TMA launches ‘Heritage Walk Series’

The Trivandrum Management Association (TMA) launched a Heritage Walk Series this past weekend with the goal of preserving the heritage of Thiruvananthapuram.

Kicking off with the handloom sector of Balaramapuram, the heritage walk highlighted the craft’s cultural significance as well as the difficulties faced by local weavers.

S.N. Raghuchandran Nair, president of the association, said the heritage walk was intended to create awareness on the traditional handloom industry and gain insights into the issues faced by the weavers.

“As a management association, we felt it was important to visit the site and undertake a heritage walk to sensitise the people to the challenges faced by the weavers. The objective is to explore ways in which we can provide hand-holding support to help the weavers overcome these challenges,” he said.

Big players were entering the market, but these weavers lacked the capacity to compete and only had limited knowledge of online marketing, he pointed out.

Highlighting the challenges faced by the weavers, Unnikrishnan Gopinath, secretary of the association, said it took nearly 10 hours to weave a mundu, for which the weavers receive only a meagre payment of around ₹300. The intricate nature of the weaving process often led to vision-related issues as well as spinal problems.

Mr. Gopinath said many of the weavers were unaware of government schemes and loan facilities. The association team guided them on available loan facilities with low interest rates and various government schemes during the visit. The TMA had documented the problems faced by the weavers, he said.

The heritage walk initiative aims to identify various heritage sites and make the youth aware of the history and tradition of Thiruvananthapuram.

Mr. Gopinath said the association planned to visit every month one heritage site across Thiruvananthapuram that was in distress.

By Devadathan A.