Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Hon’ble Union Minister of Jal Shakti recently visited the 48th edition of IHGF-Delhi fair Autumn 2019. During his visit to the fair, a curtain raiser on products of Mana village was held through a fashion show wherein models worn the products produced by the artisans of Mana Village.
Mana village is a village in Chamoli district of Uttrakhand located at an altitude of 3,200 mtr. In fact, Mana is the last village before the Mana Pass and is 24 KM from boarder of India to China. The residents are the last generation of Bhortia community said Rakesh Kumar, Director General – EPCH.
Kumar further elaborated that the artisans of Mana Village are producing products made out of raw wool like Pankhi Shawl, Khes, woolen etc. The material is sustainable, resilient, eco-friendly and is a natural animal derivative i.e. sheared once a year.
With EPCH designers guidance, these raw material and crafting nuances of Mana artisans have been combined with hand crafting skills of women artisans in Barmer [Rajasthan] to bring out a range of products and also open up a world of product innovation possibilities for both sides.
10 master craftpersons were chosen from Mana Village whose normal Mana produced fabric such as Pankhi Shawl, Khes have been developed into high fashion items such as woolen coat, shawls, caps, ponchus, shrugs, purses and space have been provided to them to showcase their new developed products so that direct linkage can be provided to them by interacting with the international buying community. Kumar said that the market linkage provided through platform such like IHGF-Delhi Fair will definitely increase the demands of the duly innovative products of Mana Village in the world markets.
