Madan Wade, 70, is a Paithani sari weaver from Maharashtra’s Yeola town. Mr. Wade is one of the 22-35 weavers participating in the ‘Do Dhage Shree Ram Ke Liye’ campaign organised by the Heritage Handweaving Revival Charitable Trust, Pune.
The initiative, led by weavers, involves laypeople lending their hand to weave the vastra (clothes) for the deity in the Ayodhya temple, scheduled to be opened on January 22.
The 13-day-long weave-a-thon that began on December 10 and will end on Geeta Jayanti, December 22, is seeing people from across India put their fingers to the handloom that is seeing a decline in the country. The organisers say over 3 lakh people have registered online to participate in the process; thousands visited the trust’s Saudamini Handloom store to register offline. Second- and third-generation weavers are teaching people the craft at the store.
Anagha Ghaisas, general secretary of the trust, who claimed to have conceptualised the campaign with help from senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader Bhaiyyaji Joshi, said weavers are using pure silk sourced from Lucknow, Delhi, and Chennai, through government agencies. The cloth is dyed in organic colours: turmeric for yellow, rose petals for a pinkish-red. Seven colours are being woven for the deity to wear on seven days, as per religious texts. The zari (silver and gold thread) work will be done by a generations-old artistry unit in Varanasi.
Amboli Deshpande, 42, a banker from Pune, said it was the first time she had touched the traditional weaving machine, and had realised how difficult the process was. “I also took my 10-year-old niece, who learnt about traditional handweaving, along with stories of Lord Ram,” Ms. Deshpande said.
‘Restoring respect’
Ms. Ghaisas said the overarching purpose is to restore respect to the weaving community today.
“Handloom weaving has been an integral aspect of our culture since Vedic times. We find various mentions of the techniques, traditions, science, and worship related to ancient Indian weavers in the Rig Veda. Records show that these weavers, in addition to being artisans, were great philosophers, scientists and mathematicians,” she said, citing the sages Gargi and Maitreyi.
Raj Kishore Singh, 87, from Muzaffarpur in Bihar, who was visiting Pune to meet his relatives, dropped in at the Saudamini Handloom store to weave do dhaage (two threads). “I was born in, and have spent a considerable portion of my life in Sitamarhi [that Hindus believe is the birthplace of Sita, Ram’s wife]. This is my tryst with the Ramayana,” said Mr. Singh, a retired government employee.
The common thread
Nilesh Dutt, 34, who runs a business in Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh, another participant in the campaign, said faith was the common thread binding all events around the building of the Ram Temple.
Mr. Wade, who is even skipping his lunch because of the crowds at the venue, said of the campaign, “I have not seen so many people interested in handloom before. I hope with the dawn of Ram’s mandir, our handloom sector also sees a rise.”
