Скачать или смотреть Ancient Handloom Art of Bengal in 1200 years old spiritual town Nabadwip Bengal

The famous Handloom Art of India specially in Bengal (Nadia) District a remote village is disappearing every year.Across India, handloom weavers live in abject poverty earning approximately 70 rupees a day (around $2 a day). The bustling town of Shantipur in Nadia district of West Bengal, India, is just 90 kilometres (2 hours drive) north of the metropolis of Kolkata. It has recently been declared a city. Neighbouring Fulia is often uttered in the same breath with Shantipur, their contrasting backgrounds notwithstanding. Together they are perhaps the most renowned Bengal handloom saree weaving centre in Bengal. Shantipur and Fulia sarees are household names across India.

Shantipur has a history as a seat of Sanskrit literature and Vedic learning dating back to the 9th century. The first recorded references as a handloom weaving centre are over 500 years old. Fulia in contrast shot to fame as a centre of handloom saree weaving more recently, banking on immigrant weavers from Bangladesh, erstwhile East Pakistan.

The Shantipur -- Fulia region has over 125,000 handlooms, churning out Shantipuri, Tangail, and Jamdani handloom sarees in a variety of yarns like cotton, tussar and silk. Dhotis, dress materials, stoles and scarves are also woven.

There are records of handloom saree weaving activity in Shantipur, a centre of Vaishnavite culture and Bhakti movement, as early as the 15th century. Weaving flourished throughout the medieval era, and the famed indigo-dyed Neelambari made the Shantipur saree a household name.

There was a strong sense of identity among Shantipur weavers. They united to agitate against the stranglehold of the Dadni system of the British East India Company and even took their grievances to colonial courts during the19th century.

In the decades leading up to independence, Shantipur saw gradual inflow of techniques like the Barrel Dobby facilitating the conversion from Throw Shuttle to Fly Shuttle (1920s), the Jacquard Machine (1930s), and sectional warping and sizing that allowed production of warp yarns 350 yards long (1930s).