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Bengal Govt to go online with promote Bengal’s Muslin and Baluchari
The West Bengal Handicrafts Development Corporation will inaugurate the country’s first genre-specific online storewww.balucharisaree.inand soon an app, exclusively for Baluchari sarees.
Buyers can not only buy Baluchari sarees directly, they can give their design to the weavers and thus customise the product. Besides Baluchari sarees, bags, jackets and ties will also be available.
The demand of Baluchari sarees was going up fast, both in the country and abroad. Apart from the sarees, buyers are interested in various other Baluchari products such as Baluchari jackets and bags which are hand woven with Baluchari designs.
The State Government will encourage budding designers to direct the traditional weavers to make their products contemporary.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had emphasised on reviving Bengal’s traditional culture, which includes Baluchari and muslin. The weavers have been trained and cooperatives have been formed to look after them.
The Baluchari and muslin weavers, who were on the brink of extinction, have got a new lease of life. She has also stressed on the need to sell these products and has proposed to set up Biswa Bangal stalls abroad.
Baluchori Poetry in textile
Baluchar Sari or Baluchuri Sari(Bengali:বালুচরী শাড়ি) is a type of sari, a garment worn by women across India and Bangladesh. This particular type of sari originated in Bengal and is known for depictions of mythological scenes on the pallu of the sari. It was mainly produced in Murshidabad but presently Bishnupur and its surrounding places of West Bengal is the only place where authentic Baluchuri sarees are produced. It takes approximately one week to produce one such sari. The Baluchari Sari has been granted the status of Geographical indication in India.
In the history of textile in Bengal, Baluchari or Baluchuri came much after Maslin. Two hundred years ago Baluchari was used to be practised in a small village called Baluchar in Murshidabad district, from where it got the name Baluchari. In the eighteenth century, Murshidkuli Khan, Nawab of Bengal patronized its rich weaving tradition and brought the craft of making this sari from Dhaka to the Baluchar village in Murshidabad and encouraged the industry to flourish. After a flood in the Ganga river and the subsequent submerging of the village, the industry moved to Bishnupur village in Bankura district. Baluchari Sari made of tassar silk and a thousand years old when the Jagat Malla king rule in Mallabhum.
But this flourishing trend later declined, specially during British rule, due to political and financial reasons and it became a dying craft as most of the weavers were compelled to give up the profession.
Baluchar Sari History
Later in the first half of twentieth century, Subho Thakur, a famous artist, felt the need of recultivating the rich tradition of Baluchari craft. Though Bishnupur was always famous for its silk, he invited Akshay Kumar Das, a master weaver of Bishnupur to his center to learn the technique of jacquard weaving. Sri Das then went back to Bishnupur and worked hard to weave Baluchari on their looms.
Once Bishnupur was the capital of Malla dynasty and different kinds of crafts flourished during their period under the patronage of Malla kings. Temples made of terracotta bricks were one achievement of these rulers. A major influence of these temples can be seen in Baluchari sarees. Mythological stories taken from the walls of temples and woven on Baluchari sarees, is a common feature in Bishnupur.
Baluchari saris or locally called Baluchuri saris, today often have depictions from scenes of Mahabharat and Ramayana. During the Mughal and British eras, they had a square design in the pallu with paisley motifs in them, and depicted scenes from the lives of the Nawab of Bengal featuring women smoking hookahs, nawabs driving horse carriages, and even European officers of the East India Company. It would take two craftsmen to work for almost a week to produce one sari. The main material used is silk and the sari is polished after weaving.
While there isn’t a lot of variation in the method of weaving used today, balucharis can be broadly categorized based on the threads used in weaving the patterns:
Baluchari or Baluchuri Textile:
The most common balucharis have threads in 1 or 2 colours to weave the entire pattern
Baluchari (meenakari): Sometimes, balucharis have threads in 1-2 colours along with attractive meenakari work in another colour that further brightens the pattern
Swarnachari (baluchari in gold) also called Swarnachuri: The most gorgeous balucharis are woven with gold coloured threads (sometimes interspersed with a bit of silver) that illuminate the patterns to a much larger extent.
Bengali Version:
বাংলার বালুচরি শাড়ি এবার পাওয়া যাবে অনলাইনে
পশ্চিমবঙ্গ হস্তশিল্প উন্নয়ন কর্পোরেশন বালুচরি শাড়ির জন্য দেশের মধ্যে অনলাইন ষ্টোরের www.balucharisaree.in জন্য প্রথম একটি অ্যাপও চালু করবে।
ক্রেতারা শুধুমাত্র সরাসরি বালুচরি শাড়ি কিনতে পারবেন তা নয় তারা তাঁতিদের নানারকম নকশাও দিতে পারেন। বালুচরি শাড়ির পাশাপাশি এখানে ব্যাগ, জ্যাকেট, টাইও পাওয়া যাবে।
দেশ-বিদেশে বালুচরি শাড়ির চাহিদা দ্রুত বাড়ছে। শাড়ি ছাড়াও বালুচরির অন্যান্য প্রোডাক্ট যেমন বালুচরি জ্যাকেট, বালুচরি ব্যাগ ইত্যাদির চাহিদা বেশি ক্রেতাদের মধ্যে।
আধুনিক মানের প্রোডাক্ট তৈরি করার জন্য রাজ্য সরকার উদীয়মান তাঁত শিল্পীদের উৎসাহিত করবে।
বাংলার ঐতিহ্যবাহী সংস্কৃতি বালুচরি এবং মসলিন শিল্পকে পুনরুজ্জীবিত করার উপর জোর দিয়েছেন পশ্চিমবঙ্গের মুখ্যমন্ত্রী মমতা ব্যানার্জী। তাঁতিদের প্রশিক্ষণ দেওয়া হয়েছে এবং তাদের দেখাশোনা করার জন্য সমবায় গঠন করা হয়েছে।
বাংলার বালুচরি ও মসলিন তাঁতিরা যারা কিন্তু বিলুপ্ত হয়ে যাচ্ছিলেন তারা জীবনের এক নতুন ইজারা পেয়েছেন।
তিনি এই পণ্য বিক্রির ওপর গুরুত্বারোপ করেছে এবং বিদেশে বিশ্ববাংলা স্টলে এইসব পণ্য বিক্রি করার প্রস্তাব দিয়েছেন।
বাংলার বালুচরি শাড়ি এবার পাওয়া যাবে অনলাইনে | https://t.co/ovl6noFxEw pic.twitter.com/Svyqkt52Ut
— AITC (@AITCofficial) June 14, 2016
