There are many perspectives of looking at a city’s history, but for Pavithra Muddaya, founder and managing trustee, Vimor Handloom Foundation, it has to be through textiles. Always trying to find out more about lesser-known textiles, Muddaya mentions there is much more other than Kanjeevaram and Banarasi. The Cubbonpet saree is a classic example of a neglected kind. To elaborate more on it and its history, Muddaya will be speaking at a talk on July 22. The talk will be held in association with Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) Bengaluru Chapter.
The Cubbonpet weaves is one of the oldest ones that one can find right in the heart of the city. Muddaya’s obsession with the textile started more than three decades ago when she met a weaver from Cubbonpet. “Around thirty years ago, I had to reproduce a Kanjeevaram saree for which I had this weaver from Cubbonpet, who was over 80 years old then. When he was looking through the saree, he happened to mention that he remembered his grandfather weaving similar ones. I was taken aback because I didn’t know that kind of weaving was done in Cubbonpet,” says Muddaya. She further adds, “If I hadn’t met that man, I would have had no idea that there was a history to this kind of weaving, which could be more than 100 years old. So, to get more context, I studied it, and looked at the design elements and the weaving techniques.”
Also read: Curate your own affordable Barbie looks
The Cubbonpet saree is woven with a three-shuttle interlocking technique. Their saree does not bear any of the motifs usual to South Indian weaves. The gandaberunda marks the join of the pallu and body. The border is simple with two rows of rudraksha-like motifs. “Many people who did not study it closely would easily pass it off as a Kanjeevaram or Ikat print,” says Muddaya, adding that the talk will be happening at the 100-year-old heritage bungalow in Cubbonpet. The limited seats for the talk have been filled now but she is soon going to plan a similar talk again.
She says the effort is not just to save this piece of history but also to give an identity to the weavers. The research on Cubbonpet sarees has not been easy since many craftspeople had moved out and migrated to different parts of the country. “When we identify a weave there is a sense of belonging for these weavers, and they take immense pride in it. This is the weave that their grandparents had done,” says Muddaya,
adding that the Cubbonpet weave plays an integral part in Karnataka’s textile history.