‘Saahas Dhaga’ aims to revive the dying culture of hand-looms in the hills of Uttarakhand in particular; but also to think out possibilities of its revival in other states. This involves the engagement of communities in cultural exchanges through hand-loom skills, ideally aimed at facilitating generation of income while promoting hand-loom artisan-ship. This focus is especially pertinent for remote and rural areas.
The noticeable, overall decline of hand-loom culture is a result of many factors, such as the lack of efforts aimed at its preservation, in the very first place; the primacy gained by automation and market competitiveness; combination of aggressive, gigantic and centralised marketing and business skills, etc. However, the revival and existence of traditional handloom working spaces cannot be allowed to fall into disuse or become devalued. For, besides working towards raising income levels within communities, they play a crucial role in preserving heritage and sustaining community bonding.
Saahas Dhaga’s focus is on training, technique, design and development, e-commerce, marketing and business development in a more flexible, refined and artisan-friendly manner. It also aims to engage with govt. and statutory bodies which encourage artisans and weaving communities to setup their own hand-loom enterprises.