In Sync with Mother Earth
Community-based NGO Avani integrates local skills, resources and the participation of community members to create beautiful textiles.
In remote mountainous regions, hours away from the nearest railway station and with some villages accessible only on foot or on horseback, change often takes place very slowly. Yet, as they say, where there is a will, there is a way. And gloriously showing the way at Tripuradevi, a remote village in Pithoragarh district in the Kumaon Himalayas in Uttarakhand, is Avani.
Avani, a community-based NGO, has brought about a change in the economic fabric of the region by tapping the traditional textile skills of the people while respecting their environment, culture and social fabric. And its efforts have seen the little known mountainous region produce a range of beautiful stoles, mufflers, shawls, saris, jackets, garments for men, women and children, and home furnishings. The textiles are handwoven with hand-spun yarns that have been dyed using natural dyes, and their beauty has been appreciated by textile lovers and designers in India and abroad.