Thüjosalü Chakhesang weaving at her home in Diezephe village in Nagalands’s Chümoukedima district — Thüjosalü Chakhesang weaving at her home in Diezephe village in Nagaland’s Chümoukedima district

Kabita Nath from Rampur village in Assam’s Nalbari district drying the natural-dyed yarns that enrich her handloom weaves. — Kabita Nath from Rampur village in Assam’s Nalbari district drying the natural-dyed yarns that enrich her handloom weaves

Runuma Begum of Chinadi village in Nalbari now has a weaving shed donated to her through Antaran

Artisan-entrepreneur Geeta Haloi from Daulashal in Nalbari winds bobbins along with her son, who helps run her business

Nagaland artisans Khunietalu Medeo (extreme left) from Phusachodu village in Phek district and Anitoli Sumi (second from right) from Sunito village in Dimapur district with buyers at an exhibition in New Delhi

Artisan entrepreneur Acilu Vero (third from left) and her associates at work in Phughi village in Phek district

Attired in a traditional tussar sari, artisan Sumati Das celebrates Diwali at the Antaran centre in Gopalpur in Odisha

Sashi Das boils silkworm cocoons as part of the process to extract tussar yarn (to be used by her artisan-entrepreneur son, Ullash, to weave tussar fabrics from their home in Jajpur village in Gopalpur)

Gopalpur-based Kartika Sur, who trained as a micro-entrepreneur at Antaran, is making waves with his tussar creations

Basanti Chand, also from Gopalpur, winds yarn in preparation for weaving

Eswaramma Gunturu, based in Venkatagiri in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati district, is the matriarch of her family enterprise

Perneti Lakshmi, also from Venkatagiri, is an associate weaver with Antaran

Suryamani Chand, based in Gopalpur in Odisha, enrolled in Antaran’s artisan entrepreneurship programme and now runs 10 looms

70-year-old Donthu Ramesh, who hails from Vekatagiri, returned to weaving a couple of years ago on the urging of famed weaver Patnam Subramanyam. — 70-year-old Donthu Ramesh, who hails from Vekatagiri, returned to weaving a couple of years ago on the urging of famed weaver Patnam Subramanyam

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Thread by thread

Antaran, the crafts-themed livelihoods initiative of the Tata Trusts, has been helping weave a revitalisation of India’s wide and varied handloom sector for six years. The initiative now covers 244 villages in six handloom hubs in four states — Nalbari and Namrup in Assam, Gopalpur and Maniabhandha in Odisha, Venkatagiri in Andhra Pradesh, and Dimapur in Nagaland.

The Antaran effort is centred on enhancing the livelihoods of artisans, and it is also about preserving a rich cultural tradition rooted in different parts of the country. Antaran is involved in a spread of activities aimed at enabling its artisans to flourish, from skill development and design inputs to improving market linkages.

Antaran has reached more than 3,700 artisans, nearly 2,500 of them women. These artisans learn about design and business and are encouraged to become self-employed or entrepreneurs (there are some 300 artisan entrepreneurs in the programme).