CHENNAI: The Crafts Council of India CCI ) is celebrating ‘Handloom Day’, which falls on August 7, with a display of specifically woven handloom saris at its Kamala shop in Egmore . From West Bengal’s phulias to Tamil Nadu’s Kanchi cottons – you’ll get it all.“A mix of handloom and handmade work is being presented at the store this whole month,” says Jayasri Samyukta Iyer, executive committee member, CCI, adding that price ranges from Rs 1,800 to Rs 25,000.“While our store has always had a strong focus on handloom, we will be showcasing a larger variety,” she said.Handloom is the cloth woven entirely by hand in pit looms or frame loom devices, which are also made by hand. Weaving is primarily the interlacing of two sets of yarn – the warp and the weft. Handloom cloth is soft, durable, comfortable and breathable.‘Handloom Day’ is a celebration of the country’s 5,000-year-old tradition of hand weaving cloth. From the Mohenjo-daro find of madder cloth wrapped around a spindle, the ‘fine flowered muslin’ of Megasthenes description, and the Roman shop records of ‘vetri venti’ or cloth woven out of breeze, and the huge shipments of Bengal mulmul during the early days of the Raj – India has a rich textile heritage.At Kamala, the handloom sari collection will include West Bengal’s jamdani and phulia saris in reds, off white and colorus of the earth, Maheshwaris in lyrical colours of the rainbow, blazing jewel tones, in stunning shaded avatar and silver stripes, Benares handlooms with elegant motifs, Bengal cottons in a gamut of colours and mellow borders, and in checks of red, green, blue and more as well as kanchi cottons with silk borders and kotas in indigo stripes.‘Kamala’ is located on the Pantheon Road, Egmore, and is open from 10:30am to 7:30pm.

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