Bengalhandlooms.com

Good news for Bengal handloom saree enthusiasts:  Tantuja is poised for a revival

Dear Readers,

For the better part of a year I have been associated with the Design Department of Tantuja, the Apex Society of handloom weavers’ cooperative societies in West Bengal.

Tantuja sarees = West Bengal handloom

With its headquarters in Kolkata, Tantuja has for long been synonymous with Banglar tant (literally Bengal handlooms). It has also seen one of the largest Government interventions in the handloom sector in this part of the world (it is under the Ministry of Micro and Small Scale Enterprises and Textiles, Govt. of West Bengal). To give you a small picture, it has nearly 450 active member societies, and 100 exclusive retail outlets!

Products

The major retail products as of now are -

Handloom sarees (tant sarees) : -

• Silk: – Murshidabad silk printed saree; Garod, Baluchari, Matka, Korial and Fulia silk sarees;

• Cotton: – Tangail, Shantipuri, Dhaniakhali, Begampuri sarees

Handloom bedsheets: – Printed/woven

Handloom Stoles: – Silk and cotton

Others: – Dhoti, lungi, gamchha

There is also a vast range of embroidered sarees with kantha, ari and zari work.

Turnaround time

With the winds of change blowing, it’s turnaround time here at Tantuja.  You may expect a strong revival effort over the next few years. Don’t be surprised if we emerge once again as the single major player in Bengal handloom.

Let’s hope the somnolent giant actually flexes its muscles once again!

Here are a few products developed for Tantuja by yours truly.

tantuja-sarees-shantipur-cotton-2

tantuja-sarees-shantipur-cotton-1

——————————————————————————————————————– —–

Here are some of the exclusive outlets/showrooms of Tantuja in & around Kolkata: -

—————————————————————————————————————————