Balaramapuram
Encyclopedia
Balaramapuram is a village in the Thiruvananthapuram district
of Kerala
, India
. It is considered as the second market hub of Thiruvananthapuram, the first being Chalai market in Thiruvananthapuram
city.
Balaramapuram is famous as the centre for the production of traditional varieties of handloom textiles meant for the contemporary cloth wearing style of Kerala. Its unique craftsmanship makes it an ideal heirloom.
(Trivandrum) city in Kerala
, India and 25 km North of Kaliyikkavila, the southern boundary of the state. Balaramapuram lies 77 degrees 5 minutes east longitude and 8 degrees 23 minutes North latitude.
was first introduced at Balaramapuram. The Maharaja and his Delava (Chief Minister), Ummini Thampi jointly decided to convert Balaramapuram and its surrounding places into an agro-based industrial belt with various traditional industries by the development of paddy and coconut
cultivation, fishing
, weaving
, and oil
extraction. Separate streets with a clustered at identified places, providing a comparatively better infrastructure for development.
The Delava of Maharaja brought seven weaver families (Shaliars) from Tamilnadu to produce fabrics for the members of the royal family and made them settle at Balaramapuram in a separate location now called "Shaliar Street". Market
places were opened at convenient locations to make the marketing of products easier. The present residents of the street are the descendents of these seven families. Among the prominent weaving masters, Mr. Ponnan alias Appu panicker from Thannivila is an acclaimed weaver who taught the business to others of this region.
speak Tamil
and marry within their own community. The community settlement has four main streets on which the weavers are settled in row houses. The four streets are Single Street, Double Street, Vinayagar Street, and the New Street.
The temple
of Agasthiar is placed axially along the main streets. The main deities are Lord Siva and Goddess Parvathi. Lord Vinayaka, Muruga, Navagrahas, Naga and Krishna
are also worshipped here.
The Double Street has two temples – The Muttaramman Temple and the Vinayagar Temple. There is a Ganapathi temple in the Vinayagar Street. For males above 18, membership in the temple committee is compulsory. The temple and the related functions form the social hub of all the activities related with the community development.
space as the row houses abut the streets with no front yard.
The houses of the Shaliyar weavers reflect their culture
, occupation, and religious beliefs. They have rectangular layouts with houses sharing common walls. All the houses have production units attached to them. The houses of the weathier families have showrooms. The special kind of architectural detailing of the facade
s, internal courtyard
s, and the arrangement of rooms to suit the occupation of weaving, make the houses unique in nature.
There is very little open space or car parking facilities within the settlement. The streets are dotted with community wells
. Lack of infrastructure
like levelled roads, public water supply
, street drain
s and sewerage are some problems faced by the community. In most places the streets are not levelled and are not accessible for vehicles.
type of throw-shuttle pit looms for the production of exclusively cotton
fabrics
with pure zeri. They do not use any type of improved appliances such as Dobby, Jacquard, Jala, etc. for the production of designs for cloth with extra warp and extra weft. Identical appearance of designs, including warp and weft stripes on the face and backside of the fabric is obtained by this technique of weaving.
No change has so far been taken place in the type of loom or technology
of weaving in producing such varieties. The variety known as "Pudava and Kavani" (veshti and upper cloth with pure zeri) still remains as a prestigious bridal gift
in marriage
s. The designs with zeri or coloured yarn, using the age-old technique still has unparallel appeal which can attract even the most sophisticated customer
s.
Five percent of the houses run agencies for hand loom items. These houses act as collecting points of hand loom clothes produced in the colony. Nine percent of houses have do not have any home based activity. Twenty-seven percent of houses use traditional means of production, whereas 59% are based on new methods.
and drop in the prices of related items, the inhabitants of the colony
have found it difficult to persevere in the same field of activity as a result of which, the younger generations are pursuing higher education
and alternate employment
to make ends meet.
Another reason for this sea of change in the aptitude of the inhabitants is the low price per unit put into making these hand loom items; the overheads being much too higher for houses having lesser looms that the ones, mass producing these items with the help of separate work place close to the residence. All such varieties, which were reserved for exclusive production in the hand loom sector, are now extensively and widely produced in power looms making the hand loom products not competitive in the market.
Until 1990, the varieties of Balaramapuram had excellent market potential and the weavers there were getting reasonable income
and could maintain a better standard of living. Nearly 5,100 looms were engaged in the production of such fabrics. No attempt was made to exploit the skill of such weavers, who are master craftsmen in their trade
, to produce any other variety for expanding market demand.
However, recently this seems to be changing and the demand for hand loomed products is high.
Thiruvananthapuram district
Thiruvananthapuram District is the southernmost district of the Indian state of Kerala. It came into existence in the year 1957. The headquarters is the city of Thiruvananthapuram which is also the capital city of Kerala....
of Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. It is considered as the second market hub of Thiruvananthapuram, the first being Chalai market in Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
city.
Balaramapuram is famous as the centre for the production of traditional varieties of handloom textiles meant for the contemporary cloth wearing style of Kerala. Its unique craftsmanship makes it an ideal heirloom.
Location
Balaramapuram is located on National Highway 47 15 km South east of ThiruvananthapuramThiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
(Trivandrum) city in Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, India and 25 km North of Kaliyikkavila, the southern boundary of the state. Balaramapuram lies 77 degrees 5 minutes east longitude and 8 degrees 23 minutes North latitude.
History
During the regime of His Highness Maharaja Balaramavarma, from 1798 to 1810, handloom weavingWeaving
Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
was first introduced at Balaramapuram. The Maharaja and his Delava (Chief Minister), Ummini Thampi jointly decided to convert Balaramapuram and its surrounding places into an agro-based industrial belt with various traditional industries by the development of paddy and coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
cultivation, fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
, weaving
Weaving
Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
, and oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
extraction. Separate streets with a clustered at identified places, providing a comparatively better infrastructure for development.
The Delava of Maharaja brought seven weaver families (Shaliars) from Tamilnadu to produce fabrics for the members of the royal family and made them settle at Balaramapuram in a separate location now called "Shaliar Street". Market
Market
A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...
places were opened at convenient locations to make the marketing of products easier. The present residents of the street are the descendents of these seven families. Among the prominent weaving masters, Mr. Ponnan alias Appu panicker from Thannivila is an acclaimed weaver who taught the business to others of this region.
Shaliyar community structure
The people of the Shaliyar communityCommunity
The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
speak Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
and marry within their own community. The community settlement has four main streets on which the weavers are settled in row houses. The four streets are Single Street, Double Street, Vinayagar Street, and the New Street.
The temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
of Agasthiar is placed axially along the main streets. The main deities are Lord Siva and Goddess Parvathi. Lord Vinayaka, Muruga, Navagrahas, Naga and Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
are also worshipped here.
The Double Street has two temples – The Muttaramman Temple and the Vinayagar Temple. There is a Ganapathi temple in the Vinayagar Street. For males above 18, membership in the temple committee is compulsory. The temple and the related functions form the social hub of all the activities related with the community development.
Urban environment
The Shaliyar community settlement spreads over an area of about 13 acres (52,609.2 m²) towards the South of NH-47. Main entrance is from NH-47 to the 9 m wide Single Street. The entry is not well defined. The Single Street with two story buildings on either side act as an axis with the Agasthiar temple being the focal point. The Single street, Double street and the New street are the main streets The Agasthiar temple is placed at the point of intersection of the these streets. The streets form a major interactionInteraction
Interaction is a kind of action that occurs as two or more objects have an effect upon one another. The idea of a two-way effect is essential in the concept of interaction, as opposed to a one-way causal effect...
space as the row houses abut the streets with no front yard.
The houses of the Shaliyar weavers reflect their culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
, occupation, and religious beliefs. They have rectangular layouts with houses sharing common walls. All the houses have production units attached to them. The houses of the weathier families have showrooms. The special kind of architectural detailing of the facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
s, internal courtyard
Courtyard
A court or courtyard is an enclosed area, often a space enclosed by a building that is open to the sky. These areas in inns and public buildings were often the primary meeting places for some purposes, leading to the other meanings of court....
s, and the arrangement of rooms to suit the occupation of weaving, make the houses unique in nature.
There is very little open space or car parking facilities within the settlement. The streets are dotted with community wells
Water well
A water well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, boring or drilling to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The well water is drawn by an electric submersible pump, a trash pump, a vertical turbine pump, a handpump or a mechanical pump...
. Lack of infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
like levelled roads, public water supply
Water supply
Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavours or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes...
, street drain
Drain
A drain is a plumbing fixture that provides an exit-point for waste water or water that is to be re-circulatedDrain may also refer to:* Drainage, the natural or artificial removal of surface and sub-surface water from a given area...
s and sewerage are some problems faced by the community. In most places the streets are not levelled and are not accessible for vehicles.
Weaving
The weavers use a primitivePrimitive
Primitive may refer to:* Anarcho-primitivism, an anarchist critique of the origins and progress of civilization* Primitive culture, one that lacks major signs of economic development or modernity...
type of throw-shuttle pit looms for the production of exclusively cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
fabrics
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
with pure zeri. They do not use any type of improved appliances such as Dobby, Jacquard, Jala, etc. for the production of designs for cloth with extra warp and extra weft. Identical appearance of designs, including warp and weft stripes on the face and backside of the fabric is obtained by this technique of weaving.
No change has so far been taken place in the type of loom or technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
of weaving in producing such varieties. The variety known as "Pudava and Kavani" (veshti and upper cloth with pure zeri) still remains as a prestigious bridal gift
Gift
A gift or a present is the transfer of something without the expectation of receiving something in return. Although gift-giving might involve an expectation of reciprocity, a gift is meant to be free. In many human societies, the act of mutually exchanging money, goods, etc. may contribute to...
in marriage
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
s. The designs with zeri or coloured yarn, using the age-old technique still has unparallel appeal which can attract even the most sophisticated customer
Customer
A customer is usually used to refer to a current or potential buyer or user of the products of an individual or organization, called the supplier, seller, or vendor. This is typically through purchasing or renting goods or services...
s.
Five percent of the houses run agencies for hand loom items. These houses act as collecting points of hand loom clothes produced in the colony. Nine percent of houses have do not have any home based activity. Twenty-seven percent of houses use traditional means of production, whereas 59% are based on new methods.
Present conditions
Presently, a major portion of the hand loom clothes produced in this area is sold to the Handloom Development Corporation and Hantex. Due to the emergence of power looms in the weaving industryIndustry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
and drop in the prices of related items, the inhabitants of the colony
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
have found it difficult to persevere in the same field of activity as a result of which, the younger generations are pursuing higher education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
and alternate employment
Employment
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
to make ends meet.
Another reason for this sea of change in the aptitude of the inhabitants is the low price per unit put into making these hand loom items; the overheads being much too higher for houses having lesser looms that the ones, mass producing these items with the help of separate work place close to the residence. All such varieties, which were reserved for exclusive production in the hand loom sector, are now extensively and widely produced in power looms making the hand loom products not competitive in the market.
Until 1990, the varieties of Balaramapuram had excellent market potential and the weavers there were getting reasonable income
Income
Income is the consumption and savings opportunity gained by an entity within a specified time frame, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. However, for households and individuals, "income is the sum of all the wages, salaries, profits, interests payments, rents and other forms of earnings...
and could maintain a better standard of living. Nearly 5,100 looms were engaged in the production of such fabrics. No attempt was made to exploit the skill of such weavers, who are master craftsmen in their trade
Trade
Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...
, to produce any other variety for expanding market demand.
However, recently this seems to be changing and the demand for hand loomed products is high.