Pakur Santhal Parganas Weaving Sali Cotton

Pakur district on the Jharkhand-West Bengal border has a tradition of cotton handloom weaving among Santhal and Muslim Julaha weaver communities who produce cotton dhotar cloth, gamcha towels, and bed sheets on pit looms for local household demand. Pakur weavers source cotton yarn from Malda and Murshidabad suppliers and weave simple check and stripe patterns on narrow shuttle looms, producing fabric sold at haath markets in Pakur and Amrapara. The handloom tradition in Pakur is threatened by cheap mill-cloth competition; government hand-loom development schemes provide yarn subsidy and market linkage support to the district's remaining active weavers.