5 Odisha Products In UNESCO List Of India’s Heritage Textile Crafts

Bhubaneswar: Five handloom products of Odisha have found place in the list of 50 exclusive and iconic heritage textile crafts of the country released by UNESCO.

The report, titled “Handmade for the 21st Century: Safeguarding Traditional Indian Textile’, has enlisted 11 handloom products each of northern, southern and western India, 10 of eastern India and 4 products of norths-east region.

Among the products of eastern region, Odisha’s 5 famous handloom textiles have found mention in the list. Those are ‘Bandh Tie and Dye’ of Sambalpur, ‘Pata’ (Phoda Kumbha) of Berhampur, Dhalapathar screens of Khurda, hand-woven textile of Dongaria Kondh of Kandhamal and ‘Pata’ of caligraphic weaving of Kenduli.

Besides the histories and legends behind the textiles, the UNESCO report describes the complicated and secret processes behind their making.

While pointing out the causes of the dwindling popularity of these products, the world body offers strategies for their preservation. The report is the product of years of research on the 50 selected textiles.