Telia Rumal

An exemplary craft tradition.

In a village in Andhra, from a small house comes the rhythmic clacking of the shuttle loom. A weaver is bent over the swathe of bright hues that border the patterned body of the glorious ‘Telia’ fabric. When asked from where he learnt this craft; he looks up and answers with a smile, “I learnt it from my father, and he; from his great grandfather”. The musical ‘tak-tak’ of the loom is resonating in the Indian clothing industry for hundreds of years. What’s so special about the Telia fabric?