The Ministry of Textiles is working towards including GI Tag to weavers and Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) which sends a strong message that the Government of India is supporting our weavers and their families, said Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister while inaugurating ‘VIRAASAT, Celebrating 75 handwoven saris of India’, an exclusive weave-based Handloom Sari Festival “My Sari My Pride” here today.
She said that the Ministry of Textiles has taken a unique step by organizing such an event in Central Delhi which exhibits the country’s weavers and India’s traditions. She further said that the Ministry has sourced 75 handwoven saris which are exhibited in the exhibition here.
Smt. Sitharaman said that the Prime Minister in 2014-2015 gave the vision of 5 F, from Farm to Fibre to Fabric to Fashion to Foreign. This vision has become a principle objective of the Ministry of Textiles under which this exhibition is organized and weavers are promoted to display their work.
Smt. Sitharaman applauded that to provide information about these saris, a touch screen display has been put to impart information about the traditional significance of handwoven saris and the weavers involved in making these exquisite pieces. She said that while women parliamentarian are present during the inauguration, she invited all men parliamentarian as well to get introduced to the weavers and witness the traditional handwoven saris of the country terming the exhibition as My Handloom Sari, My Sari, My Pride.
Present on the occasion was Smt. DarshanaJardosh, Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Textileswho enumerated the traditional hand women saris that are displayed in the exhibition.
Coinciding with the 75 years of Independence, “AzadikaAmritMahotsav” there will be an exhibition-cum-sale of Handloom Saris by 75 handloom weavers belonging to 16 States/UTs.The festival is being organized in two phases from 16th to 30th December 2022 and 3rd to 17th January 2023 (11 AM to 8 PM) at Handloom Haat, Janpath, New Delhi.
Handloom sector is a symbol of our country’s rich and varied cultural heritage, besides being one of the key sectors providing employment to a large number of people, especially women. With a view to showcase the Handloom heritage of India, a Handloom Saree festival is being organized by the Ministry of Textiles.
The handloom sector of India engages more than 35 lakh persons. The art of handloom sari weaving has traditional values attached to it and each region has exquisite saris varieties. The uniqueness of saris such asPaithani, Kotpad, Kota Doria, Tangail, Pochampally, Kancheepuram, Thirubuvanam, Jamdani, Santipuri, Chanderi, Maheshwari, Patola, Moirangphee, Banarasi Brocade, Tanchoi, Bhagalpuri Silk, BawanButi and Pashmina Sari Sari etc. to name a few attract customers across the globe with exclusive art, weaves, designs and traditional motifs.
Handloom saris drawn from some of the exotic locations of India are on display and sale at the exhibition. A brief list is given below: –
| States | Prominent sari varieties |
| Andhra Pradesh | UppadaJamdhani Sari, VenkatagiriJamdani Cotton Sari, Kuppadam Sari, Chirala Silk Cotton Sari, Madhavaram Sari and Polavaram Sari |
| Kerala | Balaramapuram Sari and Kasavu Sari |
| Telengana | Pochampally Sari, SiddipetGollabamma Sari and Narayanpet Sari |
| Tamilnadu | Kancheepuram Silk Sari, Arni Silk Saris, Thirubuvanam Silk Sari, Vilandai Cotton Sari, Madurai Sari, Paramakudi Cotton Sari, Aruppukottai Cotton Sari, Dindigul Cotton Sari, Coimbatore Cotton Sari, Salem Silk Sari and Coimbatore (Soft) Silk Saris &Kovai Kora Cotton Saris |
| Maharashtra | Paithani Sari, KarvathKathi Sari and Nagpur Cotton Sari |
| Chhattisgarh | Tussar Silk Sari of Champa |
| Madhya Pradesh | Maheshwari Sari and Chanderi Sari |
| Gujarat | Patola Sari, Tangaliya Sari, Ashawali sari and Kuchchi Sari/ Bhujodi sari |
| Rajasthan | Kota Doria Sari |
| Uttar Pradesh | Lalitpuri Sari, Banaras Brocade, Jangla, Tanchoi, Cutwork, and Jamdani |
| Jammu & Kashmir | Pashmina Sari |
| Bihar | Bhagalpuri Silk Sari and BawanButi Sari |
| Odisha | Kotpad Sari and GopalpurTassar Sari |
| West Bengal | Jamdani, Santipuri and Tangail |
| Jharkhand | Tussar and Gichha Silk Sari |
| Manipur | MoirangPhee Sari |
Accordingly, a social media campaign under the common hashtag #MySariMyPride is being launched to support our handloom weavers. Also a series of activities are planned to for the visiting public such as: Viraasat-Celebrating the heritage: Curated display of handloom saris, Viraasat-EkDharohar: Direct retail of saris by weavers, ViraasatKeDhage: Live loom demonstration, Viraasat–kal se kaltak: Workshops and talks on sari and sustainability and Viraasat–NrityaSanskriti: Famous Folk dances of Indian culture.
Government of India has launched schemes for the Handloom sector for branding of high-quality products with zero defects and zero effect on the environment to encourage and to give a distinct identity to the products, apart from highlighting the uniqueness of products. It also serves a guarantee for the buyer that the product being purchased is genuine handloom. All the exhibitors at the exhibition have been encouraged to display their products and thus aim to improve the earnings of the handloom community.
Source: PIB India
