 100/- and the weaver’s Rs. 80/-). Under the Scheme the dependent of weavers are helped with Rs. 60,000/- in case of natural death and Rs.1, 50,000/- in case of Accidental death. In addition to the above two children of a weaver studying in 9th to 10+2 are provided stipend @ Rs. 100/-per child/ PM.

Health Insurance Scheme: The Govt. of India, Ministry of Textiles has launched this scheme for the benefit of Handloom weavers & allied workers. The contribution of premium under the scheme is as follows: Govt. of India share Rs. 631/-, State Share Rs. 70/- and Weavers’ share is Rs. 70/-. Four persons of a family get medical re-imbursement facilities under the scheme. A weaver family can avail medical benefits up to Rs. 15,000/- PA.

Integrated Handloom Development Scheme: Govt. of India has launched this scheme for the benefit of Handloom weavers, Primary Handloom weavers Co-operative Societies and Self Help Groups engaged in handloom related activities. Under this scheme weavers are provided improved looms & accessories, Work sheds to house handloom, Skill up gradation training and Margin Money for raising Cash Credit Limit. Primary Handloom weavers Co-operative Societies are also provided Marketing Incentive @ 10% on average sale of their handloom products.

RAP/RIP Scheme: District Industries Centre Kullu is implementing training schemes to un-employed youth in various vocations like handloom weaving, tailoring, knitting, carpentry, pulla making, kilta making and black smithy etc. During the course of training beneficiaries are provided stipend @ Rs. 100/-PM and Master Trainer is provided Rs. 50/-per trainee/PM as honorarium. After successful completion of training beneficiaries are provided tool kit worth Rs. 500/-.

Conclusion

Handloom industry has a very important position in the lives of the people of Kullu. Weavers engaged in handloom industry are very important as they are passing the great tradition of Indian culture to the next generations. But economic condition of these weavers is not satisfactory due to the threat of power looms, non-availability of raw material, poor quality of raw material, very high cost of raw material, lack of finance and marketing opportunities.

Therefore there is need to encourage the handloom products in comparison to the power loom products. Government subsidy on these products may help to improve the situation with the advertisement of purity of the products. Certain efforts should also be made on the part of the Government to impart some technical knowledge about these power looms to the weavers. Opening raw- material depots in handloom concentration areas can solve the problem of non- availability of raw material. Efforts should be made to provide ample raw- material at subsidized

International Research Journal of Management Sociology & Humanity ( IRJMSH ) Page 270 www.irjmsh.com IRJMSH Vol 8 Issue 7 [Year 2017] ISSN 2277 – 9809 (0nline) 2348–9359 (Print) rates. It may also be suggested that the quality of locally available woolen yarn from indigenous wool may also be tried to improve with the efforts of Government i.e. research and development should be promoted in this field. The financial institutes may be advised to provide loans on concession rate of interest with easy terms and conditions to the weavers indulged in handloom activities. Organizations as Himachal Handloom Handicrafts Development Corporation, CCIC (Central Cottage Industries Corporation of India) and Marketing organizations may perhaps be given work in assisting the artisans in marketing their products as per holding meetings for the purchase of handicraft products directly from the artisans.

i District Industries Centre Kullu report of 31st March 2011, http://hpkullu.nic.in/DeptIndu.html sighted on 15th November 2014.

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