A saree scientist, saree historian, saree recorder all rolled into one, Pavithra Muddaya doesn’t like to beat her own trumpet. But have a few words with the lady and you can soon get drawn into her sartorial world, where she’s doing every bit to revive a dying art by recording old weaves.
Inspired by their study and documentation of antique weaving techniques, Chimy Nanjappa and her daughter, Pavithra Muddaya established Vimor in 1974 to motivate and train small-town weavers to produce traditional, marketable sarees. For over four decades now, the mother-daughter from Bengaluru is working to revive ancient crafts and preserve family tradition. Their elite clientele includes the prestigious Gandhi family (Indira Gandhi, Sonia and Priyanka Gandhi) to Shabana Azmi, Nandita Das, Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak and many other such celebrities and stars. But Pavithra isn’t one to make tall claims on the cognoscenti. “We’re just happy that we have pure goodwill that’s kept us going — from the President’s wives to Governor and eminent personalities have worn our creations and although I don’t like to bring out the August list of names, it’s very humbling. We never pander to anyone’s whims. We’re lucky to have consistent followers that love these six-yard wonders and come back to our quaint nook at our home in Bengaluru.”
Explaining how this journey started, Pavithra states, “I studied law from the Law College in Bengaluru, but my mother was manager with Cauvery arts and crafts emporium. She attended a lot of craft fairs, the world over, thanks to Pupul Jayakar, the doyenne of handlooms. I attended training and learnt the techniques from weavers at weaver’s centre and now teach the weaver’s back. Since I’ve learnt it from their forefathers, it’s a tradition that we make them feel pride in their craft. We started with sarees by temples as we wanted to recreate lost designs for our future generations, she says.
Pavithra studies and photographs the original textiles and documents key designs and techniques. “I try and match the weaves and bring them closest to the original. I simplify the process for the weavers for the first few sarees, otherwise they get apprehensive when we give them too many designs; and after a few wafts, they move up on the skill levels and gradually start making intricate designs. This way they’re able to sustain with their earnings, have security and saleable creations. We take inspiration from our old pieces and instead of making exact replicas; we help them explore their creativity. Some designs are evergreen and remain for 30 years. We’re having an exhibition on October in Mumbai called Past, present and continuous where we have recreated grandmom’s sarees,” she adds.
