Nesavu 2025 Celebrates Handloom Saree Heritage in Coimbatore

Nesavu, a two-day celebration at the Mahalingam Vigyan Bhavan of Kumaraguru Institutions, honored the artistry of Tamil Nadu’s western handloom sarees. Organized by Shakti Creativity and Culture Initiative as part of National Handloom Day, the event aimed to document, preserve, and reimagine India’s handloom legacy.

The exhibition featured curated heirlooms, weaving traditions, and cultural narratives, including Akkarai: Ecosophy of Sarees and The Devanga Community, highlighting heritage practices and stories tied to weaving. Rare heirlooms, such as an eight-gajam saree and a 70-year-old cotton angavasthram, were also displayed.

Inaugurated by handloom experts, weavers, and students, the event underscored the cultural significance of sarees as living heritage. President of Kumaraguru Institutions, Shri Shankar Vanavarayar, stressed the importance of blending tradition with innovation, noting Coimbatore’s deep textile roots and entrepreneurial spirit.

Panels like Journey of the Saree and Saree as an Identity brought together journalists, researchers, dyers, designers, and community voices, discussing heritage, sustainability, identity, and modern interpretations of sarees. A photography exhibition, The Unsaid, documented the weaving process across villages like Negamam, Samathur, and Kulakkalpalayam.

Ethics, a sustainable brand, showcased organic cotton sarees dyed with natural pigments, while researcher Padmini Tolat Balaram presented her revival of natural dyeing techniques. The Weavers’ Collection emphasized sarees as memory-keepers, “kept not to be worn but to be remembered.”

Curator Lavanya NK described Nesavu as a way to honor memory and everyday lives through textiles, stressing that in India, stories woven into cloth serve as documentation of people and heritage. The event concluded with a Sharing Circle where participants shared personal stories tied to sarees, while the handloom market recorded sales of nearly ₹2.5 lakhs, affirming both community support and the vitality of the craft.