The Salem link to Tirumala vastrams

The vastram adorning Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala fetches lakhs of rupees through auction, as it is considered a pious gift by the devotees.

But not many may be aware that this holy silk cloth is carefully designed and woven by the handloom weavers of cooperative societies in and around Salem city, down the years.

The Tamil Nadu Handloom Weavers’ Co-operative Society Limited (Co-optex) has had this unique privilege of supplying 144 sets of

vastrams to Tirumala  annually at the rate of a dozen sets a month.

Known as ‘Melchat’ (‘Melsatthu’ or upper

vastram ) and ‘Uttariyam,’ each cloth is carefully designed with specific border and dimension in terms of length and breadth etc.

‘Melsatthu’ cloth is twelve yards in length, 72 inches in breadth and weighs more than two kg.

The ‘Uttariyam’ is six yards in length, 39 inch in breadth and weighs 600 grams.

Making ‘Melsatthu’ involves not only ten days of intensive labour, but also a sense of care and commitment with devotion for ensuring perfection to achieve the standards, appearance and design as per the temple ‘sastraas.’

T. N. Venkatesh, Managing Director, Co-optex, visited the societies noted for weaving these special set of holy clothing on Monday. Top priority is accorded to maintaining the quality of both the ‘Melsatthu’ and ‘Uttariyam’, to measure up to the specifications of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD). The officials of the regional office of the Co-optex visit these societies at regular intervals to monitor the quality.

The quality of the consignment is ensured at Kancheepuram and also at the Central Silk Board, Bangalore, before dispatching it to Tirumala, as it went beyond the routine commercial commitments of Co-optex, Mr. Venkatesh told The Hindu .

Design

The design for both the ‘Melsatthu’ and ‘Uttariyam’ is specified by the TTD. A cluster of few select societies using about 25 handlooms on the outskirts of Salem city is involved in the making of these holy drapery. Though different societies make the holy clothes, they are all quite identical in terms of weight, size and design, indicating their strict adherence to the TTD stipulations. Both the vastrams comprise three colours — with the core part in green and border in maroon, on both sides.

Looms have been specially designed so that they can be operated on dimension-specific methodology, Mr. Venkatesh has said.