Baluchari designs in new avatar

ASANSOL: The famous baluchari sarees of Bisnupur will now be marketed in a brand new mode.
Manufacturers are now planning to use the complicated baluchari motif onto salwar kameezes, skirts and churidars, apart from than sarees and scarves.
This will ensure a wider market and acquaint the younger generation with the skills and finery of baluchari. The traditional motifs are woven around scenes from the Ramayan, Mahabharata and the Puranas.
These will be replaced by more contemporary designs.
“The state government is trying to revive this very intricate and beautiful art forms in order to preserve this national heritage,� says cottage and smallscale industries minister Bansa Gopal Choudhury.
With Tantusree, Tantuja and Manjusha purchasing ‘good stock’ till 1997, weavers did not have too many problems.
But with these outlets facing severe financial crisis, they have failed to take sizeable orders in the recent years. From purchasing raw material to selling the products weavers of Bisnupur are facing problems. The issue figured at the seminar on Bankura in the city.
“We hope that the government will promote baluchari sarees also,� said Amiya Patra, district CPM secretary of Bankura.
The baluchari sarees are inspired from the Jamdani tradition of Dhaka. It was first manufactured in Baluchar of Murshidabad, but the art was perfected by the weavers of Bisnupur.
An original baluchari saree costs Rs 2000 upwards, but copies are available at Rs 1000.