Possession of one kanjivaram silk saree is every women's dream, To get a genuine kanjivaram is a great task for every saree loving person. Its a challenge for me whenever I visit Chennai. Blindly, I make a trip to Kanchipuram from Chennai for at least one day for getting silk sarees from there. The routine continued for many times. My hub for saree is from BM Silk center, Gandhi Road.
Gradually, i decided to search more about it. The opportunity came when i went there again on Dec 2017. Without any more knowledge i began my travel from potheri station of Chennai to Kanchipuram . It was just early morning around 6am. Numbers of stations crossed . The scenic view somehow attracted my attention from the small window of the train. Without losing any more time my best option was to click the best scene through my camera. Due to little misty, natures beauty reflected at its best position. The chirping sound of birds made the situation more vibrating . Few more passengers waited inside the compartment of the train where they waited to go to their destination. Train was moving towards Tirumalpuri.Suddenly, one question arose inside my mind to inquire about the place where originally silk sarees are weaving. Though unacquainted with the Tamil language I questioned the weaver's village name which is nearby Kanchipuram.It took more time to coordinate with the local passenger. It was difficult for me to follow their language. At last i got what i wanted. Karkkuppettai and Ayyampet are the two villages where weavers are staying and they weave kanchipuram silk. My anxious mind flicked immediately for moving towards that village. I searched the convenient transport for reaching there. While roaming at the local bus depo i enquired from so many locals. No more information came from others regarding the accurate address.. While on the one side time was passing from my hand and no clue about what to do in that situation. With a lot of confusion i tried my level best to ask the right name of Bus which would help me to reach at that particular village.No matter how difficult it was. at last, I got the right bus to travel up to Karukkuppettai. That village is only 9km distance from Kanchipuram. It would be better to take any private taxi for that village. But, my option was to explore all in details with the help of locals. Without that, it could not be possible to go so the interior portion of the village. My travel again began by local bus towards my destination.The amazing experience that i observed within a short span of time. Very clean surrounding and people were looking contented from their body attitude. Time came finally to reach at the areas where i wished to visit.Indication came from the sound of bus conductor.Consoled with the fact that at least with much difficult i reached at the place of Karukkuppettai.
Now, next question raised in front of me where to go and in what direction. But to my surprise, the nearby shoppers helped me to find the right way. Still, it was difficult for a stranger traveler like me in search of a village where the kanjivaram sarees are weaving. But no signs of indication was there. So many confusion created immediately. Surprisingly while enquiring from one local shopper about the address of the weaver then an old lady came forward. She indicated with Tamil to follow her. Getting a ray of hope from her conversation I delighted to move towards the lane.So many thatched huts existed in one line.Traditionally, the front rows were decorated with rangoli which were looking very attractive for a visitors like me. Others were looking towards me in a strange way. So many questions they asked me the reason for my visit.I went a house of one room along with the owner of that house, she introduced her family members .closely the pictures of their living standard and their skills of making silk sarees came in front of me.Immediately Sitamma and her daughter in law and son made effort to show me how they had been doing hard for making at least 5 silk sarees in a week for which they all were bound to hand over their production to the broker.No direct linkage was there between the shopper and the weaver class. They all got raw materials through a mediator after the preparation of finished product they handed over their particulars to them. The story did not end here. Soon, they explained their life and their pathetic condition. I silently listened all in a helpless way
.Where one kanjivaram silk is available in thousands of rupees in a branded shop. while on the other side the makers are getting only Rs 500 per one silk saree. All profits are going in the pockets of the burgeoning class. We customers are not getting set back for purchasing more than one kanjeevaram from the renowned shop. Elite class never for a second think about the difficulty and the hardship of that particular community. Still, for a moment I lost my existence of my own and mingled with them simply to give them assurance that they were much more good in their life instead of so many difficulties because they had knowledge of crafts for which we Indians are feeling proud.My traveling to that remote village of Kanchipuram gave me immense knowledge regarding the lifestyle of weavers and the system of marketing about the kanjeevaram sarees .without losing more time I captured the smile of their face and their expectation in my camera.Returned back with a heavy heart for losing my paradise.
Now, next question raised in front of me where to go and in what direction. But to my surprise, the nearby shoppers helped me to find the right way. Still, it was difficult for a stranger traveler like me in search of a village where the kanjivaram sarees are weaving. But no signs of indication was there. So many confusion created immediately. Surprisingly while enquiring from one local shopper about the address of the weaver then an old lady came forward. She indicated with Tamil to follow her. Getting a ray of hope from her conversation I delighted to move towards the lane.So many thatched huts existed in one line.Traditionally, the front rows were decorated with rangoli which were looking very attractive for a visitors like me. Others were looking towards me in a strange way. So many questions they asked me the reason for my visit.I went a house of one room along with the owner of that house, she introduced her family members .closely the pictures of their living standard and their skills of making silk sarees came in front of me.Immediately Sitamma and her daughter in law and son made effort to show me how they had been doing hard for making at least 5 silk sarees in a week for which they all were bound to hand over their production to the broker.No direct linkage was there between the shopper and the weaver class. They all got raw materials through a mediator after the preparation of finished product they handed over their particulars to them. The story did not end here. Soon, they explained their life and their pathetic condition. I silently listened all in a helpless way
