Three Indian villages were nominated, Pochampally was selected
The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has named Pochampally
village in Telangana, which is known for its magnificent sarees, as one of the top tourism communities in the world (UNWTO).
The official announcement for earning this title will be made at the UNWTO’s 24th General Assembly. The award ceremony will be held on December 2, 2021 in Madrid, Spain.
UNWTO aims to recognise great rural destinations that not only showcase rich history and culture but also practise sustainability and innovation for rural development.
Pochampally is a weaving town located 50 kilometres from Hyderabad in Telangana’s Nalgonda
district. It is also known as a Bhoodan Pochampally, in honour of Acharya Vinoba Bhave’s
inauguration of the Bhoodan movement from this village on April 18th, 1951.
This village in India is highly renowned for its silk and cotton sarees, which are woven in a unique form known as Ikat. Though Ikat as a weaving style is practiced in many parts of South East Asia, the kind of ikat practiced at Pochampally is unique. It was also given a Geographical Indicator (GI) designation in 2004.
In Malaysian and Indonesian, ikat means “tie and dye.” Ikat is a technique that involves tying and dying bundles of yarn in a predetermined colour pattern. The dye penetrates the exposed sections but not the wrapped sections which creates a specific pattern that is then woven
into fabric to create the well-known Ikat design.
UNWTO received a total of 174 applications from 75 countries. Three Indian villages – Kongthong in Meghalaya, Ladhpura Khas in Madhya Pradesh, and Pochampally in Telangana, were nominated by the Ministry of Tourism.
The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) chose Pochampally for the honours.
With this achievement, Pochampally has three feathers in its cap:
A. Birth Place of the legendary Bhoodan movement
B. Geographical Indicator for the kind of ikat produced here
C. UNWTO Award for Sustainable Rural Tourism
Have you ever been to Pochampally? Do tell us!