Balaramapuram | |
---|---|
Suburb | |
Coordinates: 8°23′N77°5′E / 8.383°N 77.083°E | |
Country | India |
State | Kerala |
District | Thiruvananthapuram |
Named for | King Balaramavarama |
Government | |
• Body | Special Grade Grama Panchayat |
Area | |
• Total | 10.53 km2 (4.07 sq mi) |
Population (2011) | |
• Total | 36,134 |
• Density | 3,400/km2 (8,900/sq mi) |
Languages | |
• Official | Malayalam, English |
Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
Vehicle registration | KL-20 |
Website | Balaramapuram |
Balaramapuram is one of the panchayats that form the city of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala, India. It is the most urbanized panchayat in Thiruvananthapuram.
Balaramapuram is the centre for production for traditional varieties of handloom worn in contemporary styles throughout Kerala. Balaramapuram is a major trade centre for clothing, groceries, furniture, electrictonics, metals etc. Balaramapuram is also known for mutton, chicken, oyster and fish dishes. There are multiple religious groups in Balaramapuram, including a Christian church, St Sebastian's Church.
Balaramapuram is located on National Highway 66 15 km south of Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), the capital city of Kerala, India and 17 km north of Parassala and the southern boundary of the state. Balaramapuram is located at 8°23′N77°5′E / 8.383°N 77.083°E .
During the reign of Maharaja Balarama Varma (r. 1798-1810) handloom weaving was first introduced at Balaramapuram, and the panchayat is named in his honour. The maharaja and his delava (chief minister), Ummini Thampi jointly decided to convert Balaramapuram and the surrounding area's industry into an agro-based industrial belt by developing various traditional industries such as paddy and coconut cultivation, fishing, weaving, and oil extraction.
The delava of the maharaja brought seven weaver families (shaliars) from Tamil Nadu to weave fabrics for the members of the royal family. The shaliars were settled in an area that is now known as Shaliar Street, and many of the current residents are descendants of the original seven families. Marketplaces were opened at location conveniently accessible to the weavers to facilitate the sale of their goods.
The people of the shaliar community in Balaramapuram speak Tamil and marry within their own community. The shaliar settlement has four main streets, on which the weavers are settled in row houses. The four streets are Single Street, Double Street, Vinayagar Street, and the New Street.
The temple of Agastya is placed axially along the main streets. The main deities of the temple are: Shiva, Agastya, and Lopamudra. Vinayaka, Muruga, Navagrahas, Naga, and Krishna are also worshipped at the temple. The current President of Agasthiar Swamy Devasthanam is Sri Venkitachalam and the secretary is Sri Laxmanan.
Double Street has two temples – The Muttaramman Temple and the Vinayagar Temple. There is a Ganapathi temple on Vinayagar Street. For males above age 18, membership in the temple committee is compulsory. The temple, and its related functions, form the social hub of much of the shaliar community.
The shaliar community settlement covers an area of approximately 13 acres (5.3 ha) south of NH-47. Main entrance is from NH-47 to the 9 m wide Single Street. The entry is not well defined. The Single Street with two-story buildings on either side act as an axis with the Agastya temple being the focal point. Single street, Double street, and the New street are the main streets The Agastya temple is placed at the point of intersection of these streets. The streets are used by the areas residents as a space for outdoor social gatherings, as the homes along them lack yard space.
The houses of the shaliar weavers reflect their culture, occupation, and religious beliefs. They have a rectangular layout with houses sharing common walls. All the houses have production units attached to them, used for the traditional weaving. The houses of the wealthier families have showrooms to display their goods. The unique details of the facades, the internal courtyards, and the arrangement of rooms to suit the occupation of weaving, make the houses unique in nature.
There are very few open spaces or car parking facilities within the settlement. The streets are dotted with community wells. Lack of infrastructure like levelled roads, public water supply, street drains, and sewerage are some problems faced by the community. In most places the streets are not levelled and are not accessible to vehicles. [1]
Balaramapuram's weavers use a traditional type of throw-shuttle pit looms for the production of exclusively cotton fabrics with pure zeri. They do not use any type of improved appliances such as Dobby, Jacquard, Jala, etc. for the production of designs for cloth with extra warp and extra weft. Identical appearance of designs, including warp and weft stripes on the face, and backside, of the fabric is obtained by this technique of weaving. [2]
No changes have taken place in the methods and looms used for the production of the region's textiles. The variety known as "Pudava and Kavani" (veshti and upper cloth with pure zeri) still remains as a prestigious bridal gift in marriages. The designs with zeri or coloured yarn, using the age-old technique still has unparallel appeal which can attract even the most sophisticated customers. [3]
Five percent of the houses run agencies for hand loom items. These houses act as collecting points of hand loom clothes produced in the area. Nine percent of houses do not have any home based activity. Twenty-seven percent of houses use traditional means of production, whereas 59% are based on new methods.
Presently, a major portion of the hand loom clothes produced in this area is sold to the Handloom Development Corporation and Hantex. [4] Due to the emergence of power looms in the weaving industry, and a drop in the prices of the textile products, the inhabitants of the area have found it difficult to persevere in the same industry. This lack of economic opportunity in the traditional weaving sector has led many members of the younger generations to break with tradition and seek higher education and employment in other sectors.
Another cause of theses changes is the low price per unit of the textile goods. Hand–loom weavers overheads are much higher than mass–producing textile factories, and it is hard for their businesses to stay afloat in the modern economy. Varieties of woven clothes previously reserved for hand–loom weavers are now open for production on power looms, making competition next to impossible.
Nowadays, a new concept in handloom industry introduced in this area is Ayurvastra, a branch of Ayurveda, the ancient 5,000-year-old Indian system of Vedic healthcare. Loosely translated, "Ayur" is Sanskrit for health, and "Vastra" is clothing, Ayurvastra means Healthy Fabrics, the Ayurvastra project was initiated and launched by the Directorate of Handloom, Department of Industries and Commerce and the Department of Government Ayurveda College, aimed at creating a niche for the wellness textiles. Ayurvastra textiles are processed using herbs and plants instead of synthetic dyes.
Until 1990, the varieties of textiles produced in Balaramapuram had excellent market potential. The area's weavers were earning a reasonable income, and could maintain a better standard of living. Nearly 5100 looms were engaged in the production of such fabrics. No attempt was made to exploit the skill of such weavers, who are masters in their trade, to produce any other variety for expanding market demand. [5] However, recently this seems to be changing and the demand for hand loomed products is high. [6]
Balaramapuram railway station is situated 1 km from NH47 at Balaramapuram. The station's code name is ‘BRAM’. The station is amongst the top hundred stations in the Indian Railways system by volume of ticket booking and train traffic. The total number of trains that pass through the Balaramapuram (BRAM) junction is 50.
A loom is a device used to weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of the loom and its mechanics may vary, but the basic function is the same.
Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft, woof, or filling. The method in which these threads are interwoven affects the characteristics of the cloth. Cloth is usually woven on a loom, a device that holds the warp threads in place while filling threads are woven through them. A fabric band that meets this definition of cloth can also be made using other methods, including tablet weaving, back strap loom, or other techniques that can be done without looms.
A power loom is a mechanized loom, and was one of the key developments in the industrialization of weaving during the early Industrial Revolution. The first power loom was designed and patented in 1785 by Edmund Cartwright. It was refined over the next 47 years until a design by the Howard and Bullough company made the operation completely automatic. This device was designed in 1834 by James Bullough and William Kenworthy, and was named the Lancashire loom.
Ikat is a dyeing technique from Indonesia used to pattern textiles that employs resist dyeing on the yarns prior to dyeing and weaving the fabric. The term is also used to refer to related and unrelated traditions in other cultures. In Southeast Asia, where it is the most widespread, ikat weaving traditions can be divided into two general clades. The first is found among Daic-speaking peoples. The second, larger group is found among the Austronesian peoples and spread via the Austronesian expansion. Similar dyeing and weaving techniques that developed independently are also present in other regions of the world, including India, Central Asia, Japan, Africa, and the Americas.
Neyyattinkara, is a significant municipal town and a prominent center for both industry and commerce, positioned at the southernmost tip of the Thiruvananthapuram metropolitan area in Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala State. It also serves as the administrative headquarters of Neyyattinkara Taluk.Nestled along the banks of the Neyyar River, one of the district's principal rivers, the town derives its name from its location, with 'Neyyatinkara' in Malayalam translating to 'the shore of the river Neyyar.' Neyyattinkara ranks as the second most densely populated municipality in the district, following Varkala. Notably, the Vizhinjam International Seaport Thiruvananthapuram is situated within Neyyattinkara Taluk."
Jamdani is a fine muslin textile produced for centuries in South Rupshi of Narayanganj district in Bangladesh on the bank of Shitalakhwa river.
Chinnalapatti is a Panchayat town in Dindigul district, Tamil Nadu in India with a total population of about 26285. In 2021 most of the wards are merged to accommodate it to 18 wards, as chinnalapatti is still a town panchayat. It is understood that the number of voters are 29000 and population would be around 42000. Making it the largest town panchayat in Dindigul district. The town is well known for the handloom sarees and garments. The place is located next to Sirumalai hills which has lot of grapes farmlands.
The economy of Thiruvananthapuram, capital of the Indian state of Kerala, mostly consists of tourism and leisure, information technology, rubber plantations, coffee production, tea production, and education. There are many manufacturers, such as Travancore Titanium Products Ltd and English Indian Clays.
Kattakada is a town in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala. It is situated 13km north of Neyyattinkara town, 18km south of Nedumangad town and 20km east of Capital City Thiruvananthapuram.
Kerala sari (Set-sari) is a clothing of women in the Indian state of Kerala.
Siripuram is a village and a gram panchayat of Ramannapet Mandal, Nalgonda District, in Telangana state in India.. It is 71km from Hyderabad.
Weaving and cloth trading communities of Western India particularly of Gujarat are called Vankar/Wankar/Vaniya. The four major woven fabrics produced by these communities are cotton, silk, khadi and linen. Today majority of these community members are not engaged in their ancestral weaving occupation still some population of these community contribute themselves in traditional handloom weaving of famous Patola of Patan, Kachchh shawl of Bhujodi in Kutch, Gharchola and Crotchet of Jamnagar, Zari of Surat, Mashroo of Patan and Mandvi in Kutch, Bandhani of Jamnagar, Anjar and Bhuj, Motif, Leheria, Dhamakda and Ajrak, Nagri sari, Tangaliya Shawl, Dhurrie, Kediyu, Heer Bharat, Abhala, Phento and art of Gudri. Vankar is described as a caste as well as a community.
Pochampally sari or Pochampalli ikat is a saree made in Bhoodan Pochampally, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district, Telangana State, India. They have traditional geometric patterns in "Paagadu Bandhu" (Ikat) style of dyeing. The intricate geometric designs find their way into sarees and dress materials. The Indian government's official airplane company, Air India, has its cabin crew wear specially designed Pochampally silk sarees.
Manamedu is a village in Thottiyam taluk in the district of Tiruchirapalli (Trichy) with population of roughly 13,500 people. Land ruling community saliyar are land lord and powerful ruling community in Manamedu. It is one of 27 villages in Thottiyam Block along with villages like Alagarai and Mullipadi which lies on the banks of Cauvery River and it is peculiar for banana cultivation, especially one of the banana variety, the "rasathaali". Main source of income of this population is agriculture and hand loom weaving. Poverty level is intense despite their traditional weaving of hand loom voile.
A Dandy loom was a hand loom, that automatically ratchetted the take-up beam. Each time the weaver moved the sley to beat-up the weft, a rachet and pawl mechanism advanced the cloth roller. In 1802 William Ratcliffe of Stockport patented a Dandy loom with a cast-iron frame. It was this type of Dandy loom that was used in the small dandy loom shops.
Handloom saris are a traditional textile art of Bangladesh and India. The production of handloom saris is important for economic development in rural India.
Padmanabhan Gopinathan is an Indian master weaver of handloom textiles and the founder of Eco Tex Handloom Consortium, an organization promoting handloom weaving in Manjavilakom, a small hamlet in Thiruvananthapuram, in the south Indian state of Kerala. Under the aegis of the organization, he provides employment to over 1800 women in the village. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2007, for his social commitment and his contributions to the art of weaving.
Habaspuri is a cotton-based traditional handloom textiles of Odisha, India. Habaspuri sari is a major product of this textile. The Bhulia weavers of Chicheguda, Kalahandi district, Odisha are originally attributed for weaving of the Habaspuri fabric. For its uniqueness in weaving, design and production, it has been identified as one of the 14 Geographical Indications of Odisha.
Suraiya Hasan Bose was an Indian textile conservator, textile designer, and manufacturer, who worked to preserve traditional Indian textile art and techniques. She worked with the Indian Cottage Industries Emporium, as well as the Indian Handloom and Handicrafts Export Corporation, later establishing her own textile manufacturing unit to create traditional Indian textiles. Her designs have been exhibited in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Shantipur Handloom Industry, also known Shantipur Handloom Cluster, is a handloom weaving industry in Nadia district of West Bengal. It is one of the foremost handloom centers of India. This handloom industry is world famous for the production of cotton Sari (saree). The two main centers of this industrial zone are Shantipur and Phulia. Shantipur has an old reputation for cotton sarees, known as Shantipuri sarees, and Phulia is well known for Tangail-Jamdani sarees.
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