ONE DISTRICT ONE PRODUCT
PATURU COTTON SILK SAREES – SPSR NELLORE DISTRICT
ODOP ANDHRA PRADESH 2024
MALAMAGGAM IN WORKING CONDITION (PHOTO)
‘Mala Maggam’(Name of the loom used to weave “PaturuSarees” in olden days) which occupies 3 Ankanams length (24 Square Yards) of place. This type of loom was used around in 1940’s to weave Paturu Cotton Silk Sarees. Dyeing of yarn ‘on loom’ is very special feature of “Paturu Sarees”.
Introduction :
Paturu is a small village which is famous for its handloom Sarees. Paturu has its place in history as the village where the great Telugu poet, ‘Tikkanna Somayaji’, was born. He lived most of his life in this village and died here. Paturu is 4 km away from Kovurumandal quarter and lies at a distance of 13 km away from the city of Nellore, district headquarters of Sri Potti Sreeramulu Nellore District, Andhra Pradesh.
The village is known not just a mere narrative of great Telugu poet of medieval times Tikkana, who translated part of the great epic Mahabharata into Telugu language along with Nannaya and Yerranna, but also for exquisitely woven ‘Pattu’ sarees as the weavers carry on the centuries-old tradition with aplomb.
History/ Origin:
In 1900’s the Paturu weavers have been woven cotton panche/dhovathi with a half-inch (2 sides) silk border of the anchu, which was famous in those days. These products were more famous in Chennai Film Industry in those days. They were exported to foreign countries also. Dhovathi/ panche were weaved with 2 inch kaddi border, with 8 gajams length. 8 yards length sarees were called as ‘Chellalu’ in those days. They used ‘Kaarikam Yarn’ means yarn without boiling (pachhinulu) for weaving few types of dhovathies and sarees. Paturu cotton sarees are famous for its ‘quality’, because of the ‘jonnapanne’ used in the ‘mala maggam’. They brought yarn from Madras in those days.
Some of the elders of Paturu village said that in 1940’s, Sri BynaSubbarayudu, weaver of Paturu, has used ‘Mala Maggam’ which occupies 24 Square Yards of place. 100’s Cotton/ Cotton, 100 Number read. Dyeing of yarn ‘on loom’ is very special feature. Nowhere had we found this technique in entire India. Dyeing of pallu on loom gives special attraction. Pallu, a part of the sarees was dyed by tying both sides and drained. At present, the weavers discontinued the traditional technique of dyeing on loom, and adopted to weave Sarees with already dyed yarn.
In 1990’s they started weaving cotton sarees with ½ inch selvedge’s (jamullu) in the border (2 sides) with silk yarn. In Paturu Village they used ‘Muvva Netha’ weaving technique, to obtain fine finishing saree. After that they have included 2 lines of each 1 inch with silk yarn in pallu. After that they weaved cotton saree with border and pallu with silk yarn, which was attracted film stars in those days and they used Paturu sarees in their films and it got very good recognition. In those days cotton 120 count and silk 3 ply used to weave a saree with the loom of “jonnapanne”. The advantage of using “jonnapanne” is, the yarn used in the weaving will be ‘processed-while weaving’ and a fine quality cloth will come out.
Since then weavers in Paturu village turned to that technique and named the saree as ‘Paturu Pattu Saree’ and used to weave with Cotton 100 or 120 count yarn for warp and silk 3 ply yarn for weft and weaved plain sarees with kaddi border. The wages paid in those days was Rs.300/- for 5 sarees. They used pure mulberry silk with 3 ply, and pure silver Zari for the weaving purpose. In some occasions the twistedzari to cotton thread for usage, to obtain a fine quality i.e. rich look and grand appearance to the saree.
Geographical Location :
According to census 2011 total population of Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore District is 29.64 lakhs. The total area of the district is 13,076 Sq.Kms.
The District is one of the nine Coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh and it is the southernmost one. It lies between 130 25’ and 150 55’ N of the Northern Latitude and 790 9’ and 800 14’ of the Eastern Longitude. It spreads over an area of 13,076 Sq.Kms and these accounts for 4.75% of total area of the State.
BOUNDARIES OF THE DISTRICT:
East: Bay of Bengal
West: Veligonda Hills which separates it from
YSR Kadapa district
North: Prakasam District
South: Chittoor District and Tamil Nadu
Climate: Maximum temperature occurs during the summer at 360 to 460 C, while the minimum temperature occurs during the winter at 230 to 25°C.
The average annual rainfall of the district is 1,080 mm (43 in), and reaches its peak during the southwest and northeast monsoons.
There are (5) Revenue Divisions with headquarters at 1.Nellore,2.Kavali, 3.Gudur, 4.Atmakur and 5.Naidupet. 46 Revenue Mandals with equal number of Mandal Parishads also existed in the District. A total of 940 Gram Panchayats are notified.
There is 1 Municipal Corporation at Nellore, 5 Municipalities at Kavali,Gudur, Venkatagiri, Atmakur and Sullurpet and One Nagar Panchayat at Naidupet.
The Principal Rivers are Pennar and Swarnamukhi. The other streams are Kandaleru and Boggeru which are occasionally torrential in character during rainy season. The rivers and rivulets remain dry for major part of the year and carry floods during rainy season. Pennar river is the most important one and flows for about 112 Kms in the district which serve as a boon to the eastern half of the taluks of Nellore and Kovur. Two anicuts are situated one at Sangam and the other at Nellore.
At present there are 3800 handlooms in the District. 9000 weavers are depending in weaving profession, covered under Outside Cooperative Fold. Out of them 3648 Handlooms are producing “Paturu Cotton Silk Sarees”.
Remaining looms are producing Venkatagiri sarees, Kanchi sarees, Kuppadam sarees and few other products.
Products and Specifications:
The speciality of the sarees made in Paturu is that cotton is used in warp and silk is used in weft to give a grand look and make it more affordable to purchase and comfortable for the women who wear it. At a time when the silk price keeps going up, say a group of weavers as fashionable-eves make a beeline for scores of shops in the small village, where every household turns to weave beautiful sarees in the attached work-shed labouring for hours together at a stretch.
Paturu saree uses silk in weft to give a shiny look to the product and at the same time make it available at a much affordable cost, especially to middle-class people who love to own more sarees for the reasonable price.
Raw Material Used :
Warp – 80s Cotton Yarn (or) 100s Cotton Yarn
Weft – 18/22 Denier Silk Yarn (Bangalore Silk)
Zari – Pure Surat Silver & Gold Zari
LOOM PARTICULARS :
TYPE OF LOOM : PIT LOOM
WARP :80’sor 100’s count Cotton Yarn
WEFT :18/22 Denier Silk Yarn
(Bangalore Silk)
REED :Metal Reed
REED COUNT :78
REED WIDTH :76
EPI :73
PPI : 64
VARIETY:Cotton / Silk Sarees
WAGES/SAREE :Rs.400/- to Rs.600/- per saree basing on the design
SAREE WIDTH : 48 “
SAREE LENGTH : 6.30 meters
SAREE :5.50 meters
BLOUSE : 0.80 meters
SAREE WEIGHT: Between 300 grams to 450 grams
TECHNIQUE APPLIED:
Few years back Paturu weavers have to be used the loom called as “MALA MAGGAM” for weaving sarees. Some of the elders of Paturu village said that in 1940’s, Sri BynaSubbarayudu, Weaver of Paturu, has used ‘Mala Maggam’ which occupies 24 Square Yards of place. 100’s count Cotton/Cotton, 100 Number reeds.
STREET SIZING:
Sizing is the process of applying a starch-based adhesive to the thread before it is wound onto the pirns and woven into fabric. It will give more strength to yarn and it will arrange the equal size of yarn.
PIECING OF HEALD SHAFT :
The Cloth Beam yarns are taken from Heald’s shafts and using the Ash Powder and itwilltie to the warp beam yarns. The Piecing was taking one day time and wages charged for this work is fromRs.600/-to Rs.800/-.
CHARKHA WINDING:
The Process of Pirn winding and dubbawinding. Silk yarn has touse winding the Pirnsfrom the silk yarn dubba for using the Weft Picking in loom.
VARIETIES OF PATURU SAREES:
