With Diwali round the corner, the ongoing ‘Silk India 2015 expo’ organised by Hastashilpi is attracting people like drones. A multitude of silk products and varieties of the fabric produced all over the country have hit the shelves at Hotel Fortune Pandiyan and people are simply clamouring over them.
Silk sari weavers, handloom clusters and Silk Co-operative Societies have showcased their work pieces in the five-day exhibition-cum-sale that winds up on Sunday (November 1). In town for the third year in a row, the expo has taken care to display an assortment suiting the taste of the local people.
Artistic creations of weavers from 15 states including Bihar, West Bengal, Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh have been displayed over 20-odd stalls. The women shoppers are having an enthralling experience going through the wide range from Arini silk saris, crepe, georgette and chiffon saris, Tassar silk saris and churidar suits, Kanchipuram silk wedding saris, Darmavaram, jute silk, handloom silk cotton silk shawls, Uppada, Gadwal, Paithani, Mangalagiri and Pochampalli saris to silk shawls and several more items.
Hastashilpi brings together the customers and the artisans at the point of sale by cutting out the middlemen. “This enables our weavers and artisans to get to know first-hand about the likes and preferences of local customers and accordingly bring the merchandise in the successive years,” says T. Abhinand, Managing Director of the organization.
Among the new arrivals for this season are bright hued Kantha saris with cut works and Kota silk saris adorned by cross stitch embroidery from Kolkata, fabulous range of Bhagalpuri silk saris with bold Warli art designs and sleek Pashmina silk saris graced by the geometric motifs running through the entire length of the sari.
Young girls were seen swarming the FabVilla stall exclusively selling cotton kurtis. “We introduce brand new designs every month to keep up with the trend and most of our kurtis are designer pieces” says Hariharan, a seller at the expo. Fine printed silk stoles of the Himachal Silk House turned out to be one of the prime attractions among the youngsters.
The craftsmanship of the weavers is truly awe inspiring when it comes to cotton churidars with hand painted idols/dolls, vegetable prints on kurtis using natural colours and subtle shades of the hand woven Matka silk saris. The price of the simple kurtis start from Rs.350 and the gorgeous Kanchipuram wedding silk sari goes up to Rs.45,000 here.
Besides the dazzling sari collections, the expo also features bedspreads, pillow covers and curtains with bright floral designs. Krishnan of Impressions, Coimbatore, pulls out a briefcase sized bundle from the stack and unfurls to show us the portable multipurpose beds of pleasing colours and textures weighing less than two kg that are made with Kora grass mats sewed underneath.
Exquisitely handcrafted fashion and imitation jewellery such as bangles, earrings, necklaces and anklets ranging from Rs.100 to 10,000 are available to accessorize your outfit. “Incredible pieces resembling the Naga sets, temple sets and diamond jewellery are made of lacquer polished Korean silver that are gaudy but light in weight,” says Uma who has been crafting jewellery for the past 16 years.
The mega silk mela is open from 10.30 a.m. to 8.30 p.m. for two more days. Don’t miss it.
