History
In the late nineteenth century, competition from British made textiles led Indian weavers to invent new types of garments. In Bhavani, a community of weavers called Jangamars weaved a type of blanket using colored coarse threads called Jamakkalam.The popularity of the product led to the production of jamakkalams by other weavers replacing the production of traditional sarees and other clot
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Types
Two types of jamakkalams are produced in Bhavani. The first type is made from coarser cotton threads capable of producing carpets with colored bands.As the thread was coarser, designs could not be weaved on to this type of carpet.Hence, a second softer variety of jamakkalams were introduced which were made of artificial silk threads enabling weavers to weave different kinds of border designs.Jamakkalams are also used to make fashion products such as backpacks
