Tradition · ikat-weaving tradition · India
Pochampalli ikat, Yadadri
Also known as Pochampalli, Pochampalli (Ikat), Pochampalli ikat, Yadadri
The Pochampally ikat tradition at Pochampally in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district, Telangana — the 350-year-old double-ikat and single-ikat silk and cotton weaving tradition. The Pochampally ikat is one of only three major double-ikat traditions in the world (with Patan Patola of Gujarat and Bali Indonesia). The weaving involves tie-dyeing both warp and weft threads before weaving so the geometric patterns emerge only through precise alignment. The Pochampally silk sari weaving involves about 100 weaver families; the cotton version has about 5,000 weaver families across 100+ villages in the Yadadri district. GI tag 2004 for Pochampally Ikat (one of India's first GI tags). The 2008 Pochampally Handloom Park (one of India's largest handloom cooperatives) consolidated 1,000+ weavers. UNESCO Creative City designation 2021 as a City of Crafts and Folk Art.
- Function
- Trade & production
- Confidence
- Not assessed
- Location
- 17.337, 78.901
Connections (2)
- AnaloguePatan patola
Pochampalli and Patan are the two Indian ikat traditions and they divide the technique between them: Patan does double ikat, resist-dyeing warp and weft so the pattern must be calculated before a thread is woven, and Pochampalli does mostly single ikat at a fraction of the labour. Patan patola is made by three or four families and priced accordingly; Pochampalli supports several thousand looms and clothes people. The skill and the economics run in opposite directions.
- Patronage networkGolconda
Pochampalli lies in the Telugu country that Golconda governed, and the Deccan sultanate's textile economy — painted cotton for export, ikat and brocade for the court — is the background the weaving belt grew out of. The Telangana villages around Bhoodan Pochampally later became the first place Vinoba Bhave's land-gift movement took land, in 1951, which is the other thing the town's name carries.
On these journeys
Sources
Wikipedia, “Pochampally sari”. Geographical Indications Registry (Government of India) filings; Ministry of Textiles and Sangeet Natak Akademi craft documentation.
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