Marvellous motifs and colour combinations of silk sarees of Molakalmuru

Abstract

Handloom industry in India is heritage based industry reflecting the richness and diversity of Indian culture. Thehandloom textiles of our country are of typical in terms of its traditionalism, distinctive style, motifs, colour and colourcombinations. Hand woven silk sarees of Molakalmuru are known for their richness, beauty and elegance with spiritualmotifs and traditional colour combinations. A sample of 30 weavers was randomly selected and interviewed personally tocollect the specific information of motifs, colour and colour combination of the silk sarees. Handloom weavers of molakalmuruare engaged in production of two types of silk sarees viz., traditional and contemporary silk sarees. The traditional sareesare designed with ethnic motifs all along the saree border, pallav and body viz.,gandaberunda, alilu balli, rudrakshi,naveelu kannu, bugudi etc. However contemporary silk sarees are embellished with natural, stylized and geometrical motifsalong with traditional motifs. The common colour and colour combinations used for the Molakalmuru sarees are red, green,navy blue, pink, maroon, yellow, peacock green, red, sky blue, grey, violet, cream, shocking pink and so on. Majority of theweavers obtained designs from master weavers followed by professional designers and elderly people. Market demand wasthe major influencing factor for designing the motifs as stated by cent percent of the weavers followed by orders placed bythe consumers fashion and ease of weaving.