The concept of Kasavu Sarees was nowhere around the corner when Kasavu was originated. The single-piece saree evolved much later giving rise and popularity to the blouse, the first stitched garment here.
Kasavu originates in the South Indian state of Kerala. It is a soft, white or off-white, cotton handloom cloth with gold-threaded borders. It is Kerala’s traditional fabric, worn by the Malayalee community to temples and any auspicious occasions, weddings and funerals alike. During the Vishu festival, as a symbol of wealth and prosperity, it is customary to keep a brand new Kasavu cloth near the traditional Vishukkani (lamp).
History of Kasavu
The Kasavu cotton cloth
The term Kasavu refers to the zari that is used in the border of the Kerala saree, not the saree itself. Similarly, when Kasavu is used in Mundu (dhoti), it becomes Kasavu Mundu.
The mention of Kerala Kasavu, traditionally known as Mundum Neryathum, can be found way back in the Buddhist era. Slowly and gradually, the essence of this ethnic fabric spread out to the southern parts of India, becoming richly prominent in Kerala. Yet, the origin of the style of this fabric can be found in the Graeco-Roman culture, known as Palmyrene.
The traditional attire of Kerala like sarees, Mundus (which are sarongs worn by men) and Settu Mundus (a two-piece sarong sari) is locally known as Kaithari, meaning handloom. In Kerala, Geographical Indication (GI) tags have been given to the three clusters by the Indian government. These clusters make the Kasavu sarees and the white Kerala sarees that have a coloured iteration (called kara) instead of the golden border. The identity of the saree depends on the cluster they come from and are associated with them.
The three famous clusters are (i) Balaramapuram, (ii) Chendamangalam and (iii) Kuthampully.
(i) Balaramapuram cluster: This one is based near Trivandrum and the artisans are from the Shaliar clan. They were originally from Tamil Nadu but the Travancore royal family brought them down to Kerala. Balaramapuram is famous for its fine thread counts like 120s and use of pure zari (silver thread plated in gold).
(ii) Chendamangalam cluster: Famous for sarees and Mundus that they weave using half-fine zari and 80s-100s thread counts and without too many motifs. The artisans of this cluster had the patronage of an aristocratic family called Paliam.
(iii) Kuthampully cluster: This cluster also makes white sarees with zari but include patterned and jacquard borders which might have human figure motifs. The artisan community here were brought down by the king of Kochi and were known as Devanga.
The Birth of Kerala cotton sarees
Initially, there was no concept of saree in Kerala at all. In fact, there was no garment to cover the upper body, neither was there a need to cover it. The mundu (dhoti) was the only garment that there was. Men and women both would wear a mundu from the waist down and leave the upper body bare. Many places did not allow covering the upper body, and if anyone wished to do so, they had to pay a tax.
However, it was post-colonialism that things started to change. Women wore an Angavastra (something like a shawl) on their upper body, thus transforming the regular mundu into a two-piece settu mundu. So, in settu mundu, they would wear one mundu down the waist and the other wrapped around their upper body like a half saree. The single-piece saree evolved much later giving rise and popularity to the blouse, the first stitched garment here.
What is The Art and the making Process of Kasavu Sarees?
- The yarn used to be hand-spun traditionally, but these days mill-made yarn is used. Hand-spun yarns are both expensive and difficult to mass-produce than mill-made yarn.
- Then the yarn is put through a long pre-weaving process. At Chendamangalam, it is this unique process that got them the GI tag.
- After obtaining the yarn, it needs to be soaked in water for seven or eight days and stamped on every day. While the yarns are still soaking the artisans stamp on it with their feet. This is done to get the dirt and starch out, making sure it is completely soft.
- Then the yarn is taken out after a week and dyed partially (if required).
- Then, they stretch the yarn and prepare the warp. Traditionally, the stretching used to be done between 4-7 am. It was considered that the temperature and atmosphere during those hours were apt for this process. The yarns need to be stretched in an open area.
- The artisans re-starch the warps in the morning and allow them to dry before putting them on the loom.
- Then the artisans starch the warps once again and brush it with a comb made out of coconut fibre. It is dried till 7.00 am and then put on the loom. This process is done to avoid yarn breakage on the loom. This stretched yarn is absorbent and clean.
- Beyond this, there is no post weaving process. The artisans just take the fabric off the loom after weaving it and put it on the shelf.
What are the Characteristics of Kasavu Sarees?
- The simplicity of the Kerala sarees and handlooms is what makes them so special. The Kerala sarees and Mundus are minimalistic due to their predominantly white colour and plain weave body.
- These garments have a border, which is a selvedge and the only design element they have. The border has a rib weave for adding a solid look to the gold or colour.
- The difference between a wedding saree and a funeral saree is the colour and thickness of the border. A saree that is to be worn at a wedding has a two-inch gold border, whereas a saree to be worn at a funeral has a half-inch coloured border. More gold means a luxurious product.
- The patterns and motifs are minimal, sometimes done with weft inlay or using jacquards.
What is the Current Scenario of Kasavu Sarees?
- Most of the weaving clusters in Kerala work through the village co-operatives, making the system fair trade by nature. All the weavers are part of the co-operative, are literate, have fixed wages plus bonuses making sure nobody gets exploited. However, all these things increase the costs and make the fabric expensive.
- All the clusters and producing the same product, don’t provide much variety. The product has remained in its traditional form and not much change has happened in terms of design, no new take on them has been taken. Thus, this makes the product seasonal and all the clusters compete to sell to the same market during Onam or Vishu.
- The industry is talked about as a dying industry as the new generation is not coming into it. But due to the floods of 2018 and the viral social media campaigns, suddenly all over India, there was a lot of awareness about the different clusters of weaving. People wanted to wear the saree for charity.
- Yet, charity alone cannot sustain the product and the demand needs to be increased. The product needs to be marketed to affluent customers but this has not happened yet.
- Kasavu saree is very comfortable to wear for Indian weather, is very elegant and people are slowly realising this. Also, many foreigners who buy these sarees transform these into table linens and curtains. This act shows that the Kasavu fabric has the potential to translate into other products, but that is not yet being done.