Kuthampully Heritage Village – A Handloom Paradise We Need To Support & Nurture.

Namaskaaram! (Hello!)

Kuthampully has always had a special place in our hearts. It is here that we have always gone to shop for our traditional dresses. Be it sarees, dhotis (mundu), shirts, kurtas, kids’ traditional wear and the likes – Kuthampully has answers for anything and everything. What better way to enjoy savings as far as cost is concerned and support our local traditional handloom industry!

Since Kuthampully is about 7-8 hours drive from our place, we thought of having a stayover in Cochin before proceeding to Kuthampully. This was a family trip as the schools were closed for the Vijayadashami holidays. Our parents, Eleymma/aunt (father’s sister), Geethu and the kids joined us this time for a fun weekend in Cochin and Kuthampully. We reached Cochin on October 19^th (Friday) and had reserved 3 rooms at Travancore Court for 3 nights, a 4-star hotel in the middle of the city. The hotel is about 50 metres from the famous MG Road and about 800 metres away from the Ernakulam Junction Metro Station. This location is ideal for anyone visiting Cochin to simply roam around and shop as MG Road is probably one of the best spots for shopping. Marine Drive and Broadway, two other hotspots for shoppers, can be easily accessed from MG Road. There are many retail outlets/showrooms on MG Road and the Centre Square Mall, along with many other attractions, is located on the same road. Proximity to the Metro Station gives one the chance to access any Kochi Metro connected locations from Trippunithara to Aluva (Alwaye). Many shoppers use this option to ply to and from the famous Lulu Mall, located in Edappally as there is a direct entry point to the mall from the Edappally Metro Station.

Travancore Court is what one wants in every hotel – super clean and comfortable rooms, excellent food, courteous staff and prime location. When we had initially reached out to Travancore Court, we were surprised with their responsiveness. We used to receive responses to our emails and calls within a short period of time. When we discussed our requirements and plans with them, they tailor-made an offering for us which was too good to be true. Our room tariff (including breakfast and taxes) came to about Rs. 3300 per night, which was excellent for the benefits we got in return. They even gave complimentary breakfast for the kids and ensured the kids had a great time during the stay. We were floored by their buffet breakfast, which boasted of South & North Indian and Continental spread. Their room service was also great and we found the items on their menu not to be very expensive. They also host a buffet dinner every weekend night and apparently the spread during those dinners is to die for. It is priced at Rs. 1,200 per person, but the guests staying at the hotel can avail a 20% discount. We didn’t think it was a smart decision for us as we felt we wouldn’t be able to do justice to the amount we’d have to pay. What we enjoyed most about the hotel was that even though they were full, they took special attention and care to each guest’s comfort. They literally pampered every single guest and we felt super fortunate have had the chance to stay at such a great hotel. Everyone, from the Valet Assistant to the Front Office staff to the housekeeping staff to the F&B staff, made us feel like we mattered. The kids were given special attention and care, and they kept asking if we, especially the kids, were enjoying the stay. There is some renovation work happening right now, which may cause a little discomfort, but it is to enhance the guests’ overall experience in the future. One thing we found missing was a swimming pool which the kids can use. They have a roof-top swimming pool, but only adults can use it because of it’s depth. It appeared as if they were conducting some construction near the swimming pool, which could most probably be for an upcoming lounge area. They have ample parking space in front of the hotel, on an adjacent parking lot and they even make parking arrangements in a nearby building if you would like covered parking. Travancore Court’s tagline says everything about them – “Come as a Guest, Leave as a Friend.” There is no doubt that Travancore Court will remain in the Top 3 for us when we plan another stay in Cochin.

Our trip to Kuthampully was scheduled for October 21^st (Saturday) as the shops there closed for Vijayadashami that evening. Our father decided to stay back in Cochin as he wanted to meet some of his acquaintances and get some work done. We started a bit behind schedule and had to navigate our way through the crazy Cochin traffic during the morning hours. Since almost all educational institutions and offices were closed due to Vijayadashami, people had already started their last-minute shopping for the festival. It took us almost an hour and 30 minutes to cross Aluva due to traffic. However, once we crossed Aluva, we were able to proceed without any issues and the open highway did help us in making up for lost time. We reached Kuthampully around 2 PM after a lovely drive, especially once we turned off from the highway to an interior road. We stopped only for some snacks on our way as we were still quite heavy after a very delicious and sumptuous breakfast from Travancore Court, and this saved us a lot of time. Since the weekend night traffic in Cochin can be maddening, we decided to leave from Kuthampully by 4:00 PM.

With Amma, Eleymma and Geethu getting busy with shopping, Govind and I decided to visit one of the few remaining handloom workers in his den to see what goes behind a handloom creation. The amount of work, time and effort that goes into a handloom product is insane! We were told that the work of loading a loom on to the frame of the handloom machine itself is a job for 6 people and setting the golden thread (Kasavu) according to the design of the saree or dhoti (mundu) takes a couple of days. Once everything is set, the worker will be able to use the machine to make around 5-6 sarees from one loom. One saree can take anywhere between 1 day to 3 days, depending on the intricacies of design and thread layout. The best part about a handloom product is that the quality of the final product is very different from that of a power loom product. If glanced from a distance, the difference may not be visible to the naked eye, but upon closer inspection, the difference is glaring. The mistakes or issues that occur while mass-producing products on power loom is not present in the handloom one. If an error occurs, the worker goes back one step and rectifies it so that the final product is devoid of any mistakes. In case of the power loom product, we cannot do that as the machines cannot identify the mistakes and go to the previous step to rectify the mistake. This is the reason why a handloom product is more expensive than a power loom product.

Another issue facing the indigenous handloom industry in Kuthampully is the lack of motivation for people of the younger generation to enter this industry to support the current generation and take it forward into the future. The handloom worker we met, Mr. Krishna Raj, said that the individuals from the younger generation are looking at greener pastures to ensure their financial stability rather than continuing with the traditional industry. He also said that the younger generation cannot be accused of being selfish as most handloom workers do not get paid a lot for their work. The primary reason for this situation is because the raw materials for creating a handloom product is usually provided by the retail establishments themselves. Hence, the handloom worker only gets paid for his time and effort, and he does not stand a chance to profit from any other aspects involved with the production of handloom product. Even though he is in his 60s, Mr. Krishna Raj was saying that he is one of the younger ones in the industry. He is happy to continue working in this industry as he has been doing this for a long time now and he enjoys creating complex and intricate handloom products. We would also like to thank Ms. Renju for taking us to Mr. Krishna Raj and patiently explaining different aspects and processes in creating a handloom product. She had previously worked in a handloom workshop, but the physical effort she had to put in on a daily basis prompted her to shift to a sales position at Kalyani Handlooms.

(Those bags are filled with sand to ensure that the threads on the handloom machine are held tight and proper.)

A retail establishment which supports the local handloom workshops is Kalyani Handlooms (erstwhile G.K. Sarees). The owner of this establishment, Mr. Suresh, has been a friend of ours for close to 15 years. His shop was one of the first ones to be established in the region in the 1990s and has been going strong ever since. He has business connections all over Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Mr. Suresh, or as we call him Sureshettan (Suresh Brother), was of immense help for us after the 2018 floods when he sent us towels and dhotis to tide over the destruction. We always prefer going all the way to Kuthampully when it comes to purchasing sarees, dhotis and other materials as the savings that such purchases can get you is unimaginable. To put things into perspective, in 2018, I had purchased a dhoti from his shop for Rs. 350 and on our way back from there, we checked-in at Lulu Mall in Cochin. I walked into one of the establishments selling dhotis and I saw the same dhoti that I had purchased from Kuthampully ealier that day (for Rs. 350) being sold at Rs. 1,350. This was the exact same piece, most probably from the same shop in Kuthampully! Imagine the product cost being driven up to cater to the operational costs of the establishments. They may have their own justifications for increasing the product price (marketing expenses, transportation costs, mall rent etc.), but as a consumer, it made me realize that I don’t need to pay that much to obtain the same product if I go directly to the source. Ever since, I’ve not bought a dhoti from any retail establishment! The drive to and from Kuthampully can be exhausting, but the effort and fuel expenses can be easily justified if one can look at the savings being made on the purchases. If you are looking to purchase traditional handloom or power loom products, Kuthampully is the place to go. Mr. Suresh will give you the best advice and offers which would make complete financial sense to you as far as quality purchase is concerned. And you can also feel satisfied and proud of yourself knowing that you did your part to support this ailing legacy industry of ours.

We left Kuthampully exactly at 4:00 PM and reached our hotel in Cochin by 7:00 PM. Usually, Google Maps is infamous in making people get stuck in traffic, but we had the Google Chechi (Sister) on our side on our way back. Unknown to us, an Indian Super League (ISL) match between Kerala Blasters and North East United was being held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kaloor. Had we proceeded directly into Cochin that evening, we would have been stuck in traffic probably for hours. Google Chechi rerouted us through the Container Road from Kalamassery and we sailed through the open road, and reached our hotel without any traffic at all.

We have a ritual every time we stay in Cochin – visit the Lulu Mall and spend an entire day. That’s exactly what we did on October 22^nd (Sunday). Ishaan, my elder son, had already chalked out our itinerary for the visit.

1. Drive to Lulu Mall.
2. Take a Kochi Metro ride to Aluva and return to Edappally Metro Station (which is connected to the Lulu Mall via bridge).
3. Have lunch from McDonald’s.
4. Go and explore the arcade games at Funtura, an entertainment zone at the top floor adjacent to the Food Court.
5. Come back to McDonald’s for refreshments.
6. Drive back to the hotel and rest for the evening.

And he made sure we followed the itinerary to a tee! At Funtura, he also got an opportunity to play an arcade game from his favourite franchise – Transformers: Shadows Rising.

We all were famished by the time we got back to the hotel. We rested and spent the evening watching the Cricket World Cup match between India and New Zealand, which India won comfortably courtesy of the calm and composed batting of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja.

All good things come to an end and so did our wonderful weekend with the entire family. After breakfast on October 23^rd (Monday), we headed out. Govind, Achan, Amma & Eleymma went back home. Geethu, Ishaan, Ahaan and I went to meet Geethu’s 6-month-old niece and spend some time with her. After lunch, we drove back to Thiruvalla and were greeted by some lightning, thunder and heavy rain on our way back. By the time we reached Thiruvalla, the thunderstorm had passed over and it was a very pleasant night that welcomed us back home.

Appo kaanam! (See you!)

Love,

Vlogabonds

Travancore Court

Contact

For Reservations, call +91-9995699912 or +91-484-2351120

Website: https://www.travancorecourt.com/

It is ideal to contact the hotel directly as they will be able to give you tailor-made offer which suits your requirement.

You may also use Booking.com, which may give you some good information on what to expect.

Booking.com Link: https://www.booking.com/Share-Qs1fl7    

Location

Travancore Court is located on Warriam Road, parallel to MG Road.

Google Map Link: https://maps.app.goo.gl/vfcRy9E21g3riR3a7   

Distance to Travancore Court (via road in a car)

Cochin International Airport – Approximately 35 kilometres (1 hour’s drive)

Ernakulam Junction Railway Station – Approximately 1 kilometre (5 minutes’ drive)

Ernakulam Town Railway Station – Approximately 4 kilometres (15 minutes’ drive)

Please note that the distances marked are according to Google Maps for the best option (road facilities and traffic).

Kalyani Handlooms

Contact

Mr. Suresh – +91-9446234815

Location

Google Map Link: https://maps.app.goo.gl/6ysNxVYRRdveALfX8

Distance to Kalyani Handlooms (via road in a car)

Cochin International Airport – Approximately 100 kilometres (2 hours & 15 minutes’ drive)

Ernakulam Town Railway Station – Approximately 120 kilometres (3 hours’ drive)

Thrissur Railway Station – Approximately 55 kilometres (1 hour & 15 minutes’ drive)

Shoranur Railway Station – Approximately 30 kilometres (50 minutes’ drive)

Please note that the distances marked are according to Google Maps for the best option (road facilities and traffic).

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