Bhoodhan Pochampally
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pochampally is a village in Nalgonda District. Nalgonda District, in turn is a district in Andhra Pradesh in southern India.
Pochampally is an interesting collage of tradition, history, heritage and modernity. Surrounded by hills, tanks and ponds, and lush green fields, spread-out silk warps, neera tapping from palm trees, mat-making women, open-sky chatrashala houses, a perennially full tank, hills, temples, Vinoba Mandir - Bhoodan Ashram, and cultural complexes, Pochampally makes up for an exciting destination to spend one’s vacation.
Living: Pochampally is the place where threads and colours find their way into the hands of skillful weavers and meander into the market as beautiful sarees and dress material is the most typical weaving village in Nalgonda District of Andhra Pradesh.
Basking under the glory on par with the weaves of other places(Such as Kanchi, Dharmavaram, Gadwal, Venkatagiri etc), Pochampally weave is popularly known as ikkat or tie and dye weave. The uniqueness lies in the transfer of design and colouring onto warp and weft threads first and then weave them together. The fabric is cotton, silk and sico - a mix of silk and cotton. Increasingly, the colours themselves are from natural sources and their blends.
Pochampally has traditional looms, whose design is more than a century-old. Today this Silk City is home to more than 10000 weaving families in 100 villages.
The fabric is marketed through the cooperative society and APCO, the master weavers and the business houses in Pochampally. Pochampally does more than Rs.1000 Million annual business in terms of yarn sales, purchase of handloom products and sales.
The consumer-weaver interactions provide inputs for new designs. The weavers from the older and new generation have shown resilience and adapted themselves to the changing tastes of the consumers – from telia rumals, bedsheets, to sarees to dress materials for the modern woman and man; from cotton, to silk & to sico. The women are also making garments and other products from the fabric. Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, Konda Laxman Bapuji and similar others were instrumental in weavers' efforts to adapt.
Recently Chenetha Gurukulam has been started with the spirit of introducing & handing over the ancient art to the world. With experienced Gurus here popularly known as MASTER WEAVERS, the Gurukulam teaches the entire process of Weaving since from its inception to Ready to wear condition. The Gurukulam comprises different programs with multiple course durations. Overall it makes one's vacation to be learn encroached, spirit & joy filled. It is the Tourist's one of dream spot to explore the Villages & Culture of India.
