Dec 26, 2008 Chinese silk is gradually flooding Indian markets
giving the country’s centuries-old handloom industry a run for
money. Cheap imitations and lack of government support have
forced hundreds of artisans to abandon their traditional
profession. Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh: Legend has it that India’s
famed handloom silk industry began around 300 A.D. after a
Chinese princess smuggled out the eggs of the silkworm moth and
the seeds of the mulberry tree in her headdress. More than 1,700
years later, China is threatening to swamp the industry -
through dumping, cheap imitations and a proliferation of
automated looms. India has several centres associated with silk
weaving, but nowhere is the threat felt more than in this holy
city on the banks of the Ganges river, where for centuries
artisans have woven the intricate, multi-hued Banarsi sari that
is an essential part of every Hindu bride’s trousseau. Row after
row of handlooms sit idle in the city’s Pili Kothi area and the
inactivity is punctuated only by th