National Handloom Day: A Celebration Of Indian Handloom And Weaves

Bhubaneswar: The ‘4^th National Handloom Day’ will be observed across the entire nation today. The date August 7 has been chosen for observing this day as it holds a special significance in India’s history. It was on this very day in 1905 that the Swadeshi movement was formally declared before a massive gathering at Calcutta’s Town Hall. The declaration vouched for the boycott of foreign goods and revival of domestic production processes and indigenous products.

In order to commemorate this day, that the Government of India decided to observe August 7 as ‘National Handloom Day’. The first ‘National Handloom Day’ was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 7 August 2015 in Chennai.The main essence of this day is to celebrate the rich fabric culture of our country and the huge gamut of our indigenous weaves and clothes, spread from Kashmir to Tamil Nadu and Assam to Gujarat.

India has a rich history of fabric right since the ancient ages. Indian handloom, cotton and silk fabrics were coveted items of trade, being exported to Europe, Arabia, South-east Asia and China. Even now, our country boasts of possessing some of the most captivating and beautiful handloom weaves- Pashmina from Kashmir, Phulkari from Punjab, Chikankari from Lucknow, Jamdani from Bengal, Ikat from Odisha, Bandhani from Rajasthan, Pochampally from Andhra Pradesh, Kanjeevaram from Tamil Nadu and so on. The Handloom sector contributes to nearly 15% of the cloth production in the country and also contributes to the country’s export earnings. Interestingly, 95% of the world fabric is contributed by India.

National Handloom Day is celebrated to evoke in the masses, a keen awareness about the cultural significance of India’s handloom industry and its huge contribution to social and economic development of the country. It is being aimed that this day would promote awareness regarding the importance of handloom industry as a part of our rich heritage and culture, promote handloom products and lead to increase in income of weavers as well as enhance their confidence and pride.

So on this day, let us take a pledge to wear handloom, cherish our rich heritage of our indigenous fabrics and handloom and take pride in wearing ‘Swadeshi’.