Bhavani Jamakkalam refers to

blanket A blanket is a swath of soft textile, cloth large enough either to cover or to enfold most of the user's body and thick enough to keep the body warm by trapping radiant body heat that otherwise would be lost through Thermal conduction, condu ...

s and

carpet A carpet is a textile floor covering typically consisting of an upper layer of Pile (textile), pile attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century synthetic fiber, synthetic fibres such as polyprop ...

s manufactured in

Bhavani Bhavānī (also known as Bhāvya, Tulajā, Turajā, Tvarita, Aṃbā, Jagadambā and Aṃbē) is an epithet associated with Durga. Bhavani translates to "giver of life," meaning the power of nature or the source of creative energy. She is cons ...

Erode district Erode District is one of the 38 Districts of Tamil Nadu, districts in the south Indian States and union territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It was the largest district by area in the state before the formation of Tirupur district in 2009 ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

. It has been recognized as a

Geographical indication A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town or region). The use of a geographical indication, as an indication of the product's source, is inten ...

by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

in 2005–06.

History

In the late nineteenth century, competition from

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

made textiles led Indian weavers to invent new types of garments. In

, a community of weavers called ''Jangamars'' weaved a type of blanket using colored coarse threads called ''Jamakkalam''. The popularity of the product led to the production of jamakkalams by other weavers replacing the production of traditional sarees and other cloths.

Types

Two types of jamakkalams are produced in Bhavani. The first type is made from coarser cotton threads capable of producing carpets with colored bands. As the thread was coarser, designs could not be weaved on to this type of carpet. Hence, a second softer variety of jamakkalams were introduced that were made of artificial silk threads enabling weavers to weave different kinds of border designs. Jamakkalams are also used to make fashion products such as

backpack A backpack, also called knapsack, schoolbag, rucksack, pack, booksack, bookbag, haversack, packsack, or backsack, is in its simplest frameless form, a fabric sack carried on one's back and secured with two straps that go over the shoulders; b ...

Community

Traditionally, jamakkalams were weaved by independent weavers in their houses. Later it moved into a system where jamakkalam is weaved by weavers on hand-looms supervised by master weavers. The master weavers lease hand-looms and contract weavers. The hand-looms are owned by trade merchants who procure raw materials such as thread from neighboring cities of

Coimbatore Coimbatore (Tamil: kōyamputtūr, ), also known as Kovai (), is one of the major Metropolitan cities of India, metropolitan cities in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyy ...

, Salem and

Karur Karur () is a municipal corporation (India), municipal corporation in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Karur district and is administered by the Karur Municipal Cor ...

. About 1500 workers are involved in the production of jamakkalams with women forming two-thirds of the work force.

Weaving loom

A ''pit loom'' is used to weave jamakkalams. The looms are made of wood with the threads stretched horizontally from end to end. The weaver sits in a pit dug in the ground, on level with the weaving surface. The weaver operates two pedals with his legs while enabling the hands to move the shuttle across to produce the weaving pattern.

Exports

The jamakkalams manufactured in Bhavani are exported to various countries such as Sweden, Germany, Italy, U.K., U.S. and

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. In 1993, Swedish major

IKEA IKEA ( , ) is a Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in Sweden that designs and sells , household goods, and various related services. IKEA is owned and operated by a series of not-for-profit an ...

started procuring jamakkalams from Bhavani to be sold across its stores.

Competition

Since the 2000s, the hand weaved jamakkalams from Bhavani have faced competition from power-loom products. The

Government of Tamil Nadu The Government of Tamil Nadu () is the administrative body responsible for the governance of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Chennai is the capital of the state and houses the state executive, legislature and head of judiciary. Under the Const ...

offers subsidy to weavers and has enacted laws to outlaw the use of power-looms. The government also sells the blankets through government run

Co-optex The Tamil Nadu Handloom Weavers' Cooperative Society, popularly known as Co-optex, is a cooperative of traditional handloom weavers of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. This is under the control of Department of Handlooms, Handicrafts, Textiles an ...

stores. Competition from blankets produced in

Solapur Solapur () is a city located in the south-western region of the States and Territories of India, Indian state of Maharashtra, close to its border with Karnataka. Solapur is located on major highway, rail routes between Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

and cheap imports from neighbors China,

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

has resulted in drop in demand for Bhavani jamakkalams.

Geographical Indication

In 2005, the

applied for

Geographical Indication A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town or region). The use of a geographical indication, as an indication of the product's source, is inten ...

for Bhavani jamakkalams. The

recognized it as a

officially since the year 2005–06.

References

Bibliography

* * *{{cite book, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GGJ8CAAAQBAJ&q=bhavani+jamakkalam, title=Globalizing India: Perspectives from Below, author1=Jackie Assayag , author2=Chris Fuller , authorlink2=Chris Fuller (academic), publisher=Anthem Press, year=2005, isbn=9780857287243 Indian handicrafts Erode district Textile industry in Tamil Nadu Indian rugs and carpets Geographical indications in Tamil Nadu