Visitors take a look at saris at the handloom expo in Berhampur. Picture by Gopal Krishna Reddy

Berhampur, Oct. 3: The inaugural day of the handloom expo saw several visitors thronging the St Stephen’s Church in the Silk City to buy an array of products on display.

Weavers’ Co-operative Societies (WCS) from Bargarh, Barpalli, Sambalpur, Sonepur, Boudh, Khurda, Athagarh besides Ganjam, have opened up kiosks at the exhibition.

One can find handloom fabrics of different varieties in the form of saris, dhotis, bed sheets, embellished dress materials in both cotton and silk available.

Weavers’ co-operative of Ganjam who are famous for the Berhampuri silk patta saris are a big draw in this exhibition cum sale.

The expo would enable the buyers to have a direct interaction with the weavers for buying original handloom products, said the organisers.

“Customers can directly interact with weavers and that will help the latter develop better products. This expo is also aimed at providing the weavers from different parts of Orissa tap the Dussehra festive market,” said Upendra Devta , assistant director of textile.

Forty weavers’ societies have opened up kiosks at the fair that was inaugurated by minister of textiles Usha Devi.

The customers were found busy looking for Berhampur patta, Pittala saris, Sambalpuri textile material, Khandua patta, Maniabandha saris, Bomkai cotton and silk saris.

“The weavers have brought some amazing designs because of the festive season and so we are happy to find many options,” said Manjurani Paul, a customer.

“A blend of new designs and fashion would have added to the beauty of the textile,” felt Suniti Tripathy, another visitor.

Many weavers are however, dismayed over the choice of the customers. “We have come to Berhampur for the first time and brought handloom materials worth Rs 2.5 lakh and expecting a turnover of Rs 1 lakh. But most customers are looking for fashion dress material whereas we have the materials woven in traditional patterns,” he said.

The handloom fair is open till Tuesday.