Welcome to Pochampally, an interesting collage of tradition, history, heritage and modernity. Surrounded by hills, tanks and ponds, and lush green fields, spread-out silk warps, neera tapping from palm trees, mat-making women, open-sky chatrashala houses, a perennially full tank, hills, temples, Vinoba Mandir - Bhoodan Ashram, and cultural complexes, Pochampally makes up for an exciting destination to spend ones vacation.
Weaving - A way of Life and an Art of Living! Pochampally where threads and colours find their way into the hands of skilful weavers and meander into the market as beautiful sarees and dress material is a typical weaving village in Nalgonda District, Andhra Pradesh.
Basking under the glory on par with the weaves of Kanchi, Dharmavaram, Gadwal, Venkatagiri etc Pochampally weave is popularly known as ikkat or tie and dye weave. The uniqueness lies in the transfer of design and colouring onto warp and weft threads first and then weave them together. The fabric is cotton, silk and sico - mix of silk and cotton. Increasingly, the colours themselves are from natural sources and their blends.
Pochampally has traditional looms, whose design is more than a century-old. Today this Silk City is home to more than 10000 weaving families in 100 villages.
Chenetha Gurukulam with experienced Gurus teaches Pochampally weave.
The fabric is marketed through the cooperative society and APCO, the master weavers and the business houses in Pochampally. Pochampally does more than Rs.1000 Million annual business in terms of yarn sales, purchase of handloom products and sales.
The consumer-weaver interactions provide inputs for new designs. The weavers from the older and new generation have shown resilience and adapted themselves to the changing tastes of the consumers from telia rumals, bedsheets, to sarees to dress materials for the modern woman and man; from cotton, to silk to sico. The women are also making garments and other products from the fabric. Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, Konda Laxman Bapuji and similar others were instrumental in weavers' efforts to adapt.
However the struggle of the weavers to eke out a decent livelihood is intense and some of them are starving and fighting to survive.
Pochampally has attracted famous Director Shyam Benegal. He made a national award winning film 'Sushman', which depicts the intricacies of Ikkat weave and the travails of the weavers.
Beyond Weaving Economy - Pochampally is also the home to other traditional occupations. These include farming, dairying, toddy tapping, tank fishing, pottery, baskets and mat weaving, hairdressing, carpentry, gold smithy, black smithy, brass work, cobbling etc. They demonstrate the traditional socio-economic inter-dependencies.
While migration all the way to Bhiwandi near Mumbai to work in power looms and textile mills has stopped, daily, seasonal and long-term out-migration for work is common. There is also in-migration into Pochampally from other villages to work as weavers.
In the neighbourhood of Pochampally, Government set up a rural institute, after the greatest freedom fighter of Nizam, Swamy Ramanandha Tirtha, at Jalalpoor. Swamy Ramanandha Tirtha Rural Institute (SRTRI) trains and builds rural youth with skills that offer employment or self-employment. It also houses a Computer-aided Weaving Design Centre and provides new and varied designs to the weavers at no cost.
Bhoodanodhyamam... Pochampally is now rechristened as Bhoodan Pochampally in recognition of its prominence in the history. From this village Acharya Vinoba Bhave, the disciple of Mahatma Gandhi, launched the historic national Bhoodan Movement Bhoodanodyamam, with the land donation by Mr. Vedire Ramachandra Reddy in 1951.
The Spiritual palette - Markandeya is the main deity of the weavers. His temple is in the centre of Pochampally. 300-year old Basaveswara Temple is on the other side of the Pochampally main tank. It is believed that Lingaabhisekam here ensures rains in the village.
The new temple of Ayyappa is the only replica of Sabarimalai temple in the country and is becoming a second Ayyappa abode.
Other temples include Katta maisamma, Mahammayamma, and Laxminarayana.
Pochampally retains, despite its suburban garb, some of its rural cultural flavour. Annual celebrations like Bonala Panduga in June, Krishashtami Utla Panduga, Batukamma Panduga around Durgashtami in October, Lakshminarayana Sahasra Deeparadhana in November, Markandeya Jatra in February, Mahammayamma Jatra in April etc., bring Pochampally to life culturally.
Pochampally still retained some folk arts and cultural forms including Golla Suddulu, Dappulu, Oggu Katha, Bhajans, Kolatam etc.
Cucumber smorgasbord - Pochampallys cucumber-based dishes are a treat.
Neera the unfermented sap from the palm tree - is a much sought after drink. In season, fresh fish from the tank excites visitors.
Much more - The weavers offer home-stay for interested visitors who want to experience weaving for longer periods.
Angling and boating in the tank, trekking in the Nemali Hills, yoga at Vishwasanthi Dhamam, 101 Dharwaja etc., are some of the other prominent tourist attractions.
The community-managed Tourism Complex that houses a weaving museum, open-air theatre for cultural performances, shopping complex, cafeteria and guest accommodation is the new attraction.
Pochampally takes us into the past, into tradition, and closer to the God and nature. It allows us to experience the genius of the Pochampally weave and have products of the weave. You can also experience a collage of rural and suburban, tradition and modernity, survival and life, so on.
You wouldn't want to miss this wonderful experience. It is time to visit Pochampally....