|
PAYYANUR
KHADI
 Payyanur
was a major center of promotion
of Khadi and still retain this tradition.
Even today we can see a lot of people wearing Khadi in
Payyanur which is not commonly seen in other parts of Kerala. This
Khadi movement was started in Payyanur by the great freedom fighter
of Payyanur, CH Govindan Nambiar.
Unnamman Unithiri of Karivellur
and Vaidyar VP Sreekanda Poduval also
did a lot for the promotion and propagation of Khadi.
The patriotic poems of Mahakavi Kuttamath and KeluNair also
helped the Khadi
movement.
The
Khadi movement was a part of the Independence struggle.
In order to boycott the foreign clothes, Gandhiji called upon
the people to make their clothes by themselves.
Khadar or Khadi is the cloth made of hand-spurn thread using
the simple instruments like 'charkha".
The 'charkha' was also selected as the emblem in the national
flag during the freedom struggle
The
organization called Charka Sangh was formed in 1925 with Head Office
at Wardah and Gandhiji was the president of this society until his
death. The motive of
this society was to promote and circulate Khadi among the people.
In 1930, NP Raghava Poduval of Shornur (popularly known as
Raghavji) came to Payyanur for the formation and operation of Charka
Sangh. In 1934 Payyanur
was selected as the Head Office of Charka Sangh's Kerala Unit and
CK. Kartha (Ernakulam) was the first secretary of the HO.
After this charkas became popular in Payyanur and the
surrounding places. The
thin and soft cloth made
in Payyanur Khadi Sangh gained nation wide
attraction and
it got the brand name as "Payyanur Special".
When Gandhiji visited Payyanur in 1934, the Khadi activities
of Payyanur was specially congratulated
by him .During 1937-39 when Rajaji became the Chief minister
of Madras State ( Payyanur was a part of Madras State) a
Charka-making unit was started in Payyanur with the Government
financing. In 1941 the
Head Office of the Kerala Charka Sangh was shifted from Payyanur to
Kozhikode Gandhi Asramam but the production and
selling units remained here.
In 1946, the then Chief Minister of Madras, T. Prakasam,
after consulting with Gandhiji, took a decision to takeover five
Khadi Centers and Payyanur Center
was one among them. Gradually
the Charka Sangh faded out of the picture and the Center fully
came under the Government control. The Payyanur Farka Gramodaya
Khadi Sangham was started in
1958 . VP Narayana
Poduval, E. Narayanan Nair and N. Raghava Shenoy were the promoters
of this new center. Later
this center came under the
control of Kerala Khadi &Village Industries Board.
Even
though it is very difficult to compete with the modern industrial
world of today under the new liberalization atmosphere, Payyanur
Khadi is trying its level best to survive.
It is the responsibility of each individual of Payyanur to do
what ever he/she can to keep this industry alive and thus to retain
the rich tradition.
.
|
