In Pabna, hand embroidery picks up pace

Ahmed Humayun Kabir Topu, Pabna

At her young age, Shahana Khatun learnt how to do intricate hand embroidery on saris at home from her father.

Shahana, an eighth grader, goes to work after school and embroiders saris into the evening. She has been working there over the last two years, earning Tk 300-Tk 1,500 per sari depending on designs.

She is one of the many working on colourful saris in a small handicrafts factory near her home on Nazimuddin Road in Ishwardi upazila in Pabna.

Most of the workers are young women and children engaged in hand embroidery, commonly known as karchupi shilpo. There are at least 400 to 500 small handicraft factories in the village of Fateh Mohammadpur in Ishwardi.

The workers are passing busy days as Eid-Ul-Fitr is around the corner. Demand for quality hand-embroidered saris is at an all-time high -- because of the key festival of the year.

The trade has soared to its popularity for the past 10 years. The area was once well known as the 'Benarasi village' in the district as it produced luxury fabrics like Benarasi and Katan.

When the Benarasi industry had faced challenges, a large number of workers engaged in the sector migrated to Dhaka and other places in search of work.

But Benarasi workers of Ishwardi upazila learnt the art of hand embroidery to stay afloat. As the area was known for expensive and intricate handwork, the trade rapidly kicked off.

“Women used to undertake handwork on a small scale at their homes, by taking private orders for pieces. But now, a majority of the women in the village are engaged in hand embroidery," Badal Benarasi, now a hand-embroidery entrepreneur, told The Daily Star yesterday.

In anticipation of Eid, at least 200 to 300 pieces of hand-embroidered sari are produced a day in the 400 to 500 factories in the area.

“I have 40 workers at my factory with an abundant number of work orders. Prior to Ramadan, we received 25 to 30 orders a week. But now we get over 50 orders a week. Demand has risen as the saris we produce are better in quality than Indian peers," Badal said.

He also said there are 10 to 12 large hand-embroidery factories in this village, which is the largest zone in the northern region of the country.

Workers said they do handwork on katan, georgette, tissue material and saris of other fabrics using beads, stones, thread and sequins.

"Depending on designs, we usually need 5-10 days to complete work on a single sari, but we are now trying to speed up work to meet Eid demand," said Md Rubel, an embroidery worker.

"Even three or four workers are deployed on each sari to complete the work faster," he added.

Workers said the cost of embroidery on a sari will range between Tk 700 and Tk 7,000, depending on designs, while the end piece will be sold at Tk 2,000-Tk 15,000.