PHULIA BLOG

The origin and evolution of the handloom industry of Phulia with its present status indicates the problem faced by this industry. To prepare this paper, different types of literature have been studied and field survey has also been done. We came to know that the weavers of Phulia came from Tangail Subdivision of East Pakistan (now a district of Bangladesh) during the partition in 1947 and the Bangladesh freedom war in 1971 and the sharis weaved by them known as ‘Tangail Shari’. Though after independence, the development of Tangail Shari took place at Phulia. Weavers also started movement for their survival and a co-operative has been organized in 1977. Having born and brought up in Kolkata and being a shari lover, it is needless to say that a Phulia shari is an intricate example of the illustrious Bengal hand-woven heritage. Phulia is a place which is the home for weavers of traditional Bengal cotton sharis. The weavers in Phulia trace their lineage back to the weavers of the famous ‘Dhakai Jamdani’ of Bangladesh who settled in India at the time of partition. Some of them settled in rich weaving centers of Shantipur while most others settled in Phulia. There were other varieties of Bengal cotton which had become extinct–at least were not available in city stores. These weaves are now being revived. And all these weaves are being woven in Phulia. A whole lot of information about Phulia and its weaving history abounds everywhere, but very little is written about the features of Phulia shari itself. How does one recognize a Phulia saree? Based on what I know of these sarees by observation, I can say that these sharis do not carry Jamdani-like motifs. Their texture is coarse to look at but very fine, soft to touch because of the hand-spun characteristic. They are usually plain and available in earthy colours. A cotton Phulia may cost anything between Rs. 1500 to 3000, whereas a silk shari may cost above Rs. 6000. So a Phulia saree has no identification except the fact that all of them be it Tangail, Dhoniakhali, Abir, Dhakai, Balcluchori are all sharis from Bengal. The productions are exported in different states of India as well as in different countries of the world. The weavers of Phulia are only carrying the traditional style of Tangail Shari. But this handloom industry of Phulia is now facing different problems like competition with power looms, increasing rate of raw materials, low wages, commercialization of electricity, imported sharis from Bangladesh. So from the knowledge gathered, Phulia is the only centre of traditional Tangail Shari in all over the India.