Gurunath Gondabal is not getting any younger. But at 68, he continues to weave the fabric for khana blouses from his one-room house in Guledgudda village in North Karnataka. He deftly operates his loom to produce the end result—a dazzling textile in maroon and beige. Having started weaving at 15, he is one of the last remaining master weavers of khana blouses. “In 2005, there were around 10,000 of us. Now we are just about a hundred,” he laments. The khana made a reappearance at the Chenetha Santha handloom exhibition held in August in Hyderabad. Umesh Kottigi, who represented the weavers of Guledgudda
says, “Most people are surprised to know this one-of-a-kind weave is only used to stitch a khana blouse.”
While the exact provenance of the khana weave is not known, the blouses have been worn for centuries by women in the villages of North Karnataka and South Maharashtra. The weavers of Guledgudda also create the Ilkal saree, which is classically paired with khana blouses. Sushma Shrihari Bhat, a Belgaum-based jewellery designer now living in Muscat and researching khana motifs, recalls growing up seeing the
older women in her family wear the blouses. “Watch any of Smita Patil’s early Marathi movies and you see her wearing them all the time,” she shares.
The fabric originally measured only about 31-32 inches—hence, the name. Khana is a unit of measurement in Kannada, which is less than a meter long. Adapting to the changing times, weavers have expanded the length to a metre. Made with eco-friendly dyes in natural tones of red, yellow and blue, the khana’s motifs are derived from local fauna and flora. Popular patterns now are tulsi leaf, theru (chariot), Suranarayana Mukta (the Sun God) and aney hejje (elephant footsteps).
For an already dwindling art form, the pandemic came as a near-death blow. Luckily, in 2021, Ramesh Ayodi, a 27-year-old textile graduate, stumbled across the weave and decided to revive it.
He has started a dedicated portal Khana Weaves to help weavers sell their excess stock. Within two months, he helped khana artisans earn over Rs10 lakh. Ayodi is repurposing khana and adapting
it to make shawls, stoles, dupattas and even bookmarks. He is, however, not the only khana convert.
Hyderabad-based designer Shravan Kumar calls it one of the most versatile weaves. “I’ve used it to make trousers and bags. Being tightly knit and woven, it can survive wear and tear,” he says. But khana needs more textile evangelists. Getting the GI tag did bolster its cachet, but that was way back in 2010. The weavers are ageing, many of them are past 50. Incomes are falling. But Gondabal is confident of
a khana revival. “These art forms have survived for centuries. I’m sure with technology, things will change.” In the fabric of dreams, the motif is always hope.