Handloom Industry
The city is popularly called as Silk City as lot of textile and small scale Silk industries are there in the city.
This town was once known for its famous hand woven silk. Doddaballapur was once known as Indian Manchester of textiles. Previously Doddaballapur was known for its handloom products but now there is not even one handloom. All the handlooms are being converted to power looms. Perhaps from the earliest times, the place is noted for silk weaving industry and many weavers also migrated to Bangalore from here.
In Doddaballapur there is a place called weavers colony which is once known for its handloom products. These sarees are weaved in Cotton, silk and polyester. Due to the heavy cost incurring in handloom weaving and the non availability of weavers, once famous handlooms have shifted to power looms. New generation is not interested in the traditional weaving due to low wages.
Process of weaving
Doddaballapur textile products are well known for the durability of the colours used in the yarn. The mixture of colour gives the durability. The count used in weaving gives the softness and hardness of the fabric. Count means the number of threads used in the length and breadth for weaving known as warp and weft respectively.
Dyeing
The process of manufacturing a Doddaballapur Saree starts with dyeing the yarn. Dyeing is the coloring process of the yarn by dipping the yarn in the boiled color water in very high temperature, higher the temperature durability of colour is also higher. Dyeing of the yarn is done making sure that the color is spread uniformly throughout the yarn and it doesn't affect the quality of the yarn. The coloring process is a very crucial step in getting a good colourful saree. The colours are applied as per the specifications of the designers and also some times as per the orders from customers who orders for a designer Saree. After coloring, the yarn is dried in shade. Drying yarn in sun can be harmful to yarn. It is also rolled over small sticks to use for weft.
Weaving
After dyeing and drying the yarn it is converted to thread and is loaded as warp and then it is loaded into the loom for actual weaving. From one warp 50 sarees are made. It will take 20 to 30 days to complete weaving of one warp. Doddaballapur handloom sarees are woven in the interlocked-weft technique. The design required on the saree is initially drawn in a computer and then this is punched into a card and then these cards are loaded in Jacard in the loom. The needles in the Jacard will control the weft and produce designs.
Extinction of Handlooms in Doddaballapur
Once famous Doddaballapur Handloom products are now extinct due to the low wages prevailed in the industry. Previously Doddaballapur was full of talented weavers who used to do magic in the looms to produce the best handloom products. Now you cannot see even one handloom in the vicinity of Doddaballapur.
