Tamil Nadu   

The weaving wonder of Bhavani

Karthick Madhavan

Innovation: B.R. Angamuthu working on a designer wall hanging. —

BHAVANI: Lord Balaji of Tirupati is worshipped by his devotees in myriad forms. Apparently in Bhavani they prefer him hand-woven into wall hangings. The magician behind this intricate creation is B. R. Angamuthu, the innovative weaver of Bhavani. In this 67-year-old’s work, the devotees feel the Lord in person, for such is the perfection he has personified using yarns in a two-pedal loom, which does not have a jacquard. This weaver has brought alive the images of Ganesh, Jesus and a host of political leaders and film personalities through his weaving. “Since 1960, when I began weaving faces on wall hangings, I have created nearly 2,500 human faces,” recalls Mr. Angamuthu. Mr. Angamuthu has developed a system where he sketches the face to be replicated on a graph sheet, which has 10 horizontal and vertical lines a square inch. Every square inch of the graph represents a similar area on the cloth, but there are 18 yarns each in weft and warp in an inch. In effect, a line on the graph equals 1.8 yarns on the hanging.

Mr. Angamuthu says the number of yarns in weft and warp has to be equal to maintain the face’s proposition. Using pointers on the graph sheet, marked using dots on the lines sketch , he separates the two-layered warp yarn to insert coloured weft yarn. Curiously all this weaving comes on the reverse of the wall hanging. “Work is only on the reverse, and to monitor the progress, I hold a mirror in front to examine what I have done,” he says. After all the hard work what emerges is a splendid replica of the human face, so elaborate and stunning, that it looks like an embroidered work.

However, this is what worries Mr. Angamuthu. No one has yet accredited his work.

However, more than anything it is the lack of enthusiasm of the youth to learn the trade that qualms him. “This is something that I developed myself. After me I want somebody to carry on this weaving style,” he says.

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