A shopkeeper displays Bhagalpur’s traditional silk to a customer in Sujaganj. Picture by Ashutosh Kumar

Bhagalpur, Oct. 10: If there had been a medal for the best fabric being used for items in Commonwealth Games, 2010, Bhagalpur silk would have surely grabbed the trophy. After the success of the Indian athletes at the Games, 2010, now it is the time for century-old traditional Bhagalpur silk to show its true colour.

From the makeshift stall at Janpath, New Delhi, to the recipients of the Games medals, presence of Bhagalpur silk added essence to the events. For the first time in the history of any international games event, the Angavastram, shawl for the medal recipients (male) and stole for the female medal recipients have been made of Bhagalpur silk. The Union ministry’s step to introduce the silk on world platform, has given the much-needed impetus to the traditional silk industry here.

According to the cluster development officer of Bhagalpur, Dhananjay Kumar, a body of the local silk weavers, the central ministry of cloth and the central sports ministry selected three noted clusters of weavers from India.

Bhagalpur weavers, Barabanki weavers of Uttar Pradesh and Chaneri weavers of Madhya Pradesh were short listed.

“The two ministries decided to give the Angavastram (shawl and stole) as a gift to the award winners and we were asked to supply the consignments,” Kumar said. He added secretary of Union ministry of cloth, Rita Menon played an important role to handover the assignment to Bhagalpur. “More than 300 shawls and stoles were supplied to Delhi. The silk items were made eco-friendly both in terms of its colour and composition. A single stole is 2.20 metres in length and a shawl 2.5 metres. The dupattas have a border with all the three colours of the National Flag while the shawls are kept simple,” Kumar said.

Bhagalpur bagged the maximum orders for shawls and stoles while Barabanki was the close second. According to Kumar, the items were prepared in traditional handlooms in Bhagalpur. One shawl costs Rs 750 and a stole Rs 450. Pranesh Roy, a silk exporter based in Bhagalpur, said that apart from the CWG venue, Bhagalpur silk items are witnessing an increase in the sale at the Bihar stall in Janpath. The sale is being organised by the Central Cottage Industry.

Besides, there has been a growth in sale of Bhagalpur silk items in Agra, where stalls have been opened for tourists, who have come to witness the Games in Delhi. “CWG has provided a platform for the traditional silk weaved in Bhagalpur to project it in front of the entire world. We hope this is a good opportunity to do good business in all corners of the world,” Roy said.

“The stalls were inaugurated on September 28, 2010 and so far the silk items worth more than Rs 17 lakh have been sold. We hope we will get fresh orders till October 23 when the stall would close down,” he said.

Kumar added Bhagalpur silk items are in great demand among foreign athletes and tourists in Delhi. “Foreigners, especially women and girls are appreciating the tussar fabric, which is used for making tops,” Kumar said.

“We hope we get lot of orders from all over the world as foreigners from almost all the countries assembled in Delhi for the CWG, opted for Bhagalpur silk items. Their appreciation will surely bring in good business,” Kumar said.