How Kotpad Weaved A Success Story

How Kotpad Weaved A Success Story

Today, one cannot talk of Odisha’s rich traditional handloom story and not mention the Kotpad handloom of Koraput district,a major component of this kaleidoscope.

But till as early as the nineties, this fabric that is organically dyed by the tribal Mirigan community in a small town of Kotpad in KBK division, was too poor to feed its weavers.

The scenario started changing slowly and steadily afterdifferent government agencies, non-government organisations and textile designers pitched in to give it a boost.

The result? Weavers now earn enough to live a life of dignity. Gone are the days when Kotpad weavers moved door to door to sell their produce. They would also wait for the weekly haat, though it hardly compensated them enough for their labour and creativity.

Weavers like national award winner and septuagenarian Ratan Mahantoof Kotpad would go out with their merchandise,and often return home with their pockets half-full.

However, the discouraging scenariobegan to change for after the state department of textile and handlooms,Union Ministry of Textiles and noted designers like Pankaja Sethi began pumping fresh blood into Kotpad’s sagging lifeline.Earlier, an eight-yard Kotpad saree used to fetch Rs 200-300. Today, a similar 12-yard fabric fetches anythingfrom Rs 6,000 to Rs 15,000, to the delight of Kotpad weavers.

“Natural dyes used to cost less.That used to keep production cost low. Our forefathers have even sold a saree for Rs 4-5,” says sexagenarian weaver Gobardhan Panika of Kotpad, who was honoured with the Padma Shri this year and the Santh Kabeer Award in 2015.

“The powder prepared from the bark of the Aul tree— that we use to dye our weaves blackish red—cost Rs 100-150 per kg long ago. Now the same powder costs nearly Rs1,500 per kg,restricting our profit margin.”

Kotpad handloom received Geographical Indication of India in 2005. Its popularity is said to have spilled on to foreign shores after an English documentary film on the handloom, The Story of a Race Against Time, was telecast this year by Doordarshan (National). The documentary was made by Biswanath Rath, who has been honoured with many international awards.

Asection of fashion gurus, however, argued that Kotpad’s name and fame were already on the ascendant before the movie.

The Boyanika Handloom Weavers Odisha Society, ‘Boyanika’, which has its headquarters in Bhubaneswar, exports all types of handloom from the state, including Kotpad fabric, says Arta Ranjan Mahapatra, manager (marketing) of Boyanika.

“It is popular because natural dyes are used. People abroad are developing an anathema for chemically treated clothes,” said Arta.

National award winner and former president of the Kotpad Weavers’ Cooperative Society (KWCS) Kapileswar Mahanto, who has seen the highs and lows in a weaver’s life, attested to Kotpad’s rising popularity. “There was lukewarm response to an exhibition we held during the Taj Mahotsav at Agra in 1998,” said Mahanto. “But when we nowhold exhibitions in metro cities with stock for 10 days, our materials get sold in just three days.”

When KWCS was formed in 1956 with 138 members, the Kotpadindustry wasdying. With time, some of its members died while the rest switched to jobs in different units. KWCS’ objective to arrest the handloom sector’s slide into abyss was getting defeated.Even now, KWCS has only around 20 active members out of 88.

KWCS president Pralhad Mahan too admitted there had been a drastic dip in number of members but denied that the organisation had lost steam. On the contrary, he said, his society was bending over backwards to help weavers and their families carry on with their profession with the state government’s help.

He said the state department of textile and handloom released about Rs 70 lakh to the society last year and nearly Rs 1.8 crore this year. KWCS spends this money on providing worksheds, strings and other necessary rawmaterials to around 80 weaver families.

“We also help weavers procure finance under provisions of the Mudra Loan and get their life and health insured,” Pralhad said. “This has yielded positive results. From 30-40 sarees a year earlier, weavers now produce 70 sarees. We are planning to increase the number of weavers in our fold to 120 by year-end to boost production. Besides, we get consistent help for 40 empanelled master trainers, including 10 textile designers,to improve craft. As a result, a weaver who used to earn Rs 3,000-5,000 a month now earns over Rs15,000,” Pralhad said.

There’s help from the Centre too. “The Union textile ministry is focusing on giving a lift to weavers and their dwindling craft through its revival programme,” said S.K. Patra, deputy director of the Bhubaneswar-based Weavers’ Service Centre (WSC), a unit of the Union ministry of textiles. “Kotpad weaves,Sachipar sarees of Western Orissa and Khandua of Nuapatna are covered under this programme.”

The Koraput District Industries Centre (DIC) has meanwhile held a discussion with the central government to initiate a joint effort to uplift Kotpad handloom.

According to an industries promotion officer (IPO) of Koraput DIC, the proposal includes providing new technology and machinery to weavers, training 18 weavers under master trainers and setting up a hall where weavers can work collectively.The department of textile and handloom, too, is geared upto promote Kotpad. “Apart from providing looms, and new know how for improvement of threads, we plan to set up a four-storied community hall that will include weavers’ work place, recreation club and raw-material bank,” said P.K. Gantayat, assistant director (in charge of textiles) in Koraput. 

“The hall will be set up over a 2,420 square feet plot.Over Rs 1.81 crore has been earmarked for this ambitious plan.”

Textile designers, too, have stepped into lend Kotpad a contemporary look without diluting its essence. They claim weavers were, till now, weaving traditional material and motifs like kumbh, conch, temples, animals and birds on the body of Kotpad sarees. “But they are now encouraged to polish the composition so that it does not look clumsy,” says textile designer Debashish Samant, who works for the Bhubaneswar-based WSC.

“I lay stress on lines and designs without compromising on the warp and woof of the traditional textile’s texture,” freelance textile designer Pankaja Sethi of Odisha said. “This was explicitly portrayed in my Kotpad designs showcased at the Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai last February under the theme ‘Easy to Breathe Blouses with Organic Cotton and Natural Dye’. Traditional weavers make blouses that have an uncomfortable feel, but my products (blouses) are cozy to put on. My designs now have a place in an art gallery in London.”

Pankaja rued over the secondary role played by women in weaver families, engaging only in preparing dyes and dyeing the threads. “The female folk ought to be involved in weaving.It will help them earn credit for creativity, as do their male counterparts,” she said. NGOs like the Asian Heritage Foundation (AHF), based in Delhi, have already started assimilating female artisans. As many as 36 women constitute the Kotpad producers’ group and 40 artisans work in Mundagarh (Nawarangpur district) adjoining Kotpad (the Koraput district).Three artisans stationed in Batasana and four in Dungriguda (both in Koraput district) respectively, work with AHF’s textile designer Divyani Prakash in the category of design development under a livelihood project, according to AHF’s Odisha state coordinator Asutosh Samal.

“We help artisans produce Kotpad handloom in traditional and contemporary designs,” said Devyani Prakash, a degree holder from the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh. “Inspired by the artworks of distinguished artist late Nasreen Mahemmedi of India, we are trying to incorporate ‘abstract linear composition’ into the basic design of Kotpad. This is profusely liked byour customers and increases artisans’ income. Over 30 designs have been developed in two years. Women artisans, who have been doing commendable job in this field, are mostly in the 18-40 age group.”

Several weavers have started using natural dyes along with the fundamental blackish red prepared from Aul trees. “Three other weavers and I had gone from Kotpad to Hyderabad on a 10-day trip to learn new designs and how to prepare new natural dyes. Marigold flowed and jackfruit wood powder are used to prepare a yellow dye. Similarly, ‘Harida’ powder and pond mud (‘pokharipanka’) are processed to prepare a brown dye,” said KWCS’s former president Kapileswar.

When Kotpad’s popularity is on the upswing, young men of weaver families are inclined to continue with this trade. “About 30 young people including me will take up this profession,” says Thabira Samarat, 22, son of Padma Shri Gobardhan. Samarat is now a Plus-III arts student at Kotpad College.

Wholesalers and retailers dealing in Kotpad and other handloom brands have mushroomed inside and outside the state. Sarala Patnaik, assistant manager (handloom) at the Bhubaneswar-based Utkalika of the Odisha State Co-operative Handicraft Society Limited, acknowledged that Kotpad’s popularity has seen a 100 percent increase. Utkalika has outlets inside and outside Odisha.Harendra Dash, another Utkalika official, consented tothe handloom’s spiraling popularity but said: “Our four empanelled weavers can only meet 50 per cent of our orders.”

Boyanika’s manager (marketing) Arta Ranjan, too, pointed at the mismatch between demand and supply. But both Harendra and Arta agreed that the process of making threads, dyeing them and weaving them into Kotpad fabric, is too tedious and time-consuming to meet demand in time.

The dying process, looked after by women, is the most arduous, according to Sudha, 44, wife of former KWCS president Kapileswar. “Yarns are first treated with castor oil, cow dung and charcoal ash water in stages. This process takes 12-15 days before the yarns are dipped in water that has Aul tree-bark powder dissolved in it. Then it is boiled till the water evaporates. The yarns are washed in a pond to be dried in sunlight, mostly during summer. The process is repeated till the yarns get their required shade,” said Sudha who has been doing this job since she was 12.