Handloom products short-listed for national award
Sirumugai, a handloom cluster near Coimbatore, has produced two special silk fabrics that have been short-listed for the national award. One is a 80 inch by 47 inch, brown and maroon-coloured wall hanging of Mahatma Gandhi. And, the other is a 248 inch by 47 inch, blue-coloured saree with Thirukkural verses. K. Prem Kumar, the cluster development executive, told The Hindu that K. Shanmugam, a weaver at Ballepalayam, near Sirumugai, took almost six months to weave the Gandhi piece.It was made of Ahimsa silk purchased from Hyderabad and pure zari and processed with natural dyes. The wall-hanging showed the Father of the Nation working on the charka. It had smaller depictions of Mahatma Gandhi with other leaders and the Dhandi march. The production cost of the piece was Rs. 47,000.
