Now, banana fibre carpets at Urban Haat

JSS Urban Haat, Ring Road, Hebbal Industrial Area, invites artisans from all over India to showcase the rare and exotic products of their State. This time it has organised Handlooms Mela on the eve of Gowri-Ganesha festival under the aegis of the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. The mela will be open for public from 10 am to 9 pm till August 23.
Weavers from Chamarajanagar, Kollegal, Tumkur, Mysore, Shimoga and Bangalore Rural are exhibiting their products.
The products showcased here are woven silk saris, dhotis, towels from Mysore Priyadar-shini Handlooms, Kar-nataka silk saris, Hubli Kasuti and Banaras saris, kurtas, dresses and other handloom products.
However, the unique feature of the Mela this time are the banana fibre carpets. "Banana fibre carpets are reliable and it will be ideal for furnishing homes," says Murghis of Chamarajanagar who makes such carpets. He says he got the idea from a paper.
"We twist the banana fibre and then paste it simultaneously. Later we start weaving the mat. It’s a long process. In our Sri Netaji Multipurpose Co-operative Society, we have 15-20 members and we provide training also." Murghis learnt this job just last year and he feels happy about his profession.
"The main advantage of banana mat is they are coloured using natural dyes, they do not wrinkle easily, they are very strong and have beautiful longlasting shine. I can weave mats of any size, colours, designs, shapes and sizes as per customer’s choice," says Murghis.
"I have never seen this before. These banana yarn carpets are fabulous, soft, shiny like lip gloss and also available in different colours with a fuzzy texture," said a visitor.
Silk industry is considered as one of the oldest and historic textiles. This is another unequaled product in the mela.
Varieties of silk sarees along with traditional embroidering and hand painting are available with price range from Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 18,000.
Tumkur Mallikarjuna Silk Handloom Co-operative Society from Gubbi and Bhyraveshwara Silk Handlooms and many others society expressed happiness for the good response here.
The artisans requested the government to provide some basic facilities, increase in daily wages, loan facility for weavers, health insurance, BPL card facility and pension up to 59 years.
Entry to the handloom mela is free.
[Friday 21st August 2009]