Transcript

The Telia Rumal was originally produced in Chirala as head gear for fishermen and Arab travellers. Chirala’s proximity to the sea enabled exports to Africa and Arabia, where it was used to make keffiyehs and turbans. The designs were basic - and recognisable to the extent that patterning could be traced back to maker.In 1950 that Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, then the chairperson of the All India Handicrafts Board, convinced the weavers to translate the Telia designs into sarees. Production was limited. It was only made popular by the success of the Vishwakarma exhibitions that sealed the transition from rumal into a saree. Mathematically engineered, this saree has been woven in Chirala in  the double ikat technique with precision paid to the intersection of minor checks central to each floral motif.