12/29/2023 0 Comments Indigo sparkle meaning![]() Indigofera plants, which look a bit like basil, must be harvested just before their pink flowers bloom. A farmer with his bounty of Indigofera leaves before they are sold and processed After the fermentation, the leaves are removed, and the water is drained into another massive tank where the solution oxidises and sediment settles at the bottom of the tank finally, the sediment powder is dried and packed into cakes. First, the leaves are harvested from neighbouring farms then they are gathered together and immersed in a huge tank filled with water, where they are weighed down and allowed to ferment. The work of getting dye from Indigofera happens in stages. Every year, export companies, handicraft industries and renowned designers come knocking on the doors of this nondescript village to get their hands on the precious “blue gold”. Today, indigo is celebrated in Kongarappatu and neighbouring villages for putting them on the map, a far cry from its wretched colonial past. Green leaves to blue dyeĭuring colonial times, many Indian farmers were strong-armed by the British Raj into growing indigo instead of food crops, the dye was then bought by the Raj at unfairly low prices. “We envisage work as worship,” Balachander says. In fact, many Hindu Gods like Kaali and Krishna are often portrayed in the colour blue as it symbolises the colour of the cosmos. Here, indigo is perceived as a Blue Goddess. ![]() “I have watched the indigo plants being harvested and have seen my grandmother offer her prayers to the Neel Atha before beginning indigo extraction at our plant.” “Even as a child, I grew up with indigo all around me,” says the soft-spoken Balachander. The Anbhazhagan family perfected the patient craft of extracting natural indigo dye from Indigofera plants, using the same century-old, colonial-era cement tanks their relatives used before them.Īll these years later, the company is now the largest producer of natural indigo dye in India. Balachander, a fourth-generation indigo farmer The 33-year-old is the scion of KMA Exports, an indigo farming and production company that has operated here since the 1960s.īalachander’s great-grandfather started processing indigo during colonial times – when the naturally sourced dye was a valuable commodity. “It is almost a festival for our village,” says Balachander Anbhazhagan. ![]() The foreman says a two-minute prayer for Neel Atha (or the Blue Mother) – the sacred name the villagers have for indigo – and presents an offering of bananas and coconut, blessed fruits according to Hindu rituals. But October finally brought the first day of “thotti podurathu” – when the traditional tanks are set up to extract the dye from the Indigofera plants.īefore work can begin, labourers and onlookers gather around the century-old tanks for a simple pooja, or prayer, invoking divine blessings. Production, which usually takes place three times a year, was delayed this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Keep reading list of 4 items list 1 of 4 Where are they now? The graduates of India’s Door Step School list 2 of 4 The army of women saving India’s storks list 3 of 4 In India’s Assam, a young Muslim leader fights election to unite list 4 of 4 Why India’s farmers promise to step up protests end of list
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