madhya pradesh

The last part of the year in India is always festival time, when the air is full of mirth and gaiety, people tending to get light-hearted and livelier than usual. For this is when purchases are made new, from houses to cars to consumer goods to fabrics and when the market obliges with exciting sales and discounts like never before, it gives one the heart to splurge.

A small town in the Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh very close to the comercal city of Indore, it had seen very good days during the region of the Holkars. Rani Ahilyabai during her rule was instrumental in popularizing the Maheshwari fabric by giving patronage to the weaving art and promoting the work by suggesting innovative designs and getting the weavers to do the best of their ability in providing most of their weaves as royal household clothing. It has also been since, a centre of handloom weaving.

Heard of Bagh? Small obscure village in Madhya Pradesh, not much heard of in general. Only it happens to be the hub of a unique kind of block printed handloom fabrics. My friend, a Manager in a Textiles factory wanted to visit the place. He talked of four days at that place before he could return. I had been there once or twice and knew that unless he was going to be exploring the Bagh Handlooms in depth he would be maybe bored to death or re-scheduling his stay.

Maheshwar, on the banks of the river Narmada, is a small town in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh. Dwarfed by the commercial capital of the state Indore, just 80 Km. away, it is still interesting enough for visitors to have a good time while exploring what it has to offer. A place of prominence and capital during the rule of the Holkars in the 19th century, this fortress town has also become a tourist’s delight of today.

The love for the traditional handloom, the recognition of its fabric worth, the Chanderi sarees from Central India (MP in fact) has always been fascinating and dear for its immense possibilities in craft, color, combinations, creativity and class to Unnati Silks and is a prized part of its immense handloom collection.