All India Handloom Exp organized jointly by Maharashtra Textile Corporation, Indrayani and the National Handloom Corpn and Weavers Associations of various states has been arranged at Nagpur. This is the fourth time this exhibition is held at Nagpur since Nagpurians always give it a very good response. It has been held in Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad and Nasik too but Nagpur is their favourite venue. This year fifty four artisans from all over the country are participating in the event.

There are pavilions and stalls from U.P. ( the largest as usual) and thirteen other states like Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamilnadu, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra of course.

For the first time, there are exhibits from small states and Union territories like Puducherry (Pondicherry), Delhi and the new state of Telengana too. If you like mellow pastel shades like cream, light yellow, blue and pink and traditional check work bedsheets made of pure 100% cotton than a visit to the Pondicherry stall is a must. They are very affordable too and genuine.

One can find traditional designs – like the Chinar – leaves embroidery from Kashmir or the traditional cum innovative designs from West Bengal in their gorgeous ‘Dhakai’ woven silk along with the Chanderi sarees of MP, the Bandhanis of Rajasthan and Gujarat and Lukhnow chikan work from UP.

In the ‘home stalls’ the selection of sarees is eclectic and any product is a connoisseur’s delight. A saree of keeps. They have preserved and in some cases, re introduced old, dying weaving patterns that are time consuming and tedious to make but that make the saree unique and beautiful.

According to Richa Bagla (IAS) , Director of Indrayani in the imperfections and variety lies the beauty of handlooms. Unlike machine made and printed fabrics here it is hand woven and each artisan’s skill is imprinted in every piece. These are sarees that you can keep and hand down from generation to generation. Yet, they are not exorbitantly priced, in fact they are surprisingly affordable.

Whether it is Khadi or silk or genuine handloom fabric you are looking for it is all certified and genuine. Rates are very reasonable too with an added discount of 20% given by all States.

This time there is a theme stall at the centre of Kasturchand park ground which is really worth visiting if you like to know about khadi or about the history of cloth weaving. They have actual looms on display. Traditional patterns of all states are displayed on paper prints like an exhibit.

The exhibition is held at Kasturchand Park, Nagpur and it will continue till 15th March.