Bhavani Jamakkalam

In the late nineteenth century, competition from British made textiles led Indian weavers to invent new types of garments.[2] In Bhavani, a community of weavers called Jangamars weaved a type of blanket using colored coarse threads called Jamakkalam.[4] The popularity of the product led to the production of jamakkalams by other weavers replacing the production of traditional sarees and other cloths.[4]

Two types of jamakkalams are produced in Bhavani.[5] The first type is made from coarser cotton threads capable of producing carpets with colored bands.[5] As the thread was coarser, designs could not be weaved on to this type of carpet.[5] Hence, a second softer variety of jamakkalams were introduced that were made of artificial silk threads enabling weavers to weave different kinds of border designs.[5] Jamakkalams are also used to make fashion products such as backpacks.[6]

Traditionally, jamakkalams were weaved by independent weavers in their houses.[7] Later it moved into a system where jamakkalam is weaved by weavers on hand-looms supervised by master weavers.[8] The master weavers lease hand-looms and contract weavers. The hand-looms are owned by trade merchants who procure raw materials such as thread from neighboring cities of Coimbatore, Salem and Karur.[9] About 1500 workers are involved in the production of jamakkalams with women forming two-thirds of the work force.[10]

A pit loom is used to weave jamakkalams.[10] The looms are made of wood with the threads stretched horizontally from end to end.[10] The weaver sits in a pit dug in the ground, on level with the weaving surface.[10] The weaver operates two pedals with his legs while enabling the hands to move the shuttle across to produce the weaving pattern.[10]

The jamakkalams manufactured in Bhavani are exported to various countries such as Sweden, Germany, Italy, U.K., U.S. and Singapore.[11] In 1993, Swedish major IKEA started procuring jamakkalams from Bhavani to be sold across its stores.[11]

Since the 2000s, the hand weaved jamakkalams from Bhavani have faced competition from power-loom products.[12] The Government of Tamil Nadu offers subsidy to weavers and has enacted laws to outlaw the use of power-looms.[12] The government also sells the blankets through government run Co-optex stores. Competition from blankets produced in Solapur, Maharashtra and cheap imports from neighbors China, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka has resulted in drop in demand for Bhavani jamakkalams.[12]

In 2005, the Government of Tamil Nadu applied for Geographical Indication for Bhavani jamakkalams.[13] The Government of India recognized it as a Geographical indication officially since the year 2005-06.[3]

In 2021,Bhavani Jammakkalam -the film was produced by Amar Ramesh from Big short films production.[14]

• Abdul Gani Textile Market
• Erode Turmeric
• Nanjanagud banana

• Geert de Neve (2005). The Everyday Politics of Labour: Working Lives in India's Informal Economy. Berghahn Books. ISBN 9788187358183.
• Jonathan P. Parry; Jan Breman; Karin Kapadia (2000). The worlds of Indian industrial labour. Sage Publications. ISBN 9780761993957.
• Jackie Assayag; Chris Fuller (2005). Globalizing India: Perspectives from Below. Anthem Press. ISBN 9780857287243.