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The silence of the looms:

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prasad1

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[h=1]Will the interest in Anushka’s Banarasi be enough to revive the ailing handloom industry of Varanasi?[/h][h=2]When Anushka Sharma wore a Banarasi sari for her wedding reception, the nation was mesmerised. But what is the condition of the city’s weavers who create those legendary saris?[/h][FONT=&quot]
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[FONT=&quot]Left: The Benarasi sari that actor Anushka Sharma wore at her wedding reception in Delhi had a traditional pattern; Right: The sari that Neha Srivastava says she purchased from Delhi in October 2017.(HT Photo: Yogen Shah; Facebook/Neha Shrivastava)

Actor Anushka Sharma was hardly breaking tradition or creating a new one, when she draped a red Banarasi sari for her wedding reception in Delhi on December 21. Indian brides have for generations favoured the regal Banarasi for their wedding look. But at a time when lehengas and lighter weaves have taken over the fashion scene, the actor made a strong case for the classic appeal of handloom saris – especially the Banarasi. “It helps when a celebrity makes this kind of statement. It creates demand. Customers have been coming in and asking for the kind of sari worn by Anushka,” says Saeedur Rahman.

“The demand for Banarasis was at its peak between 1980 to 1992. What remains now is only 20 per cent of that market” says Rahman. As handloom has become both time and cost intensive, many weavers have migrated – either to the powerloom, or to Surat or simply to other jobs, say those who remain. “Till the 1990s there were about 1.25 lakh handloom weavers in Varanasi. Today only 20,000 remain,” says Maqbool Hasan bitterly.

On the way to Dashashwamedh Ghat touts accost visitors with offers of trips to the handloom units of Varanasi and to shops selling the weave. But even as they speak, the khat-khat of
handlooms continues to give way to the boom of the powerloom.

On the way to Dashashwamedh Ghat touts accost visitors with offers of trips to the handloom units of Varanasi and to shops selling the weave. But even as they speak, the khat-khat of handlooms continues to give way to the boom of the powerloom.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...of-varanasi/story-9Mig6OuHRF7LgLWGKm64pK.html[/FONT]
 
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