Bargarh: Bollywood actress Diya Mirza, an ardent supporter of the homegrown and the handmade, sashayed down the ramp in a Bomkai saree during a fashion show at Bargarh Handloom Summit 2024, which kicked off in the western town of Odisha on Thursday.
“I am happy to be in Bargarh. What is more beautiful is that like 2023, I got to start this year again with an event in Odisha. I love sustainable wear and have been doing my bit to promote handloom and handcrafted work of Indian artisans,” she said.
The two-day summit is being jointly organised by Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts Department, Western Odisha Development Council (WODC) and district administration in Bargarh, a major hub of handloom products. The theme of this year’s summit is ‘A Weave of Culture and Legacy’. Over thousands of stakeholders from across the country, including exhibitors from 20 states, are participating in the event celebrating the handloom heritage.
The main objective of the summit is to introduce handloom products like Bomkai, Pashapali, Habaspuri, Sonpuri, Sambalpuri Bandha and Ikat at the national level and provide a platform to weavers to popularise new innovative designs. ‘Bandha Kala’ (tie and dye) work of Bargarh is the main highlight of the event. It also witnessed a buyer-seller interaction and signing of agreements to drive the growth of the handloom industry.
The summit is expected to see a footfall of over 10,000 visitors.
