SAMBALPURI WEAVES: ART AND CULTURAL STATEMENT

Odisha's handloom weavers are keeping age-old tradition alive, says Shabiha Nur Khatoon.

- Shabiha Nur Khatoon

In today's age with brands like Zara and 24-hour fashion cycles, a small group of artisans in western Odisha still spend weeks weaving just one saree. Why? Because for them, it's more than just clothing — it's memory, identity and survival. Handloom is the heart, and the weavers are its heartbeat. That's how many fashion experts describe India's weaving culture — and nowhere is this more visible than in Odisha. In a time when mass-produced clothes and changing trends dominate the market, the weavers of Odisha continue to preserve a tradition that is centuries old. With intricate techniques like Bandha (Ikat) and deeply symbolic motifs, the famous Sambalpuri handloom stands out as both an art form and a cultural statement. But keeping this craft relevant in the age of fast fashion is no easy task.

To truly appreciate the depth of Sambalpuri weaving is to understand that the process begins in silence — not with cloth, but with thread and thought. Each design begins as a vision in the weaver's mind, translated into carefully measured threads that are tie-dyed before they are ever woven — a method known as Bandha, or Ikat. Whether it's sarees or scarves, Sambalpuri fabrics begin not on the loom, but in the dye bath. If the threads don't line up perfectly on the loom, the entire pattern can be thrown off. Yet Odisha's weavers continue to master this labour-intensive process, creating textiles that are vibrant, detailed and rich with meaning. The technique is painstaking. Using thin cotton yarns, artisans tie hundreds — sometimes thousands — of minuscule knots along both warp and weft threads. These tied areas resist dye, preserving the undyed portions underneath. Then the yarns are dyed, dried, tied again in different sections, and dyed once more. This resist-dye process can take days or even weeks, depending on the complexity of the design.