Breathing new life into an ancient art in the holy city of Varanasi
An ancient city on the banks of the Ganges River in Northern India, Varanasi is a deeply spiritual place. Many Hindus consider it sacred. With over 2,000 temples, Varanasi—once the home of Lord Shiva—is widely considered the spiritual capital of India.
Richly colorful and chaotic, it is also one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities. Mark Twain once said that Varanasi is “older than history, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together!”
Sometimes known as Kashi (City of Life), or Benares (during British Colonial times), Varanasi was renowned as a center for the ancient art of silk weaving. Families passed down the tradition through the generations, and the Varanasi weavers produced some of the finest quality hand-woven, embroidered and brocaded silks in the world. But in recent years, electric looms and cheaper silks from outside India began to marginalize the master weavers in nearby local villages. Unable to support their families, and forced to sell their foot-powered wooden looms for firewood, the weavers were in crisis.
Then Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, one of the oldest and most authentic luxury hotel groups in India, stepped in. Determined to help—and carry on its historic commitment to supporting and sustaining Indian arts and culture—Taj provided the weavers with emergency aid, installed water pumps to improve sanitation, brought solar power into homes to provide a sustainable energy source, and helped repair looms that were badly damaged. It funded training programs, so that younger generations–women as well as men—could learn the craft; provided the weavers with silk threads and other materials; and created a market for the exquisite silks by commissioning materials to outfit the staff of 13 Taj hotels and palaces.
Perhaps most important, the hotel brought the artisans’ work to the attention of the global community, by showcasing it in the Taj Khazanas (“treasure” or “treasure trove”)—a chain of luxury boutiques that feature the work of Indian artisans in Taj hotels in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Goa and, of course, Varanasi. Guests of the Taj Nadesar Palace in Varanasi can take a trip to the Benares Weaver Village and see, firsthand, the revival of a lost art. tajhotels.com
Photo caption: Exquisite silks—and saris for Taj staff-—are hand-woven by the Varanasi weavers