On the coast of Andhra Pradesh resides a quaint little town called Uppada. A seemingly unremarkable place, Uppada, is home to several fisheries and most importantly the famous handwoven Uppada sarees. These sarees always come in bright colours with tasteful designs. They’re extremely light and soft to the touch and are of superior quality due to the intricate weaving process involved. Although the origin of this fabric can be traced back to Bangladesh, the Uppada sarees are popular throughout the Indian subcontinent.
The saree is made with cotton or silk (cotton is much more challenging to weave than silk) and bordered with gold or silver zari with floral motifs and geometrical patterns. Unlike other sarees, the patterns on the sarees are shown on both sides because it is woven into the fabric and not added as another layer. Prior to weaving an elaborate method is followed to ensure the high quality of the material. The yarn is washed, dyed, rinsed and allowed to air dry so that it becomes stiffer and the colour lasts longer. It is finally ready to be woven!
It’s arranged onto the loom which is operated by two people and they work for over a week to create the beautiful sarees. The saree once finished is extremely light weight because of the pure cotton and zari that is used.
Majority of the weaving community belongs to the Padmasali caste who have passed the skill down through the generations and almost 40% of the weavers are women. A weaver can earn ₹10,000 to ₹25,000 depending on the number of sarees they make. As the fabric is mostly handwoven, it is extremely time and labour intensive. One saree could take anywhere between 10 to 15 days for 2 to 3 weavers working 10 hours a day. It is an exceptionally difficult technique of weaving but most of the artisans have grown up learning the skill from their parents and are very adept. As the skill of making these sarees itself is as unique as the product, Uppada sarees were given the Geographical Identification in 2009. Even as early as 1972, the weavers were recognized by the government of India with the President’s award for their exemplary talent.
Over the years, the weavers have modified the designs and experimented with new colour palettes to keep up with the times. The village has over 3,000 looms in total. Although some of the people leave the village to pursue higher education, several come back to take up weaving as a profession. The rise in demand in the last 5 to 6 years has guaranteed more publicity to the hands working on the looms. The sarees are becoming increasingly available at handlooms, Cottage Industries Emporia and lately even on e-commerce platforms such as the government initiated Kalgudi platform.
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