One of the defining movements in our struggle for freedom was Swadeshi Movement, which was launched on 7th August, 1905. The movement encouraged indigenous industries and the spirit of Swadeshi, which included handloom weavers. In 2015, the Government of India decided to designate the 7th August every year, as the National Handloom Day (NHD).
On 7th August 2018, India Post has released a set of Postage Stamps on Geographical Indication (GI) Registered Handloom Products of India. The Stamps includes
- Baluchari Saree, West Bengal
- Bhagalpur Silk, Bihar
- Kashmir Pashmina, Kashmir
- Pochampally Ikat, Telangana
- Tangaliya Shawl, Gujarat
Baluchari Saree
Baluchari is an exquisite silk saree of West Bengal produced by highly skilled weavers having generations of experience in handloom weaving. The name Baluchari is derived from the word "Baluchar", an area comprising several villages in the district of Murshidabad.
In the middle of the 16th Century, a group of experienced weavers from Varanasi migrated to Bengal and settled in Baluchar. They were famous for their weaving skills. They made beautiful designs on silk fabrics mainly used as sarees and exclusively patronised by the Nawabs and aristocrats of the Society
Baluchari Sarees are known for depictions of mythological scenes on the pallu of the sari. It takes approximately one week to produce one such sari. The GI Tag for Baluchari Saree was Given in 2011
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| Baluchari Silk Image Courtesy: http://postagestamps.gov.in/ |
Bhagalpur Silk
Bhagalpur is known as "silk city" of India. Bhagalpur Silk is also known as Tussar silk and India is the second-largest producer of tussar silk. Tussar silk is also used for Odisha's pattachitra and West Bengal's kantha stitches
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| Bhagalpur Silk Image Courtesy: http://postagestamps.gov.in/ |
Kashmir Pashmina
Kashmiri Pashmina is one of the finest and highest quality wool in the whole world. The Wool is taken from Pashmina Goat (Changthangi) found on Ladakh. Kashmiri people uses these shawls to keep themselves warm during the winter season. Original Kashmiri Pashmina is Handspun and Handwoven.
Kashmiri Pashmina wool is 12 to 16 micron in diameter and it got the Geographical Indication Tag in 2005
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| Kashmir Pashmina Image Courtesy: http://postagestamps.gov.in/ |
Pochampally Ikat
Pochampally Ikat is a traditional handloom from Telangana. Ikkat is a traditional technique that is used to dye garments. Technique used in Pochampaly is Resist Dyeing. It includes tying and dyeing sections and bunches of yarn to a predetermined colour scheme prior to weaving. Thus, the dye penetrates into the exposed section of the yarn while the tied section remains in-dyed. The patterns formed by this process on the yarn are then woven into fabric.
Indian government's official airplane company, Air India, has its cabin crew wear specially designed Pochampally silk sarees
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| Pochampally Ikat Image Courtesy: http://postagestamps.gov.in/ |
Tangaliya Shawl
Tangaliya Handloom is a 700-year-old indigenous craft that originated in Saurashtra Region. Shawl is made by the Dangasia community in Gujarat.
The Tangaliya Handloom is made by rolling a lump of fibres of a contrast colour thread along the warp as per design and pushing them together to create the effect of raised dots on the surface of the fabric.The word tangalia is derived from the word Tangalio meaning the lower part of the body
It received the Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2009
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| Pochampally Ikat Image Courtesy: http://postagestamps.gov.in/ |
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| Miniature Sheet of Postage Stamp on Handlooms of India Image Courtesy: http://postagestamps.gov.in/ |
