Kotpad Handloom fabric, cotton saree from India: what it is and how it is worn

Kotpad handloom is a plant-dyed cloth woven by Mirgan weavers in Kotpad, a village in Odisha's Koraput district. Cotton yarn and tussar silk take colour from a dye boiled out of aul roots, then go onto handlooms as sarees with a solid border, dupattas and stoles, with the motifs worked in extra weft.

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First product from Odisha to get a Geographical Indication tag, in 2005
The colour comes from the roots of the aul tree, Morinda citrifolia
Colour work and thread dyeing take about 15 to 30 days
Mirgan weavers produce Bhotada and Dharua motifs for neighbouring communities
Gobardhan Panika received the Padma Shri in 2018 for this craft

What is Kotpad Handloom fabric?

Kotpad handloom is a cloth coloured by plants rather than chemicals. The Mirgan weavers make it in Kotpad, a village in Odisha's Koraput district, and they belong to the area's tribal artisans. Cotton is the main yarn, with tussar silk reserved for the finer sarees. The ground usually keeps the warm off-white of undyed cotton, while borders and motifs carry deep maroon and black. Patterns are put in with extra weft, so they sit slightly raised on the surface. Sarees, shawls, dupattas, stoles and dress material all come off these looms, and the cloth is described as easy to wear through summer and winter alike.

Where does Kotpad Handloom fabric come from?

The material places this craft in Kotpad, inside Odisha's Koraput district, and offers no founding date or legend about its start. Its recorded landmark is 2005, when it became the first Odisha product to gain a Geographical Indication tag in India. The Mirgan weavers also turn out cloth carrying the motif sets of neighbouring communities, among them the Bhotada and Dharua. Alarm about the craft's future led the writer and director Biswanath Rath to make an English documentary on its dyeing and weaving, produced by PSBT with Doordarshan and shown on DD National on 24 March 2018. Master weaver Gobardhan Panika received the Padma Shri that same year.

How is Kotpad Handloom fabric made?

The work starts with cotton yarn, tussar silk and the roots of the aul tree, the plant also called Indian madder or Morinda citrifolia. Because the dye is drawn from plant material, it is non-toxic and kind to the skin. Preparing the colour and dyeing the threads runs for roughly fifteen to thirty days. What comes out is mostly black and maroon. Two things steer the final shade: how mature the bark gathered from those roots is, and how much dye the yarn takes up. Harikari, meaning iron sulphate, pushes things toward dark brown. The dyed yarn is then woven by hand, with patterns added in extra weft.

Kotpad Handloom fabric, drawn

The cloth Field natural with maroon, madhubani motif, border: Solid, unbroken border built in with several interlocking shuttles, pallu: Pata anchal, the decorated panel at the loose end of the saree. Drawn from this page, not from one saree.

Draped A sketch of the usual Nivi wrap in this saree's colours.

Jamdani: motifs woven into the cloth by hand, thread by thread, on a fine ground of cotton.

Plain weave: the weft thread goes over one warp thread and under the next, then the reverse on the next row.

Colours, motifs and borders

Undyed cotton makes the off-white field, and the dyed yarn does the drawing. Motifs sit in extra weft and borrow images from local life: conch, fish, crab, boat, temple, fan, axe and bow. The border is solid and unbroken, put together thread by thread as several shuttles interlock with each pass. Sarees finish with a pata anchal, the decorated panel at the loose edge. Dupattas are scattered with small repeated butis, and tussar versions add tribal art to the weave.

How Kotpad Handloom fabric is worn

The saree is the main piece, in cotton or, in the finer examples, tussar silk, and the cloth is comfortable in both summer and winter. The same dye work serves dupattas, stoles, scarves, shawls and dress material. No particular regional drape is recorded for it, so it is worn in the ordinary way, with the pata anchal falling at the end.

When Kotpad Handloom fabric is worn

Sarees and shawls are the pieces people ask for most from this cluster, and they are made for ordinary wear across the seasons rather than for one event. The cloth is also woven for the weavers' own neighbours, since the Mirgans produce the motif sets of nearby communities such as the Bhotada and Dharua. The material records no wedding or festival role for it.

Styles of Kotpad Handloom fabric

The range runs from cotton sarees with a solid border and a pata anchal to tussar silk sarees carrying tribal art. Beyond sarees there are dupattas with butis, stoles in cotton and silk, scarves, shawls and dress material. Nothing in the material describes a powerloom imitation or sets hand work against machine work; everything is spoken of as handloom.

What Kotpad Handloom fabric means

In 2005 this became the first Odisha product to carry a Geographical Indication tag, a legal mark tying the name to its home. For the Mirgan weavers the craft is both livelihood and identity, and the worry on record is that it may thin out. A documentary shown on DD National in March 2018 set out what makes the cloth unusual and what might keep it going. That same year Gobardhan Panika, a master of the craft, was given the Padma Shri.

Questions people ask about Kotpad Handloom fabric

Where does Kotpad handloom fabric come from?

It is woven in Kotpad, a village in Odisha's Koraput district, by weavers of the Mirgan community. The cloth is identified so closely with that place that it carries the village's name, and it became the first item from Odisha to receive a Geographical Indication tag.

How is the colour made?

The dye is boiled from the roots of the aul tree, Indian madder or Morinda citrifolia, which grows in the area. Colour work and thread dyeing take about 15 to 30 days, and iron sulphate called harikari deepens the result. Being plant-based, it is non-toxic and gentle on the skin.

What does the fabric look like?

Undyed cotton gives the off-white ground. A solid border runs through it in deep maroon or black, and motifs sit in extra weft: conch, fish, crab, boat, temple, fan and others from local life. Sarees end in a pata anchal, the decorated panel at the loose edge.

What kinds of cloth are woven?

Cotton sarees with a solid border, tussar silk sarees carrying tribal art, dupattas sprinkled with butis, stoles in cotton and silk, scarves, shawls and dress material. The cloth is said to sit well to wear in summer and in winter.

Why is there concern about the craft?

The documentary by Biswanath Rath, shown on DD National in 2018, treated the work as a race against time and looked at ways to revive both dyeing and weaving. In 2018 master weaver Gobardhan Panika was honoured with the Padma Shri.

Good reading and sources

Where this page comes from

The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Kotpad Handloom fabrics", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). EveryPallu rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.

It may contain mistakes. Traditions, weaves and prices differ from one weaver, town or shop to the next, and it is not buying advice. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-25.

Kotpad Handloom fabric