Shaliar handlooms struggle for revival

Shaliar handlooms struggle for revival

Harishma A S

Trivandrum: The traditional Balaramapuram handloom is facing stiff competition from powerlooms. The Balaramapuram handloom products have high demand in the market especially for wedding and festivals like onam and vishu.

            Powerlooms in and around the district are marketing their products in the guise of original Balaramapuram handloom   apparels and  make immense profit. While most ‘Shaliars’, ( the weaver community in Balaramapuram), are not getting rebate benefits the powerloom owners reap the profits.

Even though there are many handloom societies the incentives given by the govt never reaches the genuine weavers.

            The increasing price of raw materials and improper marketing procedures add to their woes. Emergence of large number of powerlooms and lack of weavers compel the Shaliars to abandon the handlooms.

            “Handlooms are the bread and butter and beats of our lives. We don’t know any other job”, says Buhari, a handloom weaver. Many weavers in Shaliar street are now jumping into the powerloom bandwagon to make a living. “We abandon our Kuzhithari with a heavy heart. But we have no other option”, says Balasubramoniam.