How the Onam sari has evolved and blended in with the modern 

This article is a part of #OnamWithTNM Series, powered by Panasonic and co-sponsored by Kalyan Jewellers.

Red rice on green plantain leaves, payasam, flower carpets and a blur of white and gold mundus and saris — Onam evokes all of these images and more. The 10 day harvest festival of Kerala is typically celebrated by wearing the ‘kasavu’ sari or mundum-neriyathum (set mundu), an attire woven in white and gold. Over the years, Onam itself turned into a celebration of white and gold, with little thought spared for the ancient Kerala handlooms which weave these kasavu saris and mundus.

Steeped in tradition and stubbornly defying change, the state’s 200-year-old weaving industry which makes Onam saris, is battling a staganancy issue. But with intervention from stakeholders, the kasavu has now emerged in many chic avatars, going beyond its festive wear tag and finding use in contemporary couture.

For Cochin based designer and founder of ROUKA, Sreejith Jeevan, kasavu can be given a facelift by blending sustainability with aesthetic relevance.

“There are many questions before designing a kasavu collection. Should anything white and gold be associated with Onam or Kerala? Or is it about the textile and the weaving technique traditional to Kerala? For example, I see people wear white and gold Banarasi saris during Onam. To me, that still is Banarasi and not Kerala, even though it is in white and gold,” he says.

Jeevan also asks why white and gold should be the only colours for Onam. ROUKA’s Onam collections over the last two years have reflected this question.

The designer has incorporated colour to his kasavu sarees. ROUKA’s 2020 Onam collection, named the Kodi Edit,  features a quirky take on kasavu with reds, greys and even a black and gold Onam sari.

Kodi Edit, ROUKA by Sreejith Jeeva's Onam Collection 2020 

“We have tried frilled kasavu, quirky embroidery and other tweaks while retaining the essence of the textile. The essence includes certain weaving patterns such as Chutti (tiny arrow motifs) that identifies it as a Kerala sari," he says. 

Jeevan and his label closely work with weavers in Chendamangalam, a handloom weaving society located in Cochin. Two years ago, when the weavers of Chendamangalam lost their looms and houses to the floods,  it was Sreejith and designer Shalini James who launched a campaign to promote the Chendamangalam kasavu products and sell their existing inventory. 

Frilled and coloured Kasavu Saris at ROUKA by Sreejith Jeevan's 2020 Onam Collection

With the campaign going viral, ROUKA entered into a collaboration with the weavers to design their apparel, which they continue to date.

“We need to rethink the way these weavers are looked at. They need not be poor artisans who need to be supported. If the products they make are contemporary and relevant, there will be an organic market for it,” he adds. 

In 2018, most of the Chendamangalam products were simple mundus and saris in white and gold borders. However, ROUKA has successfully managed to infuse innovation and colour into the weaving styles for their label.

Image courtesy: Veejay Sai

“Earlier they would sell their product for cheaper. If they sold it for Rs 800, they would make a profit of 300 and then depend on government subsidies and rebates. But with contemporary styles, a sari could easily fetch Rs 4,000 or Rs 5,000, and this would result in higher wages per product for these artisans,” he explains.

Shalini James, who founded Mantra Designs in Cochin and works with kasavu, tells TNM that while innovation is necessary, care must also be taken to not wipe out the essence of the textile.

“When dealing with traditional crafts, a designer must remember that he/ she does not have a plain canvas to start work. These textiles have centuries of history and the efforts of many behind their aesthetic sensibility,” she says. 

Kerala’s royals form a big part of the handloom legacy. Legend has it that it was Travancore King Balarama Varma, who ruled from 1798 to 1810, and his Chief Minister Ummini Thampi who were responsible for the handloom industry flourishing in Kerala. The Chief Minister imported a community of weavers known as the ‘Shaaliyars’ from Nagercoil in Tamil Nadu and housed them in a street called the Shaaliyar street. The community made an industry out of the local cotton market and wove garments for the Travancore royal family in Thiruvananthapuram.

The weaving style used to make clothes for the Travancore royals exists to date in Thiruvananthapuram, where the Balaramapuram weaving society, perhaps named after Balarama Varma, is located.

This weaving style is called the 'kuzhi thari' or the pit looms.

"Artisans dig pits inside which the weaving is done. This is unlike handloom weaving styles in Chendamangalam, where they weave on a raised platform or in Koothampally in Thrissur,” says Anish Rajendran, who is the proprietor of Karalkada, a brand known for its kasavu sari and mundus.

Karalkada, established in 1850, had the royal weavers who clothed the kings and queens of Travancore. The brand continues to sell its handloom with its store located in Thiruvananthapuram, and weaving units in the outskirts of the city.

“We have had our traditional weavers who made the mundus for us for generations. We get our cotton from Tamil Nadu, as we have been doing for centuries. Our style involves lesser counts of yarn which makes the cloth itself fine, unlike the slightly coarser versions in other parts of Kerala,” Anish adds. Karalkada also sticks to weaving in pure silver and gold plated silver threads, making their products pricier than other options in the market which use 'tested' kasavu which isn’t real gold or silver.

Image courtesy: Karalkada/Instagram

“Our prices vary with the gold rates in the market. We buy the silver reels, the cotton threads and send it across to our weavers. For the gold kasavu, the silver threads are plated and then woven with the cotton,” Anish adds. Due to the quality of the yarn, it is near impossible to use power looms to weave this textile, as the gold threads snap easily, he says.

Over the years, Karalkada has attempted to improvise with their products. They now feature kasavu saris with hand painted designs and embroidery. Big mural designs or smaller motifs such as flowers and embroidered patterns are done on the saris.

“Certain designs where you have human figures, you will not get detailing on the faces properly with weaving. Here it helps to have it hand painted or embroidered to sharpen the details,” Anish adds. The brand also mixes colour threads with gold while weaving. This is done not with cotton, but with more versatile silk threads which are dyed and woven with gold or silver.

Image courtesy: Karalkada/Instagram

Despite calls for innovation, a section of Karalkada’s clientele prefers zero improvisation, wanting to stick to the patterns of yore. With weavers too, there is difficulty in introducing newers patterns.

“There are set designs which have been done for centuries. This is the manga (mango), the thaali, the netti chutti etc. There is the Chutti Patt which is the arrowhead patterned inlaid end piece of the sari. These are the most difficult and intricate designs to replicate on the handloom. It requires strength, precision and a lot of expertise, which are scarce these days,” Anish adds.

Another traditional design, Sreejith adds, is the Kattikara or Puliyilakkara border. "This is the ribbed weave that you typically see in the pallus of the Kerala sarees," Jeevan explains. Puliyilakara or Kattikara is a common feature in the Onam Saris and in Sreejith’s collection as it is an age-old pattern in the state.  

Image courtesy: ROUKA by Sreejith Jeevan/Instagram

So does Onam sari now appeal to a wider clientbase?

Chennai based designer Rehana Basheer, who has an eponymous clothing label, says that her orders for Kerala style saris or salwars peak a few weeks before Onam or Vishu, before the get-togethers begin. Rehana’s store on Harrington Road caters to a big clientele of Chennai-based Malayalis.

Further, the textile is no longer limited to saris or salwars. White and gold themes are also seen in anarkalis, kurtas, dupattas and skirts. Trendy wallets and stoles are also made using gold borders, Rehana says.

Photo courtesy: ROUKA by Sreejth Jeevan/Instagram

Improvisation also happens with the blouses while retaining the traditional look of the sari. ““The bride would want to wear a kasavu sari for her temple wedding. But she may ditch the traditional blouse and go for designer blouses with heavy embroidery and stone work,” she says.

Sreejith adds that he has received calls for his collection from different parts of the country. Care 4 Chendamangalam, an NGO based in Chennai supporting a weaving society in Chendamangalam, showcased Sreejith’s designs in a fashion show in February 2020 which was very well received.