Handloom weaving is a 4,000-year-old tradition, and one of India's predominant rural economic activities. In the state of Andhra Pradesh alone, there are about 3,20,000 handlooms, on which about 5,00,000 families directly and 20,00,000 families indirectly depend for livelihoods.
The recent years have witnessed migrations to cities in large numbers by handloom cotton weavers, taking up of alternative employment in rural industrial units, and, in extreme cases, even starvation deaths or suicide deaths.
This monthly handloom bazaar aims to bring back the wonder of handloom into mainstream popular culture, thus increasing the market for these products. In addition, the exhibition-cum-sale hopes to educate people on the issues of handloom weavers, and also on how to recognize real handloom from fakes and "powerloom products".