Pochampally and the surrounding villages in Telangana's Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri district are well-known for their world-famous Ikat patterns and garment fabrics. The threads and colours generated by skilled weavers are utilised to create gorgeous sarees and clothing fabrics here. Pochampally is home to several ancient looms, many of which are over a century old. Telangana, along with Gujarat and Odisha, is regarded as one of India's most ancient Ikat weaving hubs.
History of Pochampally Ikat
Resist dyeing is one of the world's oldest methods. One of the first cloth samples of this design may be found in Egypt. Historians uncovered linen strips when excavating mummies. Pochampally saree or Pochampally Ikat manufacturing dates back to the 1950s in the town of Bhoodan Pochampally, Telangana. The weaving method of the ancient Pochampally ikat sarees is claimed to have been transferred to Pochampally from Chirala, where the craft was known as chit-ku. The process has received widespread acclaim due to the fabric's distinct personality when compared to other Ikat manufacturing units. By 1999, the supply chain had expanded to over ten thousand households, and the process had become more creator-friendly, economically efficient, and time-efficient. With the advent of machinery in the year 2000, Pochampally ikat sarees were created not only faster and without mistake, but also with accuracy and a level of perfection that was difficult to obtain elsewhere.
Process of Pochampally Ikat
These handwoven textiles are woven in an unusual pattern. The fact that the warps and weft threads are coloured or dyed before being placed on the loom to make the fabric distinguishes it from other textiles. Ikat is prepared in India with the aid of Batik and wax. Pochampally ikat employs double ikat and boasts of flawlessly translating the complex design onto the cloth. The fabric's colour, like that of other ikat textiles, comes from natural sources. Cotton, silk, and sico, a silk-cotton mix, alternate on the cloth. The weaving is done not just in Pochampally, but also in Koyalgudam, Chowtuppala, Srirpuram, Bhubangiri, Chuigottala, and Galteppala, as well as a few other villages in Nalgonda.
Patterns
The complex geometric design distributed throughout the cloth is one of the most distinguishing features of a Pochampally silk saree. It has a highly fascinating impact because of the minute details. Modern Pochampally sarees, on the other hand, are significantly influenced by Gujarati Patola sarees, with elephants, birds, dancing girls, and florals as motifs. The traditional designs are interwoven throughout the saree's distinctive geometric pattern.
The present state of Pochampally Ikat
Pochampally began with ancient looms and age-old design features, but today it employs over ten thousand people in over a hundred communities. Pochampally received a Geographical Indicator in 2005, which helps to protect the authenticity of the sarees as well as the Intellectual Property rights of the artists who weave them. The Pochampally Handloom Tie and Dye Silk Sarees Manufacturers Association and the Pochampally Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society Ltd are now the registered owners of Pochampally sarees. As part of India's "iconic saree weaving clusters," the work has been included in UNESCO's tentative list of world-historic monuments.
How to identify Pochampally Ikat
It's a completely reversible cloth with the same design on both sides. The intensity of the colours in the pattern seems the same on both sides of the fabric, but colours on the reverse side of the cloth will be lighter if the fabric is printed. The designs' contours are usually fuzzy.
Price of Pochampally fabric
With the advent of e-commerce, a Pochampally saree may be found for anywhere between Rs.8,000 and Rs.15,000, with designer alternatives ranging from Rs.30,000 to Rs.1,000,000. Pochampally bedsheets range in price from Rs 800 to Rs 2000. Kurtas in Pochampally might cost anywhere from Rs. 1500 and Rs. 4000.
How to style a Pochampally Saree
Due to the sheer complex intricacy of the patterns on this saree, most ladies opt for simpler jewellery to prevent a visual conflict. These sarees are frequently combined with South Indian gold jewellery. Younger ladies, on the other hand, have been seen breaking loose from the conventional appearance and adorning with imitation gold or silver street jewellery, as well as beaded accessories or pieces of jewellery. The majority of ladies choose to wear high heeled shoes with their sarees since they complement the garment's fall and form.
Pochampally Ikat is used to make several different Indian traditional clothing, including salwars, anarkalis, skirts, and lehengas, in addition to sarees. Pochampally Ikat sarees have a strong following in India and beyond, owing to the weavers' employment of contemporary synthetic colours to create unique motifs that are considered characteristic of the Indian saree heritage.
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