THE MAKING OF THE GONGADI
Sheep are hand-sheared twice a year, where wool is sorted by colours. Women handcard the wool with a traditional ekubadda, and then spin the wool into yarn using a kaduru (spindle). Weaving is done by men. Each Gongadi is separately warped, woven and finished with a kada. Before weaving, the designs are added to the warp, and then the warp is sized using a paste made of tamarind seeds. The gunta maggam (pit loom ) is set, and the gongadi is woven. The finished Gongadi is removed from the loom, and then the kada makers twist in the long edges, and weave the kada.
The entire process from carding to a finished Gongadi, takes upto a month. |