Born in a small town of Mangalagiri in Andhra Pradesh, — famous for the Mangalagiri handloom saris — it was natural for Tammisetty Lakshmana Rao to take an interest in handlooms. “My forefathers were in the handloom business and I am taking the tradition forward,” says Lakshmana, who won the Best Excellence Award in Mangalagiri sari weaving from Crafts Council of Andhra Pradesh in 2012. In the same year, he also won an award from N. Chandrababu Naidu on Weavers Day.
“Back in 1986, nobody wanted to buy handloom saris. They thought that it is hard to maintain. We had to convince people to try it once and then decide. The town of Mangalagiri started with one loom. But with time, it increased to 10,000. But now, you will hardly find 1,000 looms. I own around 50 looms in Mangalagiri.”
Ask him why he thinks that there is a drop in the number of looms? He says that people are trying out other odd jobs to earn better money. “Even back then weavers got less wages, but then commodities were reasonably priced. With time, the wages need to increase too. So ,what must be done to change this? “The Government must step in,” he says. “There should be direct benefit to the weavers. Government can choose to buy the saris directly from them at a good price. Providing subsidised materials would also help. The last 10 years hasn’t seen a young weaver venturing into the field, this must change. With an initiative being taken on having a National Handloom Day, I hope things will change.”
