Located in the seemingly non-descript village of Badanavalu just about 30 km from Mysore in the southern state of Karnataka, is the historic Badanavalu Khadi Gramodhyoga Kendra aka Badanavalu Khadi Centre. The sprawling centre spread over 7.5 acres is indeed a historic one considering it was opened way back in 1927 and is believed to have been started by four Dalit women. It is significant to note that the centre was visited by Mahatma Gandhi himself in 1927 and 1932.
A statue of Mahatma Gandhi within an enclosure and a stone emblem denoting the commencement of the centre stands in the middle of the large expanse of land. It also serves as a subtle reminder that the centre is almost a century old.
The centre has a spinning as well as a weaving unit here and manufactures various products like cloth for men and womens’ wear, handkerchiefs, towels etc which are supplied to the Khadi retail stores in Hassan, Holenarasipur, K.R. Nagar and Mysore.
As I entered the spinning room, the sight of women, some as old as even 80, sitting on the floor spinning yarn from raw cotton on their Charkhas was quite a revelation. The yarn is bundled into units locally called “laddis” and on an average one person can produce three laddis in an hour. The centre produces about 600-700 laddis a day which is commendable considering the fact that the entire process is manual. Each laddi holds about 1000 meters of yarn.
The yarn is then treated with a mixture of starch and refined flour so that it gains tenacity and strength. Thereafter warping is done depending on the design and end use of the fabric. Weaving is done on looms operated by hand. Currently there are about ten looms and the centre has the capacity to produce 150-200 metres of cloth in a day. Depending on the demand from the retail stores, the production each month is rotated between towels (which come in 3 sizes, 70, 80 and 90 cm) and running fabric.
Apart from promoting sustainability, it is heartening to note that the centre is a source of employment for women who come to work here from the surrounding villages. Empowering them with financial independence is indeed a great achievement of the centre.
There have been several plans to develop the venue in a big way and model it on the lines of the Sabramati Ashram in Gujarat or the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Musuem in Madurai. This would augur well not only for the cause of the khadi cottage industry but would also help promote tourism. It will also be a shot in the arm for the centre itself and its employees in the light of rising costs especially the cost of cotton raw material.
The centre is located close to the famous Srikanteshwara Temple of Nanjangud. Another version of this article was originally published in The Khaleej Times.
