Gianyar, Regency

Gianyar to be a Centre of Woven Cloth

In the palm-manuscript Bima Suarga is carried a song of which meaning says, “Women that cannot weave, one day if they pass away, when their souls walk, their leap will not be perfect as they wear goat’s skin for covering their vagina”. Lyric of this song can be interpreted that Balinese women are obliged to be capable of weaving. In fact, under the 1990s, most Balinese women can weave. Concrete evidence is in Gianyar city.

The owner of Putri Bali weaving factory Pande Subadra uttered that before the 1990s, Gianyar was once victorious in weaving field. At that time, Gianyar was the largest producer of weaving cloth in Bali. There were some eight weaving factories in the city then, amongst them are Putri Bali, Togog, Cili, Putri Ayu, Hanoman and Karya.
Ngakan Putu Sujana, staff of production division at Togog weaving factory, said that he supervised 300 weavers. They were from villages at the vicinity of Gianyar like Siangan, Suwat, Bitera, Buruan, Bedulu, Beng and some others.
An amusing thing you can experience when making visit to one of those weaving factories in Gianyar. As soon as entering the front gate, you will hear rather unfamiliar music. If it is thoroughly traced, such peculiar music is the stamping sound of non-mechanical weaving tools that are operated by weaver women.
What an immersing experience to enter the workshop of weaving factory in Gianyar is. Factories you can visit are, Togog, Cili and Putri Bali. Having had a closer look at the weaver women that are absorbed in weaving, you can purchase their products that are displayed in the showroom of the factory. Price of such cloth approximately ranges from IDR 60,000 to IDR 120,000 per meter. Variance of price may be caused by motif. If you purchase their product, it means that you help them survive.
These days, fate of weaving entrepreneurs in Gianyar is no more like in the past time. “Weaving factories in Gianyar is now in a ‘comma’ condition,” remarked Pande Subadra on being visited at his workshop. According to this weaving entrepreneur, there were two reasons for such condition. Firstly, raw materials are imported from overseas where they should be paid by dollar. Secondly, purchasing power of the consumer has decreased. Ngakan Putu Sujana then confirmed this statement.
Sujana now merely employs 40 women. Tens of non-mechanical weaving tools are currently no longer in use. The same faith also sweeps the weaving factory Putri Bali and Cili. One of the factory attendants, on being visited by Bali Travel News, said that the factories have closed their operation several years ago.
Pande Subadra, who is also a lecturer at Udayana University, expects that Regional Government of Gianyar is willing to take part in saving the fate of weaving factories in Gianyar. One of the ways is by means of a regulation that makes all civil servants in Gianyar Regency compulsory to wear uniform made of woven cloth of Gianyar. Ngakan Sujana is still optimistic that the weaving industry of Gianyar will persistently survive even though it would not better than ever. It is caused by the fact that community of Bali and beyond still love the woven cloth of Gianyar.(BTN/Made Suambara)