Chennimalai weavers get a helping hand

Chennimalai, a village near Erode, is popularly known as the handloom town of Tamil Nadu. It was once a flourishing handloom hub famous for its bedsheets and jamakkalams and the village had around 1 lakh weavers. Due to the invasion of the power loom and commercialisation, the handwoven textile heritage has lost its charm and there are only 5,000 odd weavers. In order to revive, protect and preserve the skills of the weavers, Bharathi Devarajan started the clothing brand, Nool By Hand (Nool meaning thread in Tamil).

“The number of handloom weavers in Chennimalai has reduced over the years due to various reasons. My father Devarajan, who hails from a village near Chennimalai, wanted to give back to the community and therefore, decided to restore the textile heritage of the belt and met many from the weaver tribe. He started a venture called Five P Venture. The five Ps stand for protection (of the heritage), preservation (of tradition), promotion (of hard skills), which in turn will ensure prosperity and posterity of the community. Later, when I entered the business, I decided to launch the in-house brand Nool By Hand for the Indian ethnic market,” she says.

According to Bharathi, Nool is a dream born out from a greater vision of reviving the art of handloom weaving in Chennimalai region. “Our aim is to restore the remaining handful of artisans who are devoted to their art. We have created a permanent weavers studio to sustain a group of weavers by providing them with a steady income and a continuous flow of work. We work with 20 artisans who are known for their workmanship. This is our humble way to show the next generation that weaving is a viable career option,” quips Bharathi. 

The USP of Nool is their unique designs and the team has got an expert technical director and some designers (from all over the country) who have already proved their mettle. “Minimalism is one of our mantras and we give equal attention to detailing by keeping in mind the taste of customers. Nool By Hand aims at impacting as many weaving lives as possible,” she sums up.