Weaving Beauty
The common expression “Artists are born, not made,” is easily verified in the typical weavers of Pochampally villages; undoubtedly the harmonizing combination of colors, the unique originality of design, and the altogether pleasing effect of most fabrics they make speak about the artists as they weave.
Most of the villages around Pochampally are surrounded with looms and weavers. Average weaver is a person of primitive simplicity, with practically no education – who seems to know little except weaving. Children here grow in the midst of this mysterious art of weaving, we find children old enough to sit at the loom playing their little fingers gently between the threads of the warp, tying multi-colored strands of silk into knots, intently following certain outlines of pattern peculiar to their families, in the meantime giving a distinct individuality to each saree by mistake and additions of their own.
These Apparels are woven by hand on a plain framework of loom. These Loom are like a square frame; the two perpendicular sides made of rough wood, with cross-pieces inserted in between at both ends, on which the warp is stretched tight and then the threads are parted for the shuttle with a stick. Weavers working so fast that you can’t imagine that every piece of thread inserted in the warp is knotted fast to stay there and when it gets through each row across the weaver pulls down the stick parting the warp and sends the shuttle through, combing it down to fasten the knots tighter. Then the weaver raises another stick, parting the warp again, and sends the shuttle through once more, binding the knots tighter than ever this time, and then clips the ends of the thread evenly, bringing out the intricate pattern gradually.
Although the work is very slow and tedious, and the compensation unusually small; still, considering the fact that these people in their primitive simplicity have very few wants, and practically no knowledge of the world outside of their immediate circle, they seem to be perfectly contented to work patiently at the loom, trying to make each saree special, with their superior workmanship, which is the height of their ambition.
Weavers attain the height of their elegance after years of hard work and such hardwork tends to give a rich and glossy tone to the clothing they make. It seems just natural to combine colors and work out intricate patterns, full of study, admired and appreciated the world over.