11700
taluka in Kutch built a temple in his honour
and requested him to bring his kin from
Marwar in Rajasthan for the upkeep of the
temple. Shri Ramdev Peer obliged and thus
established the first settlement of the Meghwal
community of weavers from Marwar to Kutch.
It then became a tradition that whenever a new
village was formed, a family from the Meghwal
weaver community was invited to settle down
in order to cater to the weaving needs of the
communities just as other artisans would be
invited to settle in to provide other services.
Thus, the weaver community is found scattered
almost in all blocks of Kutch. This community
consists of four sub-castes namely Maheshwari,
Marwada, Gurjara and Charaniya. Amongst
these sub-castes, the Maheshwaris and
Marwadas excelled at weaving and leather work
and greatly helped usher in the era of handloom
weaving in Kutch. Over time, the Maheshwaris
moved on to perform more mainstream jobs,
while the Marwada weavers – called Vankars –
continued their traditional weaving practice.
Humble Beginnings
In my childhood, we lived in a simple mud home
with a thatched roof, and the activities related to
weaving were carried out around the home. My
mother and other women in the home worked
on the sizing process of wool in a solution
of wild onion, dyeing the yarn with natural
ingredients, preparing the warp and the bobbin
for weaving, and making a cone out of a hank
of wool, while the men worked on preparing the
warp (along with the women) and weaving.
During my childhood, I saw that our family faced
severe hardships in terms of financial constraints.
