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My Guru - My Father Late Sri Ramalingam (This site is dedicated to my father)
Pochampally,
the name conjures up images of elegantly hand-woven
sarees. Continuing this time honored tradition
with a high degree of finesse is 55 years-old.
Chiluveru Ramalingam, who creates patterns of
unmatched richness without much effort. What makes
him different is his ability to weave images of
deities and political leaders on cloth.
Bringing a new glory to the craft
with his incredible creativity, Ramalingam is
perhaps the only weaver in the country who can
transfer any picture on to the cloth.
Born in a family of weavers, he mastered the craft
easily. "However, I was not content with
just weaving patterns on the sarees. I always yearned to do something unique
and this led me try my hand at weaving portraits,
"Says Ramalingam. So far, he has weaved over two dozen portraits.
He has woven portraits of Gandhi, Nehru, Acharya
Vinobha Bhave, Sarvepally Radhakrishnana, Indira
Gandhi and PV Narasimha Rao.Among
the State leaders he has weaved the portraits
of former Chief Minister NT Rama Rao, Kotla Vijayabhaskara
Reddy, Jalagam Vengal Rao, T. Anjaiah and more. Ramalingam
has presented his works to Acharya Vinobha Bhave
and Indira Gandhi and some State Leaders.Says
he "All the leaders to whom I have presented
my work were highly impressed by my work. I have
also been felicitated for my craft" Ramalingam, for whom weaving portraits is a passion,
dislikes the idea of commercializing his art.
But "When people place bulk orders, I can't
help but sell them since the cost involved is
high, "he says. weave these portraits, Ramalingam uses the tie
and dye process. The process is arduous and demands
patience and perseverance. But Ramilingam has
this in abundance.Besides weaving portraits, Ramalingam also
has the distinction of being the only one to weave
topis, kurtas, Pyjamas and umbrellas without using
any stitch or scissors.When; renowned director Shyam Benegal came to
Pochampally to shoot his film Sushman, based on
the life of the weavers, he selected Ramalingam
House. Benegal was so impressed by Ramalingam's
works that he presented him with a cash price
of Rs. 10,000/- On September 12th 2003, Ramalingam died with Heart
Attack at the age of 63 years
-
Deccan Chronicle
Works of Sri Ramalingam are displayed in next page... |
