As a family of six members who are dependent on this job, we make a profit of just Rs 4,000 and that remains our only source of income,” he rues. Add the cost of colour and golden threads along with the wages for weavers, and it would come to Rs 48,500. These are priced Rs 5,300 and Rs 5,200, respectively. Explaining the economics, he adds, “To weave seven sarees of basic designs in a month, I need 1.75 kg warp and 3.5 kg weft. Pointing out that their craft has become less profitable, another weaver, who requested anonymity, says the cost of raw silk yarn has doubled in the last few months. “If more people buy our sarees, we will have more work.” We get orders based on the demand and there is no work during the rainy season,” says Andalu. “Most families in Pochampally who have their own looms work for monthly wages. Together, they make about six sarees a month. The raw material is supplied by a shopkeeper and, as a family, they earn about Rs 10,000 a month on returning finished products. Visthari’s family, comprising his wife Andalu, son Ramesh, who lost his legs in an accident, and his daughter-in-law Anitha, are all dependent on the wages they earn from weaving. Visthari Gottimukla (60), who has been weaving Ikat sarees on his own loom at home for over five decades, hopes the latest global recognition will bring more people to the village in search of his sarees. Dotted with stores selling these sarees, Pochampally’s main street has customers arriving in swanky cars on most days. But printed versions of the exact same designs can now be found on e-commerce sites for prices as low as Rs 500 and people fall for it,” he laments. “Our sarees are priced between Rs 7,000 and Rs 20,000, depending on the intricacies in design. The craftsmanship involved, however, is challenged by cheap alternatives that come with similar designs printed on them. These yarns are then tied and dyed in different colours before they are mounted on the loom to weave the Ikat fabric, Kumar explains. The pre-weaving process takes another whole week. The silk yarn is procured from Bengaluru and it takes six to seven days to weave a saree, he says. The BCom graduate had left his job in the audit department of a private firm 15 years ago to become a full-time weaver. More importantly, it was in Pochampally that social reformer Acharya Vinobha Bhave kick-started the Bhoodan movement after having received a donation of 100 acres in 1951, which was then gifted to landless labourers.Īt the Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation’s (TSTDC) Tourism Park in Pochampally, a lodging facility where loom weaving demonstrations are arranged for tourists, 35-year-old Praveen Kumar is busy weaving a silk saree. Pochampally is often referred to as the Silk City of India and is renowned for its unique Ikat silk saree.