The Weavers of Banhatti

The town of Rabkavi-Banhatt is located in Bagalkot District of Northern Karnataka. Situated on the banks of River Krishna, the place is very famous for its power-loomed and hand-loomed sarees. Rabkavi-Banhatti has more than 22000 power looms which is one of the highest in Karnataka.

Banahatti has a co-operative spinning mill named 'Banahatti Co-operative Spinning Mill Ltd., Banahatti,' established in 1983-84 that operating on its own funds. It runs all year generating jobs to many unemployed people. The main occupation of the people in Banhatti is the manufacturing of sarees and the allied activities like saree folding, dyeing, yarn rolling, etc.

This region of Karnataka is steeped in glorious history dating back to the Badami Chalukya dynasty of the 6th -12th century. The rule of the Chalukyas marks an important milestone in the history of South India and a golden age in the history of Karnataka. The political atmosphere in South India shifted from smaller kingdoms to large empires with the ascendancy of Badami Chalukyas. Even centuries later, their indelible influence lives on in form of unique culture, language, architecture and art.

One such example of living art is seen among the Devangas - Weaving community of Banhatti. Although their craft has adopted changes in the garment manufacturing industry, their designs and techniques are whispers of past glory. As Sudhir of NGO, Shreni put it, "There's an intrinsic and timeless cultural value attached to their craft. Our attempt is to reinvigorate it for the next generation."

We bring to you a beautiful collection by Suresh Hatti, a weaver from Rampura located in Rabkavi-Banhatti.

Suresh has 20 weavers working with him and he deals in pure cotton, mercherised cotton and polycot sarees and dress materials. Needless to say, he faces stiff price competition from fellow weavers - a bane of plenty, often earning only between Rs. 10-15 per saree.

The 2 month lock-down in India to check the spread of Covid-19 has served a devastating blow to their local economy. Now they are faced with heavy bargaining, forcing them to go into losses. He has no choice but to liquidate his 3000 sarees stock to be able to pay off loans, buy fresh raw materials and restart production.

Says Suresh of his current situation: "I have loans upwards of 3 lakh rupees incurred on the unsold stock. In an already grim situation it feels like we are being pushed off a cliff. Despite reopening after lock-down, our looms are shut. I simply cannot afford to buy raw materials. All my weavers and workers who are dependent on me for their livelihood are also affected. If the sarees move, we can reopen production."

When we brought down samples of his sarees, we were surprised and impressed by the superior quality and beautiful designs. We immediately decided to list them and start off with promoting his products. If you have a birthday of a special someone coming up or just feel like adding something unique to your wardrobe, consider these beautiful and unique designs. We hope you like them as much as we did.