Kullu Shawls occupy an equal place of pride among the handlooms and handicrafts of India. They are world famous for their elegant look, brilliant hues, traditional patterns, quality and reasonable cost.
A shawl is a light woolen fabric measuring 1 x 2 meters. Women usually draped these shawls around and over the chest and shoulders. Men also wear shawls. They called it as Loi or Chaddar.
Origin
Kullu in Himachal Pradesh, famously known as the “valley of gods” is the main manufacturer of these shawls.Initially, indigenous Kullvi people would weave plain shawls. but following the arrival of artisans from Bushahr in the early 1940s, the trend of more patterned shawls came to rise.
It turned into a striking piece of clothing for most occupants of the Himalayan territory indeed.
History
Before independence, modern clothes from developed regions couldn’t reach the valley due to a lack of transportation facilities. The area where the Kullvi individuals colonize is a temperate locale in the Himalaya, giving a plenitude of Sheep, Ox, and different other furred organisms. which fulfills the need for woolens.
Initially, the people of Kullu used to weave Patti which is 18”, 20”, or 22” wide, and has an appropriate length. They wove it to fulfill the basic necessity of covering their body and protecting themselves from severe cold.
Until 1936, Kullvi people made them on the pit loom, but after that handlooms came into the way. This probably happened because of British influence. When weavers from Bushehr came to the valley in the early 1940s, their craft influenced the people of Kullu Valley. The weavers of Bushehr were expert in geometrical designs.
In 1942 when Indian film star Devika Rani, daughter-in-law of famous Russian painter Nicholas Roerich, came to Kullu. She took a zealous interest in the looms and it was at her request that Mr. Sheru Ram of Banontar village fashioned the earliest urban-size shawl (72″ x 36″). Later, Pt. Urvi Dhar started manufacturing shawls commercially.
As there weren’t any spinning mills in the valley, weavers started importing yarn from Ludhiana (Punjab) used them in shawls.
Process
Raw material
Generally, the yarn is Merino Wool, Angora Wool, Pashmina Wool, local sheep wool or a combination of any of these.
Staple Yarn: Cotton fiber, used as warp.
Acrylic Yarns: Synthetic wool, used in making patterns.
Merino Wool
At the spinning mills of Ludhiana, Amritsar, Panipat, Kullu etc. do the cleaning, carding and spinning of Natural fair fleece imported from Australia. The fiber is soft and well in worth.
Local Wool
This wool is acquired from sheep bred in Himachal Pradesh. This wool is available in natural white, black, grey and brown. Due to its coarseness, artisans use this wool for floorings and blankets.
Pashmina Wool
Under belly of the Pashmina goat existing in Tibet is the source of this wool. The shawls woven from Pashmina range from a fine to super-fine quality. They are pure and light, yet tremendously warm. Owing to the high cost of labor involved in the sorting of fine Pashmina fiber they are pretty expensive but trendy.
Angora Wool
As name suggests itself, Angora rabbit, procured from the local Angora breeding farms is the source of this wool. India import these rabbits from Germany. Since they have a very high birth rate and death rate, they are bred for about two years and then sold off as meat. one can trimmed them once in every three months. Angora wool is enormously warm, soft and sleek to feel. You can get them in original colors viz. white, brown, grey and black.
Patterns
- Plain shawl made of single color without any design or pattern.
- A border of a traditional pattern or colored stripes on the four sides.
- Plain with ek Phool i.e. traditional pattern on both ends.
- Plain with teen Phool i.e. three traditional patterns on two ends.
- Shawl having design all over it.
- Designed Shawl with ek Phool i.e. one traditional pattern on both ends.
- Designed Shawl with teen Phool i.e. three traditional patterns on both ends.
Revival and Exhibition
In 1957 Kullu Shawl Improvement Center opened up in the valley and Mr. Devi Prakash Sharma joined there as a technician. He developed diverse designs, visited the various cooperative societies and individual weavers, and gave them new designs.
With time artisans manufactured these shawls in a wide variety of patterns and with the use of vegetable dyes, which augment an exotic array of subdued colors in apricots, ochre, rusts, browns, olives, and many more, is in vogue.
Kullu shawls are made using handlooms but these days some outside manufacturers especially from Ludhiana, are producing cheap factory-made material with copied design patterns and selling it on heavy discounts. This practice is leaving a very bad impact on not only original Kullu Shawls’ market share but also valley’s economy. Consequently, it is discouraging weavers who have been working on this craft for decades making this beautiful art die a slow death. Handmade kullu shawls are getting a very tough competition because of its relatively higher cost as it involves a lot of hard work.
State government is taking many steps to prevent these crises. Most crucial of them all is assigning of Geographic Indicator (GI) to Kullu Shawls. This GI can only give to those artisans who make these shawls in the valley itself and must create on handlooms. This practice is now restricting the sale of power-loom shawls in the name Kullu Shawls.
References
Handlooms and Handicrafts of Kullu Manali: Kullu Shawls: History: HC1.1
Kullu shawl – Wikipedia
