Workshop To Weave Tourism To Handloom Heritage Village In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: A group of travel enthusiasts will host a workshop, Bayan Gram, at Jaipur in Jagatsinghpur district on November 3 to create awareness about the heritage village and its centuries old traditions.

At Jaipur, which has been declared a weaver craft village or ‘Bayan Gram’ by the state government, every home is an artisan’s studio with every family involved in handloom or handicraft related activities.

Trip4Fun, a Bhubaneswar-based tourism company, is hosting the workshop.  With special focus on experiential tourism, the primary aim is to promote the unexplored locations of the state. The team have collaborated with the local weavers’ cooperative society.

“The model handloom village is aimed at overall development of the weavers’ community, which is famous for their unique weaving style. With more people visiting us, it will create awareness among common man about various traditions of the state that has been there since centuries,” said Mamata Prusty, joint-president of the society.

At the daylong workshop, participants will get a chance to explore Bayan Gram and understand its practices and learn handloom techniques from traditional women weavers.

The participants will also get a chance to try their hands at the craft of weaving beautiful artifacts from ‘kaincha’, also known as golden grass. Women, during their leisure time, prepare these high-quality craft items at a common place. This traditional craft has been handed down from generation to generation.

The tour is an initiative to promote this unique way of life on a national and international platform along with creating awareness among the people of the state on the same.

“In a nutshell, we aim to provide an opportunity to heritage enthusiasts to explore and understand the lifestyle of the local communities who have been upholding the cultural traditions of Odisha since centuries,” said coordinator of the workshop, Sargam Chhotray.

Also, the participants will get a chance to visit the nearby temples like Sarala temple, one of the eight most famous Shakti shrines of Odisha, and Gorekhnath temple, one of the most popular and ancient Shiva temples in the state.