India is a land where people believed on Nature largely - used Plants as a source for medicines, food, garments etc. As time went by, people changed to using different combinations of fibres, artificial fibres. Now the cycle is back to going green. Global warming is a major threat to mankind and the world is slowly moving towards Eco-Fashion. And this is turning to be a beneficial one for the whole of weaving industry sector.

Banana fiber is one among the few fibres which has been widely used for making garments in recent years. In India, approximately 5 lakh tonnes of Banana trunk is discarded as waste every year, after harvested. India is one of the leading producers of Banana in the world. Fibre can be extracted from the trunks of Banana. Also, Banana grows faster than other plants which makes them easily available. Banana fibre, infact, is one of the most useful products in Indian Market.


Anakaputhur is one of the places where Banana fibre is used extensively in the making of garments and household products. Anakaputhur is a suburb of Chennai that lies on the banks of Adyar.  Anakaputhur was once famous for its traditional weaving business, which has declined due to modern competition, this place seems to bursting it seams, unable to cope up with rapid urbanisation. Anakaputhur with its lost name, is now gaining fame for a small eco-friendly initiative.

For the last 15 years, C Shekar, a weaver, has been quietly making fabrics out of vazhai naaru (banana fibre), inspired by the traditional weavers of Philippines. Sekar is famous for his works and brings together 12 self-help women groups under the banner of AJWA to extract banana fibre, turn it into yarn and weave yardage and sarees. With a population of about 25,000, Anakaputhur has only 750 handloom weavers today. Its decreasing in recognition and that is why this part of the city needs attention.
 The extraction of fibre from Banana requites care to avoid damage. Banana plant sections are cut from the stem of the plant and rolled lightly to remove the excess moisture. Impurities in the rolled fibre are removed manually by means of comb and then is cleaned and dried. Once its dried, the banana sheaths are picked out and succulent flesh is scraped off with quick strokes till the fibres are visible.
 To make it as a yarn, the extracted threads of varying sizes are dried and knotted to make it usable on a handloom. After this, the yarn is handed over to the weavers. Once it reaches the weavers, it is spun into a bobbin. The threaded bobbin is placed in water until it can be used on the loom. It is inserted into the wooden shuttle that is passed through the silk or cotton wrap, making the banana fibre yarn the weft in the loom. The dyeing can be done in two stages: either as yarn or after the fabric is woven, and in artificial dyes or natural ones.
 In recent years, the commercial value of Banana fibre has increased and Anakaputhur plays an important role in it. It is used all over the world for various purposes for making tea bags and sanitary napkins to currency notes and car tyres. Banana stem, hitherto considered waste is now being made into banana-fibre cloth which comes in differing weights and thickness.

The reducing number of people practising this craft has left a void for the next generation to take up this craft. The people working have been provided with low wages which is affecting the craft.

Contact:  C Shekar
Documented by Ajay Kumar

The korai mat weaving industry is found across several places in Tamilnadu. In fact such is the diversity, the Mat weaving industry itself is spread and practiced across India in different varied forms. Well known mats include sitalpuri mats, madur mats and of course ‘the korai mats’ made from korai grass. The craft is popular in several places in Tamil Nadu chiefly from Pattamadai and Karur both at the banks of their respective rivers the Thamirabarani and Kaveri. This is because the korai grass plantation can only be done at the banks of waterbodies in marsh lands. This is one of the reasons the korai pai or mats differ from quality and posses different characteristics. Especially, these “mats” or “pais” (as popularly known) pattamadai village are a very famous name from the whole household of  “korai pai” family. Because the mats made here are traditionally known for the fine quality. It goes through a very meticulous handwork process which results in silk like quality ultimately earning the name “pattu pai” os silk mats.so, it's a certain fact that pattamadai mats have even registered GI tag for themselves in protection. However, this mat industry plays a crucial role in rural employment and is found in every other possible water body where its potential has been exploited. It is in this way that Karur has naturally established as a secondary korai mat production center taking advantage of rich Kaveri river basin.Apart from these places, korai plantation and mat production is also seen at a lake bank, Puducherry. Hence this establishes the possibilities and platform for diverse variety of mats in market.



Korai belongs to the sedge family of plants, Cyperaceae. They are the chief primary building units of the mats produced. They are grown by farmers as commercial crops on the banks of water bodies. thus, it needs huge water consumption and is entirely depend upon the water body and the quality of water. This plantation is grown in the marshy land for example in Karur the plantations are done along the banks of river Kaveri. The grasses are planted and harvested during the September/October and February/march months.


Location - Karur

The town is located at the bottom of Kaveri river with its other chief mat weaving industry clusters located in villages around 100kms from the town. The plantation field is located in a village called “Mayanur”, which is right at the bank of river Kaveri. Though the korai grass plantation is done along this area, the weaving clusters are located at deep down in other villages. hence this has been a major source of livelihood for many marginalized village folks in every village. “Sinandipatti” is one such village which is also at the same distance from the Karur town. Though these villages are drought ridden and sparsely populated, men here still engage and depend on handloom weaving of mats for the living. one has to take through roads and a frequent public transport is also available.

The industry

Though the industry is climbing small steps success in recent days, but sadly its traditional methods and process of korai pais/mats production are eminent towards extinction. It does not have a large corporate player but instead a more inter connected different take parters in the industry, that is a co operative. There are marketers who give the required orders according to the customer's demand, the farmers cultivate and sell the harvested grass and sell them at required rates and last the weavers who weave a traditional handloom mats. Today the industry sees a large growth machine loom which is electrically powered.This helps in meeting the demands both import and export.

The process

Broadly there are three varieties of mats available in the market. coarse weave, medium, and high-quality weave. The mats produced in the Karur district are primarily coarse variety and the medium one. The process over all has three main steps, harvesting, weaving and finishing. There are other subsidiary steps like dying and wrap thread production. At first, the korai grass are harvested in such way they are cut at the bottom. once harvested they are split into two halves so that they are easy to be woven. Then these harvested and splitter grasses are grouped and laid down flat under the sun for a day so that they get dried up until its colour changes into golden brown apt for weaving.

The dried up korai grasses are transported both power loom and handloom weavers. while for making high-quality soft mats, the production undergoes a tedious process like using only the center pith from the grass which is removed carefully. But this process is not seen Karur clusters as making coarse variety is directly used for weaving.  At the parallel, a set of korai grasses are dyed, and the wrap thread is produced naturally from the wild cactus plant “fibers”.


Just like a textile handloom weave, the artisans use a traditional handloom or “kaitheri” to weave perfect handloom weaved mats. It takes weeks to prepare such mats. The artisan who was contacted was rajamuthu,75 years old. He carefully uses his “kichali kuchi” - a stick used to pull a korai grass n place it as a weft. so on he carefully keeps adding on each grass as weft to his mat. this whole process is done by him comfortably sitting in a pit to operate the handloom. On the other hand, there are power loom owners who operate automated machine to produce mats. Here, unlike handlooms( where only cactus plant fibre is used as a wrap) nylon and cotton fibers are also used as a wrap in the weaving process. Along the whole handweaving process, sometimes special orders for marriages are also taken in which the name of the bridegroom is brought into the design.This takes at least two weeks to complete.

The final weaved mats go through the finishing process, where the extra parts around the edges are neatly cut using a large cutter. still, in traditional handmade mats, the edges are cut and stitched strongly with fibre. The finished products are of varied designs. Artisans play with weft and wrap using the dyed grass, which is of three main colors like dark red, indigo and green. Nowadays different products are experimented and are also available in the market like baskets, handbags and much more. The increase in awareness for eco-friendly products also boosts some confidence in the industry.

Contact:
Documented by - Shakti Kumaran SE