Kottayam: Kerala festival of Onam brings memories of Keralites wearing Kodi (new dresses), usually traditional handwoven dhotis and sarees, relishing on the Onasadhya (a feast) after making a Pookkalam (floral carpet) in their courtyards and celebrating the harvest festival with pomp and fervour.
This time, with the COVID pandemic spread and the subsequent regulations, Onam has lost the festive charm and people cannot go out to buy Onakkodi. The weavers’ and their families who had been hand weaving cloths in view of sale during Onam are badly hit.
There are many families who rely on their traditional occupation of weaving, for livelihood in Kottayam district of Kerala. The harvest festivals of Onam and Vishu in Kerala are the major revenue generating seasons for these weavers. However, this year, Vishu season was also grim and hardly had any sales due to the COVID 19 lockdown.
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The weavers were eagerly looking forward to the Onam festive season’s sales and hoping that the COVID’s grip will be relaxed by August. It only worsened though, shattering the weavers’ hopes for good sales during Onam to sustain themselves. COVID has proven disastrous for the weavers.
In the previous years, they used to get special orders from textile shops, clubs and individuals in view of Onam. The weavers had handwoven and readied stocks of sarees priced up to 25000 and dhotis ranging from 6500 to 13000 meant for Onam sales. With the COVID lockdown, the weavers totally stopped getting orders too.
Though they somehow tackled the want of Kasavu (zari), thread and dye from Tamil Nadu and managed to procure all the material, the Onam sales have taken a severe beating due to COVID. With this loss, most of the families are moving towards times of paucity and privation, this Onam.
P Rajan, owner of Bharanganam Alphonsa weaving unit, on Pala Poonjar Road in Kottayam district, said the rise in the prices of raw materials has also badly affected the weavers’ cottage industry. Presently, we get orders only from a few political leaders. Getting any aid from the Government is also difficult as ours is a cottage industry, he sighed.
The weavers who have been adding Kodi and Kasavu to the dreams of many thousands of people are to remain in paucity this festive season of Onam.
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