Ishwardi Benarasi Palli gears up for Eid festival

A boy works on a sari at Ishwardi Benarashi Palli recently. Photo: Ahmed Humayun Kabir Topu

Ishwardi Benarasi Palli, one of the largest Benarasi producing areas, is buzzing with workers who are now concentrating on decorating saris with 'Karchupi shilpa', the local name for the art of designing clothes with beads and sequins.
More than 400-500 handicraft factories at Fateh Mohammedpur village in Ishwardi upazila are busy with karchupi work ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr festival.
Women from every house of the village embellish the saris with all kinds of sequins like iridescent, hologram, satin, opaque and metal sequins, along with beads in all shapes, sizes and colours.
The art of Karchupi has taken root in the village Fateh Mohammedpur in 2000, after the gradual decline of traditional local weaves in the face of fast changing fashion fads.
Earlier, the village was famous for Benarasi, Katan and such other luxurious local cloths, well-known for their beautiful gold and silver thread brocade weaving.
A large number of Benarasi workers left for greener pastures, mostly in Dhaka's Mirpur, or other places all over the country.
Most of the remaining Benarasi artisans of Ishwardi upazila are now engaged in Karchupi work, as such saris have become popular, leading to the development of the industry.
"At least 200-300 saris are made every day in Fateh Mohammedpur," said Badal, a factory owner. The demand for the saris increases during the Eid season, he added.
“There are 40 workers in my Karchupi factory. Before Ramadan we used to get 25 to 30 orders a week, which has now increased to more than 50."
"The demand for Karchupi saris increases because they are better in quality than the Indian ones," said Badal.
The workers said they embellish silk, georgette, tissue and other types of saris with beads, sequins and faux stones. At least five to 10 days are needed for each sari, depending on the complexity and extent of design.
Depending on the design, a Karchupi sari can cost up to Tk 700 to Tk 7,000.
Md Jabed, owner of Jabed & Brothers, said Karchupi saris from Ishwardi Benarasi Palli are marketed all over the country.
“We are supplying these saris across the country. We sell the saris for Tk 800-Tk 8,000 a piece depending on their design and decoration. These saris are later retailed at Tk 1,500 to Tk 15,000 a piece,” said Jabed.
"As we don't have ironing machines, we send our saris to Mirpur Benarasi Palli, and that increases our costs by 200 per sari," he said.
"We demand that the government help us in installing an ironing machine in Ishwardi Benerasi Palli."