Nidhi Kamath & Keya Vaswani

large_WeavesOfMaheswar-pic2Feature_Image.jpg

medium_WeavesOfMaheswar-pic2Feature_Image.jpg

small_WeavesOfMaheswar-pic2Feature_Image.jpg

thumbnail_WeavesOfMaheswar-pic2Feature_Image.jpg

WeavesOfMaheswar-pic2Feature_Image.jpg

This film was awarded the
 
 
 Silver Lotus
 
 (Rajat Kamal)
 
 for the
 
 Best Promotional Film
 
 at the
 
 63rd National Film Awards 2016
 
 
 Maheshwar is a beautiful riverside town in Madhya Pradesh, which has a significant place in history. In the 18th century, Ahilyabai Holkar, who ruled the princely state of Indore, promoted the tradition of hand weaving here. Well over two centuries later, the town remains famous for its Maheshwari sarees. Between 2012 and 2015, more than 200 weavers have migrated to Maheshwar due to the growing opportunities in its handloom enterprises. Many are from Barabanki, a town in Uttar Pradesh. This is unusual and contrary to the trend in a sector that is in steep decline. It is also unusual that young people are among the weavers playing a pivotal role in reviving the craft. They are an inspiration to the weaving community of this historic town.
 
 In this film, the young weavers tell their story.

Weaves of Maheshwar

மகேஷ்வரின் நெசவாளர்கள்

ମହେଶ୍ୱରର ବୟନଶିଳ୍ପ

مہیشور کی بُنائی

Maheshwar

At present, we can only accept donations in Indian rupees by Indian citizens. All donations made to the CounterMedia Trust are eligible for exemption under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Here is a copy of our exemption certificate.


India is bigger than New Delhi. And people need to know more about the rest of this vast nation.


Younger, media-saturated generations are growing up knowing little about their country, but a lot about the elites of a few metros and towns. For a narrowly-owned, commercially-driven media, the dumbing down of a nation is part of standard operating procedure. The last available data of the Centre for Media Studies (CMS, Delhi) show us that reports from New Delhi account for 66 per cent of news on the front pages of major dailies. The CMS data also found that just about 0.24 per cent of front page news came out of rural India. The TV channels are not much better.PARI exists to change that.We are a non-profit organisation. We publish under creative commons, and do not charge readers a subscription fee or put-up advertisements. Nothing is behind a paywall and we are completely free-to-access by anyone. We guard our independence and receive no direct grants from governments and corporations, nor any funding that could dictate our content. So, we are dependent on volunteer labour, donations from individuals, foundations and institutions that see value in independent and free media.PARI is changing the way Indian journalism reports and documents the rural.India is more than the elite of a few metros and towns. We report on rural lives and livelihoods, languages, communities, migrants and more. We need your help to pull off this most ambitious of Indian journalistic endeavours. The scale of this effort costs money. Donate generously - and spread the word about PARI.&nbsp;

Donate FAQs


Let’s get you acquainted

Welcome to PARI

All our content is, and will forever be free to consume. If you enjoy our work, you can support us by becoming a volunteer or by donating to help fund our work.

Want to republish this article? Please write to <a href="mailto:zahra@ruralindiaonline.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">zahra@ruralindiaonline.org</a> with a cc to <a href="mailto:namita@ruralindiaonline.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">namita@ruralindiaonline.org</a>

Weaves of Maheshwar

In Maheshwar town of Madhya Pradesh, weavers revive a declining craft

Related stories

A rain-scented walk in Sivagangai

Living on ravaged land

Biswas and the bamboos on his bike

Recycling energy, Godda style

Bhadels of Goa

Pookadai: still throbbing with morning life

Koli Kadlas

Malnourishment high among children of migrants: study

Wheels of the rural Indian West

Living Under a Red Cloud in Bellary

Vedla – earrings of the Maher community

Dreaming of water, drowning in debt

Kali: the dancer and his dreams

Farmer's diet worse than a convict's

In Yavatmal, life goes on

Suicides are about the living, not the dead

Death of a carpenter

Hoisa Shigmo!

Women farmers: weaving a life in Anantapur

Defiant in Dhinkia

Spice and all that's nice

Kerala's Green Army

The ‘jugaad’ not-a-mobile

Health as someone else's wealth

Calibrating in a Kudumbashree assembly unit