Odisha’s popular Bandhakala saree spreads message of friendship

Sonepur, Aug 3: Weavers of Odisha have received many accolades for their awestruck weaving skills, creating impressive and magnificent sarees and other handloom products. Starting from Bollywood celebrities to political leaders have been all praise for the crafting of beautiful Sambalpuri handloom products. Recently, Bollywood actress Vidya Balan had helped to popularise the Bandhakala saree of Sonepur. She had flaunted her stylish Sambalpuri ‘Mathematical Equation’ saree during the promotion of the film ‘Shakuntala Devi’. Now, Sonepur’s Bandhakala saree is again in the news for its uniqueness. Eminent weaver Bishwanath Meher has weaved a beautiful saree, which conveys the message of friendship in four languages. It took him around two and half months to craft the saree. Meher, a native of Tikrapada village under Birmaharajpur block, conveyed the message of friendship in four languages-English, Hindi, Odia, and Bangla-through his beautiful artwork in Bandha saree. In the English language, the saree carries the message ‘Friendship is not a big thing, it’s a million little things’. Similarly, the message in Odia language says, ‘Darkar Samayara Bandhu Hin Prakruta Bandhu (A friend in need, a friend indeed)’.    “We had planned to weave the saree during this year's lockdown. My Guru Prafulla Meher had designed the saree. It took us around two and half months to craft the saree,” said Bishwanath Meher. He has priced the saree to be sold at Rs 21,000. Earlier, Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan like celebrities were seen wearing Sambalpuri saree.