Habaspuri Saree: The tribal weave from Kalahandi gets contemporary and chic

Born in the 19th century in a village in the tribal-dominated Kalahandi district of Odisha, Habaspuri weaving was done by the Kondh tribal artisans and patronised by the local kings. The craft declined after the fall of dynasty rule but was later revived in Chicheguda by master weaver Ugrasen Meher.

Today, a small community of weaving families continues this legacy with support from the Odisha government.

The saree gets its name from the Habaspur village, where the weave was originally interlaced, intertwined, braided and plaited by tribal Kondh weavers. The craft is now in the hands of the Bhulia (Meher) community’s weavers.

The Habaspuri saree holds cultural significance and was given the Geographical Indication or GI tag in 2012-13. Under various projects, including the ongoing ‘Revival of Habaspuri Design’ (RHD), the state directorate of textiles has contemporised Habaspuri weaving in tune with modern demands.

Contemporising the tribal weave

“Earlier, the weaving was done on handlooms with coarse yarns that made the Habaspuri saree heavy. We now use fine yarns. As a result, the Habaspuri saree is now lighter, thinner and softer,” says Mahendra Meher, the secretary of Weavers Cooperative Society in Chicheiguda under Junagarh tehsil of Kalahandi district. 

“We weave 5.5-metre saree, while the accepted length was 3.5 metres earlier. Habaspuri sarees were woven only using cotton, but now, we also have it in silk,” he adds.

However, the craft retains the traditional designs. The motifs of animals, fish, flowers and ‘kumbha’ (temple) that reflect the affinity of tribal people with nature still embody Habaspuri handloom products. “The motifs, mostly along the border, are now bigger,” he adds.

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The bulk of these handcrafted sarees are now sold to Boyanika, the government-run cooperative society for handloom weavers in Odisha. There is a growing market in metros like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Kolkata. 

“The demand for Habaspuri saree is increasing so rapidly that the weavers’ societies do not have the capacity to meet the demand,” says Arta Ranjan Mohapatra, the chief manager (marketing) of Boyanika in Bhubaneswar.

While the retail price of cotton Habaspuri saree starts at Rs 7,000, it is upwards of Rs 14,000 for a silk saree. 

The tradition and revival 

Kondh women continue to wear the cotton-based weave during special occasions like marriage, Durga Puja, Nuakhai, Ratha Yatra and Pusha Parba. The tribal attire was Kondh weavers’ handiwork during the days of royal patronage and declined with the fall of the dynastic rule. 

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Later, weaver Ugrasen Meher in village Chicheiguda revived the craft. Since then, Habaspuri weaving continues to be carried forward by weavers of the Meher community. 

Tribal weavers have long ceased to practice the craft. As a result, Habaspur is no longer the hub of Habaspuri handloom that late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru praised at an exhibition in New Delhi in 1951. 

Around 2022, the Kalahandi district administration approved nearly Rs 10 lakh to resuscitate it in Habaspur. The effort, however, fizzled out.

Resurrecting the craft

Now this tribal handloom is regaining life after the state government’s intervention.

After about 12 spinning mills in Kalahandi and adjoining districts like Bargarh shut down, Boyanika has been supplying yarns. Similarly, the Union Government’s public sector undertaking, National Handloom Development Corporation Limited, provides yarns under the Raw Material Supply Scheme. 

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Over 50 weaver cooperative societies in the undivided Kalahandi district have now been reduced to eight. The craft, which once had more than 4000 weavers, now has only 250, according to Kalahandi’s retired deputy director (textile), Balakrushna Senapati. 

“During my tenure, I prevailed upon Habaspuri weavers to use fine yarns in place of thick and coarse ones. I also advised them to convert the 3.5 metre long textile into a 5.5 metre one,” says Balkrushna.

He says during his tenure, weavers underwent phased training for three months under schemes like Industrial Rural Development (IRD) and Economic Rehabilitation of Rural Poor (ERRP). The objective of training programmes was to contemporise the tribal textile.

Abhaya Prasad Meher, the secretary of Weavers Cooperative Society in Choriaguda under Junagarh tehsil, says, “About 12 years ago, ten weavers were adept in Habaspuri artwork. Now we have only three weavers with basic knowledge. They make products like ‘gamchha’, ‘lungi’ and ‘chadar’. We will soon train more weavers with government help,” says Abhaya. 

Meanwhile, the Directorate of Textiles has flagged off its special project RHD to promote Habaspuri handloom. About Rs 3 crore has been earmarked for the same. 

Out of this, nearly Rs 39 lakh has been allocated to its Kalahadi district wing. The preliminary three-phased training to upgrade the knowledge and skills of 60 weavers has already been organised. 

“We will now start the second part of training, for which we are preparing the modalities minutely. During this part, we are planning to rope in fashion designers to train the weavers,” says Sisir Nag, the deputy director (textile), Kalahandi.  

The weaving of Habaspuri sarees

Weavers buy a bundle of coloured cotton yarn at around Rs 5000 to Rs 6000. They purchase grey (plain) yarn at Rs 4000 to Rs 4,500. Each bundle that weighs between 4.5 and five kilograms comprises nearly 20 ‘muda’ (a type of coil). A weaver and his family take about four days on average to weave a Habaspuri saree out of nine to 10 ‘muda’. 

Each family weaves around three to four sarees monthly and sells them at Rs 4000 per piece. A saree weighing 600 to 700 gm sells through a society at a minimum price of about Rs 7000.

For silk sarees, the weaver families procure silk from the neighbouring Sonepur district at Rs 5000 per kg. The minimum price of a silk saree is Rs 14000, while the weavers’ charge varies between Rs 6000 and Rs 8000. 

“Our society adds 17 percent to the production cost of a handmade saree to sell it. However, we offer a 10 percent discount per saree. Hence, the profit margin per saree for the society is only seven percent,” says Mahendra.

While Habaspuri weaving is also done in the adjoining district of Nuapada, Boyanika accepts only GI-tagged Habaspuri sarees of Kalahandi. “Nuapada was carved out of undivided Kalahandi in 1993 to have its independent status as a district. While Habaspuri sarees of Kalahandi received the GI Tag in 2012-13, ours did not. As a result, we have to depend on other agencies to sell our products. Though we get paid by other agencies, the payment is delayed, posing a problem,” says Bhaskar Kasyap, the secretary of Bajrang Weavers Cooperative Society Ltd in Bramhanpada village under Senapali block in Nuapada. 

(Niroj Ranjan Misra is a Cuttack-based freelance writer. He writes on rural and tribal life, social issues, art and culture, and sports.)

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