Kerala’s humble ‘thorthu’ - the simple white-coloured bath towel with a lined coloured border - is all set to get an official promotion under an initiative by the Responsible Tourism (RT) project of the state government.

As part of the project, the towel would be branded in association with weavers and businessmen across the state.

“Promoting the product will be a relief for weavers. Already many have switched jobs due to poor monetary benefits,“ K Rupeshkumar, state coordinator, Responsible Tourism project told The Times of India.

He said that the number of weavers in the state has now considerably decreased from 1000 to 100. RT has created a databank of weavers, which would enable the businessmen and promoters to get in touch with them to set up shops and export the bath towel.

“We have been getting good response following the promotional activities. We got bulk orders from northern parts of the country,” said Bobin Jacob, a businessman in Munnar who had made use of the RT databank and opened a stall for selling the thorthu, ToI reports.

The department will also try to promote the towel in hotels across the state. General Manager of CGH Earth hotels Subramanian P told ToI that hotels should replace fancy towels with thorthu.

“The traditional Kerala towels absorb more water and are easy to wash, saving water and detergent,” pointed out Subramanian.

Apart from Kerala, another state which has been successful in branding its traditionally woven bath towel is Assam. Gamcha (towel) of Assam is quite popular.