Meghalaya Village Umden-Diwon Declared as First Eri Silk Village

SHILLONG: The Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Conrad Sangma announced that the village of Umden-Diwon was declared as the state's first Eri Silk Village. He further added that this came as a recognition of the overall collective and unique achievements and initiative of the community, to inspire weavers & spinners & enable it to further develop into a vibrant "AtmaNirbhar village."

The Chief Minister took to Twitter to make the announcement. He wrote, "Today, Umden-Diwon village is declared as #Meghalaya's 1st #EriSilkVillage, in recognition of the overall collective & unique achievements & initiative of the community, to inspire weavers & spinners & enable it to further develop into a vibrant #AtmaNirbhar village."

This recognition of the village came from the Department of Textiles.

The state, in collaboration with National Institute of Fashion Technology, will set up a Design Resource Centre to provide unique branding and identity to the village by depicting the speciality of the region, in terms of colour, motif, usage and looms. The Design Resource Centre will also facilitate an interactive platform for the artisans, industry and design students through display areas, specialized labs, resource centre and design activities.

Umden-Diwon has become known as the epicentre of Eri culture in Meghalaya, with over 70 per cent of full-time active weavers. The village has carved a name for itself for their 'Ahimsa Peace Silk'. The entire production process is done entirely within the community, from pre-cocoon to post cocoon stage – from farm to fibre, fibre to fabric and now from thread to trend.

The 'Ahimsa' silk is developed from cocoons without killing the larvae inside. Ahimsa silk has intrinsic thermal properties which makes it feel cool in summers and warm in winters.

The Eri Silk fabrics, also known as the Ryndia, are exclusively hand-woven with organic and natural dyes. Ryndia silk is steadily emerging as a deluxe fabric.

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