Kuthampully Handloom Village

Kuthampully is a village in Kerala, India where the popular traditional Kerala Kasavu Saree and Kasavu Mundu are brought to life with the now-dying craft of handloom weaving. All families in the village have been weavers for generations and all family members in a household involve in the profession. Most of the weaver families claim to have origins in the state of Karnataka, India, and belong to the Devanga community. The folklore is that they were brought to Kerala by the Kochi Royal family around 500 years back to ply their trade exclusively for the palace.

The warping process consists of preparation of warp yarn (the lengthwise yarns used for weaving) for the weaving process by winding the yarn onto a beam. Witnessing an entire community work so diligently and persistently toward a common goal is a unique experience. Weft yarns are spun into the small bobbins that are placed inside the wooden instrument called Shuttle. The weft yarn loaded Shuttle is moved between the warp yarns, which makes the weaving process, appear. Jacquard loom has punching cards are used in order to weave particular designs on the fabric while weaving. A reed is part of the handloom which resembles a comb or a frame with many vertical slits. It is used to separate and space the warp threads, to guide the shuttle's motion across the loom, and to push the weft threads into place.

The lovely faces of kids and the friendly people in the village made our project experience fun and fulfilling. It was equally delightful to explore the village and interact with nature.

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Project done in collaboration with Sreelakshmi Vijayan. Visit to check out some of her cool work!