Tangail Saree of Phulia

Phulia, a small town in Nadia district, famous for its Tangail Sarees, similar to the Dhaka Jamdani in technique but softer in feel, with the motifs spaced out. The Phulia Tangail is woven in silk as well as cotton.

Tangail Saree is an unique type of weaving done by handloom. An extremely fine yarn is used to prepare Tangail Saree which makes it so soft and comfortable. Weaving style, color, design and length of Tangail Sarees are different from all other Sarees. A special type of yarns and threads are used by the weavers. Tangail Sarees are not made in machines. That means every portion of a Tangail Saree is weaved and designed by hand. One of the exceptional features of these Sarees is "Par"(Edge). Jori  or silk yarn is used for making its edges. The edges of Tangail Saree are made with special care with silky and shiny threads.
At its peak in the early 2000s, Phulia had close to 75,000 looms, exports accounted for almost 40% of the production, there are less than 20,000 looms now.
Exports plummeted after the economic slowdown and now account for less than 10% of the overall production. Many weavers sold their looms for the price of scrap and left the state in search of better livelihoods.

There are three kinds of weavers in Phulia. The independents, those who are part of a cooperative and

those who work for moneylenders. Most of them are disenchanted, overworked and underpaid. Saree prices range from INR 600 for the plain Matha-a pure cotton weave with the simplest of motifs-to thousands of rupees for Jamdanis in fine silk. For a Saree that sells for INR 600, the raw material costs INR 200-250. The weaver gets up to INR 200, the rest goes to the seller. A weaver produces around five Sarees a week, working 10-12 hours a day. Depending upon the intricacy of the design, earns INR 100-400 per Saree.