On our first day out to meet the weavers, I was super excited. I had done extensive research and made a list of weavers by region in and around Badami and Ilkal. Our first stop was a town called Kamatagi. It was an hour’s drive from Badami, where we stayed. I instructed our cab driver to go there. He had a quizzical look for a second and then he said, “ Yes madam, CoMuttGhee”. Our driver not only helped with correct pronunciation but he helped find weavers who had no addresses. Even if there was an address, the streets had no names and if they had a name, it was in Kannada which I sadly couldn’t read. Sometimes, the street didn’t even exist. When we managed to find the correct street occasionally, it was too narrow for cars to go and our driver would accompany us on foot. I sent a silent thanks to my brother-in-law Kartik who works for the Indian oil corporation and had set me up with this reliable and resourceful driver.
Our first stop in Kamatagi was Chamundeshwari weavers co-op owned by the Hotti brothers. It was a little house. Most of the rooms had been converted to set up pit looms.
The main room in the front was converted to an office where they had displayed a couple of their products and had cabinets neatly lined all around the room full of fresh-out-of-the-loom Sarees. As we were admiring the various offerings, weavers would come and hand over a completed saree. We stopped one such weaver to have a long chat about the process. He turned out to be one of the Hotti brothers who owned the co-op. Hotti Brothers Co-op is one of the first innovators in the region. They have collaborated with Somaiya Kala Vidhya SKV in an artisan to artisan program. They initially sent 5 weavers to collaborate with Kutch Bhujodi weavers and innovate within tradition, experimenting with colors and new materials. The result is 100% cotton Ilkal Sarees in unique colors. Traditionally, Ilkal Sarees have cotton and silk mixed body and 100% silk pallu. These pure cotton Sarees are also made with Gujarat cotton which is super soft. These Sarees were so interesting where a striped pattern is formed using a slight gradation of colors in the yarn. True amalgamation of talent from Bhujodi to Bagalkot. I bought my very first Ilkal saree here - a traditional green with red border along with many innovative cotton Sarees in muted colors.
Next, we went to Ilkal. Our first stop was Shri Neelakanteshwar silk weaves weavers co-op society. After stopping to ask directions like a hundred times, we finally reached the place only to find that it was closed; which is surprising considering that most weavers and co-ops are run from home so when I usually asked for their open hours, we were welcomed to visit anytime. On the way here, walking down the narrow streets, we suddenly heard the click clacking of the loom and followed the sound to a one room hut. The door was open so we entered and were warmly welcomed by a lone weaver. His one room was converted to a loom. The little nook on the other side served as his living space. He was weaving a bright blue Ilkal with a red border.
It takes him 3 full days to weave a saree. After the chat, I was excited to see and buy the Sarees woven by him but he had none. Most of the weavers can’t afford to buy the yarn so they work for the weavers co-op which provides them with all materials needed for a share of the profit. All the completed Sarees go back to the co-op.
Our search continued for the next co-op in my list and by this time, I had realized that the only way to do this was to harness my spiritual side and just go with the flow. Most weavers on my list only had a nearby landmark, there was no address.
I found one called Sanna Hanumanthappa Handlooms which was near Neelakanteshwar temple. So I decided to start the hunt for this one next assuming we were near this temple since our first one was its namesake. After many enquiries, we found it but not the one we were looking for. Our second one was called Parvati Parameshwar Weavers Co-op. There was a small preschool with children running everywhere on the first floor and we carefully walked up to the second floor via precarious stairways with no handrails or sidewall to find the owner whose name was Manju and he showed us a variety of sarees. We found many traditional colors and patterns here with meticulous workmanship. Manju is a perfectionist. I cannot begin to describe the precision with which he folded the sarees that we had selected. There was one particular silk saree in deep red with black border. He worked with one of his apprentices pulling it taught, and using a metal ruler to form the clean lines of the folds. After spending 10 minutes folding it, he was not satisfied so he started all over again while we were left with nothing to do but slow down, relax and enjoy their passion and involvement.
After we finally wrapped up, Manju kindly accompanied us to Sanna Hanumanthappa Handlooms, our next stop and original destination.
Here we found the humble owner who ran a small “potti kadai” ( a little box grocery store) in the front and the back of the house doubled as his loom and living quarters. This co-op specializes in checks (chikki in Kannada). The different array of checks available was mind blowing from the small kondi chikki to Ragavali, Micheli, choukane, Rikki, Sherting, chaturanga and it went on and on. I tried to grab one of each kind here.
What stood out to me was how the weavers supported each other. There was no sense of rivalry whatsoever. Most of the weavers we met helped us in every possible way to find our next stop and even went out of their way to enquire with their friends to suggest other names of weavers/ co-ops based on the specific styles we were looking for. It feels good to support this humble community in need.