Family on a mission to save ancient craft

Patan (Gujarat):  At first sight, Patan, a municipal town in north Gujarat, appears like an urban nightmare, a dust bowl brimming with people and stray cows.

But a casual stroll will make one realise that the town, built on the ruins of the Chalukya Dynasty’s capital, is a veritable slice of history, which explains why it is lined with ruins of fort walls and imposing gates.

The most prestigious export of the town is, however, the “patola” textile, and the Patan-based Selvi family has been zealously guarding since the 12th century the extraordinary craft of “double ikat” — the tying of warps (longitudinal thread) and weft (thread horizontally crossing warps).

The Selvi family has gone to great lengths to preserve the craft — now showcased in the “Patan Patola Heritage” museum in the town, which documents the history of the textile, also known as the “mother of all ikats”.

The Patola art is the recipient of several national and international awards and on multiple occasions the President of India has conferred the title of master craftpersons on members of the family.

The family, which wields much respect in the town going to polls on December 14, has never waded into politics, but Bharatbhai Kantilal Salvi, one of the master weavers of the family, has a grievance.

“Narendra Modi, who was the chief minister of Gujarat for 13 years, never showed an interest in our ancient craft or visited our manufacturing unit. I did talk to him several times when he was the CM but it never happened,” says Bharatbhai, who along with elder brother Rohitbhai Kantilal Salvi is the current chief patron of the museum.

Bharatbhai will cast his vote on Thursday, but says he has little hope in any political party.