To encourage and honour the contribution of individuals and organisations striving to promote the country’s handloom sector, ‘Desi’, a local brand in the sector presented the national handloom awards to five artists in the city on Sunday.

Noted film maker Shyam Benegal, who presented the awards, called upon people to promote traditional weaving as it has its own historical importance.

Stating that art and handicrafts are two sides of the same coin, Mr. Benegal said it is not proper to identify these as two different entities.

Retired Director General of Police Ajai Kumar Singh said the handloom sector had contributed a lot to women empowerment. This sector should further be promoted, he said.

The awards were given to Sangappa Basappa Mante from Yadgir district, Shivshankar Eshwarappa Mudalagi from Bagalkot district, Jagada Rajappa from Hyderabad, M V Chandrasekar and U Ravikiran from Bengaluru in recognition of their contribution to the development of handloom sector.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Special Correspondent / Bengaluru – December 21st, 2014