Shitalpati mat-weaving tradition at risk

For well over a century the people of Subidpur village in Pirojpur's Kawkhali upazila have been producing naturally cool shitalpati mats woven from the reed-like murta plant locally called paitara. While around two decades ago a hundred families in the area were involved in year-round shitalpati production, these days the number has fallen to sixty; those artisans who continue to pursue the age-old tradition face difficult times. The price of paitara is on the rise.

Subidpur's mat-weavers purchase the paitara from growers in neighbouring Rajapur upazila of Jhalakathi district. “For twenty bundles we have to pay over Tk 8,000 now,” says one weaver, Nibas Patikar, “We pay even more if the quality of the paitara is good.” He notes that while the price for a bundle of paitara, each consisting of eighty stems, rises every year, sales prices for shitalpati mats remain stagnant.

At times there are additional labour costs too. After buying the paitara its outer casing is removed. The stems are kept in water for up to seven days before being sun-dried ready for use.

“Those who cannot remove the outer part of the paitara stems themselves will have to pay Tk 4,000 for others to do the job,” says Nibas. He says additional miscellaneous costs might add another Tk 2,000 to process the paitara bundles into mats.

“From twenty bundles, at most we can make 25 mats,” says another weaver Phuli Rani. “Each mat will be about seven by six feet in size. Each will take five days to weave.”

The finished shitalpati mats are purchased by traders and ultimately retail from Tk 1,500 to Tk 3,000 and more. But for the weavers their traditional trade no longer offers a healthy income; many take loans from NGOs and moneylenders in order to buy the paitara in the first instance.

“We cannot grow paitara because we have no land of our own,” says another weaver, Ripon Patikar, who like many in the village is proud of the weaving tradition he learnt from his parents and grandparents. “The origins of shitalpati weaving in this village are unknown us,” he says. “It was so long ago.”

The villagers of Subidpur hope that the government can step in to save their heritage. “If the government provided some land for us to grow paitara,” says weaver Robin Patikar, “we could manage. Many have already left the profession, even the country, for the economic crisis we face.” The future looks grim. If no steps are taken to assist this community, the traditional art of shitalpati weaving may be lost entirely.