In the Handloom Hamlet - Kuthampully

In the Making - Kuthampully Kasavu Saree

Henry Ford once said – “Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.” – This has been what the traditional weaving families of Devangana community at Kuthampully have been exactly doing for generations. Even when the ever changing fashion world moved along with the changing trends, the families of Kuthampully never compromised on the quality of their hand-woven kasavu sarees and dhotis. Now, life has come a full circle for them.

From Thrissur it took us two hours of tiring journey by bus to reach Thiruvilwamala, a small town on the banks of Bharathapuzha.  From there it is five kilometres to Kuthampully. Our auto (rickshaw) driver, a friendly person in his fifties, took us through a scenic road seldom used by any. The soothing breeze with the aroma of freshly harvested paddy was enough to refresh our souls. On the highway hoardings of Kuthampully handloom dealers throng either sides of the road.

Paddy harvesting – on route to Kuthampully

“Kuthampully has now transformed a lot. A decade back hardly anyone knew about this village. Now people from far off places in and out of Kerala come here for handloom.” – tells our driver as we watch a white Ford Fiesta speed past us on its way to this little hamlet. “Several families here have made big money with this traditional profession. But there are several others who are sharp in their craft but not good enough to transform it into business. They still remain moderately poor.” – he concludes.

Most of the families at Kuthampully belong to Devanga community who trace their weaving tradition to a sage called Devala Maharshi. It is told that they were brought to Kuthampully by the Kochi Raja around 500 years back for weaving the costumes of the royal family.

Traditional Weaving at Kuthampully

The auto left us at the so called centre of the village. We are on a narrow road with a bus stop, an ATM and several lanes with series of households. Rhythmic beats of the treadle from the households resonates all along the way. In a small building we see the weavers at work. There are three of them all deeply absorbed in weaving. We tried to start a conversation with them but they are too immersed like a software engineer working on his evolving code. At the corner of the street we met Gopalan (name changed) who is free enough to talk to us. He along with his wife welcomed us to their modest home. His traditional weaving machine takes up most of the space of his drawing room.

“We have just one chair here. Feel comfortable to occupy the available space.” – says Gopalan as he pulls out a chair for us. Gopalan was introduced to handloom by his father when he was just 9 years old. “I have been doing this for all these years. My wife helps me in my work.” Gopalan explained us the working of the handloom and gave us a small demonstration. “In one day I complete two dhoties. For each dhoti I get Rs.150. It is too little to make any savings for my family but I do not feel to leave my traditional craft.”  

A traditional weaver at Kuthampully

After passing through the middle men, when the dhoti reaches the end customer its price goes up to at least Rs.700 per piece.   “The demand of hand-woven kasavu sarees is also very high. The price shoots up depending on the designs involved in it.” – explains Gopalan. “It will take just three months to learn the basics of this craft even though to master the designs it will take several years. But if you see the new generation is neither keen nor patient to do this manual work. My son has not learnt this. Instead he is working in a textile shop. We hope new entrepreneurs will ensure this traditional craft is not lost forever. ”

The sun had already set when we started back. But the treadle beats are still going on. It is meticulously rhythmic. It is deliciously sweet. We wish it may go on forever prospering these simple people of this pristine village.

Foot Note:

Kuthampully Sarees have got the GI tag (Geographical Indication) issued by the Geographical Indications Registry (Government of India) for products which are manufactured in a particular area and has been exclusive to that region for many years.

References : http://devanga.niranji.com/

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