Holding tradition in an era of change

Deep-rooted in tradition, the lungi -- a rectangular garment worn by men across Bangladesh -- has been a symbol of comfort and practicality for ages. But the tides of time, as they often do, have brought change. The once-dominant handloom weaving technique, a meticulous and time-honored process, now faces stiff competition from faster, electric-powered looms that churn out lungis in bulk. Despite this technological shift, a flicker of the past remains. In Chachkia village, nestled within Pabna's Atghoria upazila, a group of weavers defies the modern trend, clinging to the age-old art of handloom lungi creation.

For weaving lungi, these weavers use a type of primitive handloom, locally called 'mud loom', for which they would sink half of their body in a hole in the ground, and use a four-thread weaving technique. At present, around 500 mud-looms are operational in several villages under Fardpur and Atghoria upazilas of the district, with more than 300 looms operating in Chachkia village alone.

"Everyone who loves wearing lungi knows about the quality of lungi weaved in Chachkia," said Md Azad Hossain, who runs a mud-loom factory in the village.

"I am the family's sixth generation in this trade. The use of mud-looms first began here around 200-300 years ago. Chachkia's four-thread lungi has more than 100 years of heritage to its name. However, over the last few decades, many could not sustain against the growth of electric and power looms," he also said.

"To weave a lungi, we put four different threads through four wires in each gap using a bamboo 'shanaka', while other lungi variants have only two threads in each gap. As such, our clothes are well made, durable, and more comfortable than others," Azad added.

 Md Monirul Islam, a weaver in the village, sid,"Operating mud-loom is tougher than other handlooms. We need to engage both hands, both legs, and both eyes to operate mud-loom manually. It takes around four hours to produce a single lungi in mud-loom. After working eight hours a day, we manage to earn only Tk 240 for two pieces of lungi this way," said Md Monirul Islam, a weaver in the village.

"Ahead of Eid, we are working at least 10 hours a day to weave three pieces of lung," he added.

Many weavers opted to switch to other professions to work as rickshaw pullers, and tea vendors, among others.

Those who are continuing their ancestral trade are largely struggling due to financial and logistic support.

"I took a loan from a company to keep running my four looms, producing 45 to 50 pieces of lungi a week. Production costs are usually between Tk 500-550. I sell the lungi to companies for Tk 700-800 each, which they would sell at Tk 1,500-1,600 each in the market using their brand name," said weaver Md Saiful Islam.

Most weavers of Chachkia and adjoining villages have been selling their cloths to Unique, Cresent and some other companies, getting deprived of profit and recognition.

"Mud-loom weavers are too poor to run their businesses on their own, so they borrow money for raw materials from big companies on condition of selling their products to them," said Md Afzal Hossain, secretary of Chachkia Tontrobaya Co-operative Society, an organisation of mud-loom weavers.

"If we don't get government support, existing weavers may have to quit the profession at some point," he added.