Pattur, a weaving town

 When the invitation to join Prof. Vinodan of the tourism college at Golagmudi in Nellore and their Project Associate Sree Ansh Mishra for a tour to Pattur village came my way, I was extremely delighted. Ever since a tourism student had told me about the village a few days ago and had shared her experience of visiting the old weaving town of Nellore in pictures, I was hoping to go there at the earliest. I was sure it would make an interesting activity in our Nellore Tourism Itinerary, a day tour from the tourism hub of Chennai. 

The days are hot in Nellore, so Professor suggested to visit the village in the afternoon. From Atmakur bus-stand we took an auto to Pattur which was about 40 minutes away from town. The very knowledgeable auto driver took us through the beautiful winding roads of the village of Kovur to the weaving town on Pattur.

The afternoon was fine with sun calming down, round about 4pm and we started walking down the street from where the auto driver dropped us which was in the Shops Street, where all the fashionable shops selling Pattur sarees were. The first impression that we got as we started walk around was how clean and neat the Pattur streets are. They are used to visitors and shoppers who come to the village to buy their famous weaves.

India Post. 524137 Pincode

The Iconic Indian post box. The remains of a colonial Era too. 

We walked all the way uptill the temple where the villagers were loading their harvest to tractors to take them to the town. Subramaniam who runs the specialized tea shop served us his best which was very good. I wanted to have one more, but though the sun was slanting, it was hot for another cup of hot tea.

Subramaniam serves the best tea in Pattur. They seems to have a division of offering among the shop keepers one selling tea and the other selling snacks. 

The far end of the Pattur street, the temple adjacent to that is Subramaniam's tea shop. 

The time of the year where every single field in the district of Andhra Pradesh is just about reaching the harvest phase. Here the villagers are loading up their sack full of rice to be taken to the town. 

As we started walking back the street, the friendly villagers helped us with the details and information about the shops and weavers. We wanted to visit a hand loom and the weavers at their production center. We came across this friendly elderly gentlemen who offered us to take to the loom but we never thought he ran a loom himself. We were lucky because his son Siva Kumar is one of the best weaver in the village and gave us the whole information about the process, demonstrated the weave. It was obvious that they are used to getting visitors and know how to share information very well.

Siva Kumar posing in the pit of his loom. Friendly and knowledgeable, this hard working young man keep standing all day in his workstation. 

The mechanics of the loom, the front cover of the fan is removed to keep Siva cool through the hot summer day. 

A saree may take a day and a half to weave, Siva says, if he puts in some extra hours and work fast he may finish one in a day. 

 Nageshawar, on the way back, took us to Vijayalakshmi who runs a snack shop on the Pattur street. Her vadas and idilis were as good as the best we could get anywhere but what added to it was the village charm and warmth. 

Finger bitingly delicious Lentil Vadas

I was taking Siva Kumar's picture when Professor struck up a conversation with a couple who runs a shop further down the street.

SreeAnsh Mishra with SivaKumar and his friend. Siva came all dressed up after a long day at his handloom. He says he needs a break after the long hard day working at the loom standing in pit all the while. 

Nagendra and Kamakshi are the third generation of weavers of the weaving community of Pattur, the living end of a long line of weavers who are spread all around South India. Kamakshi was very informative and she explained all aspect the weave, the raw materials and the techniques. Both the Professor and his young colleague bought saris for their families, picturing them and sharing them  through their phones even asking the choice of those who were miles  away before buying them.

The sari collection at Kamakshi's shop.

Nagendra is an Electronics Engineer, Kamakshi a diploma holder in engineering, they now successfully run a shop at Pattur, selling its famous silk and cotton saris. 

Unfortunately there was no ATM at Pattur so Nagendra offered to come along with us to Kovur where they had one. Since we were not expecting to shop and they do not accept credit cards we had to come to an ATM in a shared Auto taxi. We were happy that we could give them some business. 

The wayside Ganapathi Kovil at Pattur

As soon as we finished we finished paying, a bus to RTC was ready and we got to town in a bus which was easy and convenient.

*** Buses are available from RTC Nellore or at Atmakur to Pattur. Every twenty minutes. Since they are not run by APSRTC but operated privately, we have to wait outside the bus station.