Facing threads

Although demand rises slightly during the wedding season, imported sari products, especially from India, flood the market and divert customers away from local artisans, he said.

The weaver said that creating a Benaroshi sari can take anywhere from a few weeks to several months, depending on its intricacy. In the past, he worked alongside a team where each person specialized in a step of the process, such as twisting threads.

But many of his former colleagues have left the industry, taking up jobs as rickshaw pullers or in restaurants to support their families.

Today, local weavers like him said they are overshadowed by cheaper, imported alternatives, which deprive Bangladesh's taant industry of the support it needs to survive.

The process of creating a handloom sari is labor intensive and requires immense skill, yet the artisans are paid modestly for their work. One weaver said that they can be paid per yard, with a single weaver managing to produce three to four yards on a good day.

Each piece they create is a labor of love, meticulously crafted to perfection. But it is also a product of rising material costs. The price of thread, dye and silk has increased significantly over the years, squeezing profit margins and leaving weavers struggling to sustain their craft.

The weaver pointed out that while one might expect the wedding season to boost demand, reality paints a different picture. Customers often overlook locally made handloom sari in favor of imported options, limiting local weavers' access to new business.