Even in a country which has for millennia, been famous for the variety and beauty of its textiles, orissa has undoubtedly all the best choices to explore. Thousands of weavers are inhabited in remote villages living with age old traditions, creating superb workmanship on silk, cotton, tusser fabrics. The weavers of each region work in their own distinctive style. The weavers at Nuapatna, who weave texts from religious scriptures into special silk ikat used for the rituals inside the temple. The southern Orissa Bomkai saris are also of high quality. Traditional saris and other varieties of cloth like bed covers, table linen etc are also brilliantly weaving by the weavers.
The Ikat fabrics are particularly a distinctive feature of Orissan textiles. The term Ikat is derived from a south East Asian word and reflects the ancient maritime trade between Orissa and Indonesia. This unique technique is known as tie and dye and in Orissa known as Bandha is very difficult work and a challenge for the weavers. Bundles of yarn are first dyed by successively wrapping (tying) different sections of the bundle and applying one color at a time. The dye penetrates the exposed sections and does not touch the wrapped sections. The color scheme is predetermined with extra ordinary precision so that when the dyed threads are woven together, the design appears in the finished textile as if by magic.
We from Heritage tours invite you to explore the textile belt of Orissa with its lovely friendly weavers and discover their extraordinary talents.
Highlights: Life weaving, charming weavers, friendly community, beautiful villages.
Arrival at Bhubaneswar and transfer to the hotel. An excursion trip to Olasingh textile village where you will find very friendly people who are keen to invite you to see their great work. Enjoy the traditional tiger mask dance.
After breakfast departure for Nuapatna to discover the special tie and dye patterns known as ikat. They use silk, tusser etc. You can witness here all the steps involve starting from silk cocoons until the finished product. Afternoon if desire sees the excellent Dhokra metal work at sadeibareni village. Rest and relax at Dhenkanal Royal palace- A heritage property.
After enjoying a royal breakfast drive to Sonepur to explore the textile villages around the temple town Sonepur. Visit Baidyanathpur and sagarpalli villages to see the various silk, tussar weaving work and the products. Overnight stay in a basic hotel.
Enjoy the sun rising boat ride in the Mahanadi river. Then proceed to Barapali to visit the textile market. Also visit the various cooperative weaver societies and the textile centers. Overnight stay in a hotel at Bargarh.
Drive to Sambalpur to see the best sarees in exotic design named sambalpuri Pata, bichtrapuri etc. This place is famous for cotton tassar, bapta with jalla. Visit the various textile centers. Catch the overnight train for Puri.
Arrival in Puri and transfer to a beach side hotel. Free morning. Afternoon visit the Alandhua textile villages where the weavers weaving only the traditional wrappers, napkins. Then visit Applique village at Pipili where the Muslims are doing the colorful umbrellas and stitching and hand knitting work which are mostly used in the Hindu temples.
Departure for your onward destinations. If time permits visit the extraordinary sun temple at Konark.
We'd love to hear from you. Send us a message and we'll respond within 24 hours.
