: Strengthening the bonds of concord whereas observing the Ramzan quick, Muslim dyers are busy engaged of their ancestral commerce of creating Ramnami gamchhas, chadars and dhotis, chunaris together with the sacred cotton thread ‘kalainaras’ forward of the Hindu pageant of Chaitra Navratri which begins on Sunday.
Dyers busy making chunaris and cotton thread ‘kalainaras’ forward of Navratri in Lalgopalganj space of Prayagraj (Anil Kumar Maurya/HT)
These scenes are onerous to overlook within the bylanes of Ibrahimpur, Khanjahanpur and Ahlaadganj areas of Lalgopalganj, a city space 40km west of Prayagraj metropolis within the district’s trans-Ganga space. The gadgets they’re making are utilized in worshiping Hindu gods and goddesses in addition to for numerous rituals.
These localities account for a ₹15 crore cottage business that offers employment to round 1500-odd dyers of the realm related to it. The merchandise ready by these dyers go throughout Uttar Pradesh, moreover to Jammu, Jharkhand and Bihar.
“We have been dyeing kalainaras and block printing chunris and Ramnami chadars, dhotis for many decades, just like our forefathers. Our products go to various temples all over the region, including Sheetla Dham and Kada Dham in Kaushambi, Kalyani Devi temple in Prayagraj, Ayodhya, Vaishno Devi temple and Kalka Devi temple in Jammu, among others. We are well aware of their religious importance and, therefore, prepare them with full devotion and reverence,” mentioned Mohd Shahid, a dyer and a religious Muslim observing the Ramzan quick. He has been concerned within the commerce for over 20 years.
Merchants Nafees Ahmad of Khanjahanpur and Mohd Idris of Ahlaadganj mentioned by working day and night time for the previous three weeks, the dyers had ready merchandise price ₹2.5 crore, that are being transported throughout the area in batches forward of Navratri. Grasp Sartaj, one other ‘rangrez’, mentioned a mean dyer like him earns ₹350 to 450 per day.
“This is a busy time for all of us as orders pour in from almost all cities having major temples of goddesses that witness a huge demand for ghunaris of varied sizes that sell for anywhere from ₹20 to ₹200 per piece, depending upon the work on them and the size,” he mentioned.
Conventional dyers of different villages like Adharganj, Rava, Umraoganj, Idiya-ka Pura, Lala-ka-Pura and Afzal Mohalla within the area are additionally engaged on this commerce. A few of these artisans embrace Sharief Ahmad, Anwar Ahmad, Neesum, Pappu Mohd Abdul and Idris Bari.