Onam: Kerala’s Chendamangalam saris on sale at Crafts Council of India shop in Chennai

CHENNAI: Shopping for new clothes is an essential part of any celebrations. During this Onam, you can pick up a beautiful sari and lend a helping hand to weavers in Kerala as well.
Kamala, the crafts shop of The Crafts Council of India (CCI) in Egmore, has a new collection of saris, all made at Chendamangalam with the help of ‘Care for Chendamangalam’ (C4C) team.
The floods of August 2018 caused large scale destruction. The handloom weavers of Chendamangalam in Ernakulam district of Kerala were among the ones who lost their livelihood. Chendamangalam, one of the hubs of the weaving community with the GI Tag, consists of seven cooperative societies. Almost overnight, about 600 handloom weavers were bereft of their homes, looms and yarn.
The Care for Chendamangalam (C4C) team is committed to one cooperative society -- HWCS-648, which consists of 42 women weavers. These people are now back to weaving with help from C4C. They have charted a three-year road map to take the products across India.
The saris have been available for sale at Kamala from September 3 till stocks last.