The Tribal Craft Initiative enables local people to value their tradition and allows them to bring money into their local economy.
The local Lambadi tribals migrated from the north of India several hundred years ago. They have their own distinctive dialect, costume and traditions. Their tradition of embroidery was very nearly lost. Only a few of the older women remembered how to make the distinctive designs. This tradition has now been revived by the Tribal Craft Initiative, with the older women teaching the younger women. They have decided to call their work “Porgai” which in the Lambadi dialect means “pride”, reflecting the pride they feel in their work and in rediscovering the tradition to which they belong.
We currently retail Porgai products through CopTex in Tamil Nadu and through FairGrounds in the UK. For more information contact porgai@gmail.com.
Download the Porgai brochure.
Vediappan and Manjunath, our community workers have only one thing to say – ‘Its so rewarding to see a woman who has never done this suddenly come out with the most beautiful designs. Looks like this runs in their blood’.
