An ode to Telangana's Telia Rumal

Padma Shri Gajam Govardhana, at the loom used to make Telia Rumal for the gallery. (Photo by Aruna Chandaraju)

Master-weaver Gajam Govardhana quickly rises from his chair and picks up a comb from his table as I enter his office, camera and notepad in hand. I am a little puzzled – his well-oiled and neatly combed hair is perfectly in place (as is his white safari-suit). He turns towards the wall, and comb in hand, carefully and delicately brushes down the threads of a superbly woven white wall-hanging with orange sun-motif placed behind his chair. “The breeze has caused these threads to move, however, imperceptibly. So I set it right, allowing the design to display perfectly as it should,” the Padma Shri-awardee says. He steps back and looks at the wall-hanging with a satisfied expression and then leads me to the Gajam Govardhana Telia Rumal Art Gallery (GGTAG). It was inaugurated by Telangana minister K.T. Rama Rao in October 2022.

The loom used to make Telia Rumal. (Photo by Aruna Chandaraju)

The gallery is packed with hundreds of specimens of Indian handloom traditions from recently made ones to those that date back 140 years. Govardhana has managed to pack in a great deal into the 1,000 sq. ft gallery using the walls, floor and even ceiling. From Pochampally Ikat, Gadwal and Kalamkari to Jamdani, Paithani and Aramoor, a wide range is showcased here as are the stars of the show,  products. The Puttapaka Telia Rumal technique boasts the prestigious Geographical Indication (GI) and a postal stamp.

In one corner is a replica of a 100-design Telia Rumal wall-hanging, the original of which, made by Govardhana and his co-weavers over two decades ago, hangs in Victoria and Albert Museum, London. This is displayed beside a Ganesha idol, which is garlanded, appropriately, with a ‘maala’ made of Ikat weft-threads!

The Telia Rumal Wall-Hanging with 100 different designs, a replica of the one displayed at the Victoria & Albert Gallery in London. (Photo by Aruna Chandaraju)

Pointing to the over 200 books including his own, project-reports, and fashion-catalogues stacked in shelves, and a film-projector, he says: “I respect all our nation’s art traditions. These books and documentary films are about Indian and foreign weaving traditions, including Telia Rumal. I have also stocked here actual products displayed therein to see for better understanding.”

In that sense, GGTAG is,  at once, an art gallery and research centre. In the centre, is a conference table at which visitors can sit and read books, view documentaries,  and watch live presentations on Telia Rumal by Govardhana. Students and teachers from well-known design and fashion institutes, various state and Central government officials, politicians, and laypersons have visited so far.

The gallery is a product of Govardhana’s obsession with the Telia Rumal tradition. He hails from Puttapaka village, Telangana. This and surrounding villages are famous weaving clusters. Telia Rumal literally means oily/oiled rumal or headgear.  The Telia Rumal is a method for using oil in the treatment of the yarn and originated in Chirala, in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh. The word Rumal became part of the name because the original product was a small, square piece of cloth with geometric patterns used as headgear/turban.

Govardhana holds up a half-done Telia Rumal, to explain that the tying and dyeing is done before weaving the finished product which has both double Ikat and single Ikat weave. (Photo by Aruna Chandaraju)

Incidentally, the word Ikat itself is derived from the Malay-Indonesian word mang-ikat, meaning to knot or bind since the yarn that goes into this product is tied and dyed before weaving.

The Telia Rumal is a double Ikat weave that takes its colour from a special tie-and-dye tradition which uses oil (castor or gingelly) for the treatment of yarn, a process which imparts a special softness and temperature-controlling property (a cooling effect) and also gives it a distinctive smell. This handloom technique employs natural, vegetable dyes. Using only three colours – red (and its different shades), black and white – the weavers create products of great beauty.

Earlier, one saw only geometric patterns on these products due the patrons’ preference but steadily innovative weavers began incorporating  motifs like birds, elephants, lions, fruits, flowers, etc., all of which meant more work and additional skills but added to variety and  saleability. The product range too expanded from scarves/rumals to now include sarees, stoles, dupattas, dress-materials, wall-hangings, furnishing-cloth, etc.

Govardhana and assistant show modern pallu designs in Ikat silk sarees. (Photo by Aruna Chandaraju)

GGTAG, which is an ode to the Telia Rumal art, is the culmination of a 45-year-old dream. Govardhana reveals: “As a weaver, I knew the tremendous skill, effort and patience that go into its making. I wanted more people to know and celebrate it. I also wanted to ensure recognition and a decent livelihood for fellow-weavers. Finally, I wanted this art to survive, and be appreciated by future generations.”

It was a long and uphill road, of course. His father, grandfather, and uncles all belonged to a family of handloom-weavers in Puttapaka. He grew up assisting them and learning the art. He left Puttapaka in 1975 and became an employee in the ministry of textiles's Weavers Service Centre, Vijayawada. He visited Chirala, learnt the Telia Rumal craft which was slowly dying, and took it to Puttapaka from where it spread to surrounding villages. He worked at the ministry’s Hyderabad branch till 1998.

Over the years, he developed more confidence when his art was valued by wealthy persons, officials, and representatives of top politicians and celebrities who approached him for information about the art and for purchases. Later, his visits to foreign countries to display his works, and observation of how these nations protected and projected their art also inspired him to create this gallery.

Telia Rumal in double ikat. Traditional Muggu (rangoli or kolam) designs are often used for offerings in dargahs. (Photo by Aruna Chandaraju)

“All along, I was working hard – constantly upgrading my technical knowledge and also drawing on my imagination to come up with new and creative designs.” His creations were exhibited at the Festival of India events in London, New York, Tokyo and France as well as at events in several South-East Asian countries, Australia, Denmark, etc.  Govardhana received the National Award for Telia Rumal in 1983, UNESCO Excellence award in 2002,  Shilpguru title in 2006, National Master Weaver Award in 2007, and Padma Shri in 2011. His lobbying contributed to getting the GI tag for Puttapaka Telia Rumal tradition in 2020. With all the credibility built up, he finally established GGTAG in Hyderabad.

Today, he is also helping fellow-weavers earn more money with an emporium where his team retails products made by weavers in the region surrounding Puttapaka. “The weavers there now live with financial security via these sales. The gallery is also receiving appreciation, though more support is always welcome. I am now a content man,” he says with a smile. Indeed, he has earned much recognition for himself and his art.

Entry to the gallery is only by prior intimation and permission. Contact:  Gajam Govardhana  Telia Rumal Art Gallery, Hyderabad, Telangana. Mob: 098480 24642; Email: manimayaexports1997@gmail.com