Ishwardi Benarasi Palli, the second largest Benarasi producing region of the country, is buzzing with workers who are now concentrating on decorating saris with “Karchupi shilpa,” the local name for the art of designing clothes with beads and sequins.
More than 400-500 handicraft factories at the Fateh Mohammedpur village in the Ishwardi upazila are busy with Karchupi designs ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr festival.
Women from every house of the village embellish the saris with all kinds of sequins like iridescent, hologram, satin, opaque and metal sequins, along with beads in all shapes, sizes and colours.
Special saris from this village are sold in different stores in Dhaka at high price ranges from Tk20,000 to Tk50,000 each. Traders are expecting to make around Tk20 crore this Eid, selling their products wholesale.
Weavers can take upto 2 to 3 days to craft their delicate work on each sari.
Beside pure Benarasi saris, other types such as, Lehenga, Anarkoli, Fulkoli, Net Katan, Pure Katan, Kumkum, Jaan-e-Bahar, and Georgette saris are also on high priority list of the workers. They are working day and night to meet the demand.
Owner of a weaving factory in Ishwardi Benarasi Palli said: "We are delivering 1,000 pieces of saris each week to meet the demand. Previously the market demand was met by illegally imported saris from India, Pakistan and Nepal. But now the scenario has changed and these saris are actually exported to these regions as well as different districts of the country."
Weavers of Ishwardi mentioned the need of a “calendar machine” to polish saris and said, they make the saris from start to finish but for absence of such a machine, they need more time and money to have the saris polished from Dhaka.
Also they claimed that, stores in Dhaka are defrauding the customers by representing Ishwardi's saris as Mirpur's.
The art of Karchupi has taken root in the village Fateh Mohammedpur in the year 2000, after the gradual decline of traditional local weaves in the face of fast changing fashion fads.
Earlier, the village was famous for Benarasi, Katan and other such luxurious local clothes, well-known for their beautiful gold and silver thread brocade weaving.
A large number of Benarasi workers left for greener pastures, mostly in Dhaka's Mirpur, or other places all over the country.
Most of the remaining Benarasi artisans of the Ishwardi upazila are now engaged in Karchupi patterns, as such saris have become popular, leading to the development of the industry.
A weaver of the palli, Soleman said: "We work 12 to 14 hours a day to make two saris to earn Tk3,000 to Tk4,000 a week. At least 200-300 saris are made every day in Fateh Mohammedpur."
"The demand for saris increase during the Eid season," he added.
The workers said they embellish silk, georgette, tissue and other types of saris with beads, sequins and faux stones. At least five to 10 days are needed for each sari, depending on the complexity and extent of their design.
Depending on the design, a Karchupi sari can vary from Tk700 to Tk7,000.
Nasim Sarker, owner of Zaman textiles, said Karchupi saris from Ishwardi Benarasi Palli are marketed all over the country.
“We are supplying these saris across the country. We sell the saris for Tk800 to Tk8,000 a piece, depending on their design and decoration. These saris are later retailed at Tk1,500 to Tk15,000 a piece.”
"As we don't have ironing machines, we send our saris to Mirpur Benarasi Palli, and that increases our costs by Tk200 per sari," he said.
"We demand that the government help us in installing an ironing machine in Ishwardi Benerasi Palli."
State Officer and officer in charge of Ishwardi Benarasi Palli Abu Bakar Siddiq said: "The workers here are working day and night in a peaceful environment. The administration has kept a close supervision at all times to maintain their safety and well being. And they are ready to respond at any inconvenience."