The handloom textiles with their evocative patterns visually communicate the narratives of resilience, freedom, self-reliance and growth of our nation. They act as a link between India’s past pride and future prospects. While, on one hand, they offer us a dip into the ocean of our country’s rich cultural history, on the other by answering to the calls of ‘vocal for local’, encourage us to tap into our innate potentials.

Their nearly 5000 years of existence is marked by skills passed on from one generation of artisans to the next. Credited for creating massive employment opportunities, the handloom textile industry has for decades been grappling with a gradual decline. Labour intensive in nature, this sector has had to combat even the threat of extinction. With their ability to churn out more products at lower costs, power looms have progressively increased their hold over the textile industry. This phase has also coincided with the depletion in demand for the handloom products.

The challenges notwithstanding, the handloom industry remains unmatched in its unique blend of timelessness and innovativeness. It is with the vision to familiarize the current generation with its rich textile heritage and stitch a sustained relationship with its customers that online enterprise BharatSthali was floated by Sumati and Pulkit Gogna in late 2017.

Pulkit explains, “The whole idea is to make the buying experience educative and gratifying for our customers. We want to bring them closer to their roots.” It is with the aim of furthering the cause of handloom that the couple navigated the length and breadth of the country to gain a first-hand understanding of the wide gamut of choices available.

With their manual operations, they identified the possibility of offering several combinations to their customers. Hence today, BharatSthali provides its patrons the option of choosing from a plethora of functional properties such as strength, texture, wrinkle resistance, stability, drape amongst others without compromising on the intricacy and appeal of the designs.

Certified by various quality check authorities of India and Asia, BharatSthali gives the flexibility of customization to cater to the distinctive demands of its customers. Pulkit elucidates, “Every time we receive a special order we reach out to that customer to try and understand the individual’s unique needs. We haven’t just confined ourselves to being an online portal selling sarees, instead worked hard to become our customers’ one-stop source of knowledge for everything pertaining to sarees.”

The artisans at BharatSthali weave magic to deliver products that stand out for their patterns, texture, design and durability. The authenticity synonymous with handloom remains apparent as natural fibres such as cotton, silk and wool are employed to produce top-notch fabrics. Organic threads facilitate utmost comfort to those garbed in the cloth, boosting customer retention. The company also has an ever-expanding loyal customer base in countries such as the UK, Canada and Malaysia.

Unlike power looms which are dependent upon sources of energy like electricity, water, air or sun to operate the loom, the handlooms rely upon skilful artisans to drive the motion of the loom. With environmental degradation being a major concern, manual looms at BharatSthali help the company in making its contribution towards sustainable development.

In standing up to the challenges posed by the power loom sector, BharatSthali has not just kept the sanctity and intricacy of the environmentally sustainable proud Indian handloom tradition alive but also contributed in revitalizing it with its innovations and customizations, visit https://www.bharatsthali.com.