Faridpur jamdani craftsmen hard at work ahead of Eid

Craftsmen in Faridpur are busy weaving intricate designs of the traditional Jamdani sarees with Eid just around the corner. 

A spot visit to the factories showed weavers and their workers, hustling and bustling through the work area, from early morning till night. 

Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest religious festival, is a little over a month away, and craftsmen are weaving away the silk threads, creating exquisite works of art that has become known throughout the whole world as the “Dhakai Jamdani”. 

Jamdani weavers and their workers busy at work at the looms in Faridpur's Boalmari upazila Dhaka Tribune

Small businesses, without any help from the government or private organisations, have set up their looms. 

For the last few years, craftsmen in Boalmari upazila’s Shatoir union have been weaving jamdani sarees out of silk threads. 

However, they complain of rising prices of raw materials along with issues with the machinery and lack of support that is making it difficult for the entrepreneurs to survive.

Jamdani weavers and their workers busy at work at the looms in Faridpur's Boalmari upazila Dhaka Tribune

According to Shatoir Union Parishad Chairman Zillur Rahman, the demand for “Banarasi Jamdani” is more but the craftsmen, mired in poverty, are slowly leaving the trade. 

Nearly 15 years ago, some youths from Boalmari’s Shatoir union went to the Narayanganj Jamdani Palli in Dhaka to learn the specialized art. 

However, after earning Tk4,000-5000 per month they dreamt of setting up their own shops in Narayanganj but the other owners intervened. 

Among them, Abu Naser and Towheed Biswash did not give up on their dreams and set up their own looms in their villages. 

Towheed trained a few locals including his brother Yusuf and established five looms in his factory. 

Abu Naser and his wife Alladi, who set up eight looms, said that five “Muslin Jamdanis” are produced every month from each loom with two craftsmen working at it. 

They added that the sarees each sell for anywhere between Tk3,000 and Tk20,000 depending on the design, material, and thread count. 

Jamdani weavers and their workers busy at work at the looms in Faridpur's Boalmari upazila Dhaka Tribune

The entrepreneurs say that they have to buy threads at Tk60-Tk85 per vori (11.63 grams) from Narayanganj. Half the profit is given to the craftsmen while the owner keeps whatever is left after paying the helpers from the other half. 

Many of the workers at the looms are as young as 10, working before or after school to help out their families. 

Towheed says that they now sell the muslin jamdanis to the middlemen in Narayanganj but he thinks that if a decent market can be created, many will want to work in this sector. 

He complained that they have had to struggle with paying off the high-interest loans they took from the NGOs and called for government assistance for the industry to flourish. 

Boalmari UNO Md Rezaul Karim said that he will take necessary steps to help the jamdani craftsmen.