Dikhyaa Mohanty 
A strong advocate of handmade and locally produced goods, Bollywood actress Diya Mirza swaggered down the runway in a Bomkai saree at the opening fashion show of the Bargarh Handloom Summit 2024, held in the western town of Odisha.
“I am happy to be in Bargarh. What is more beautiful is that like 2023, I got to start this year again with an event in Odisha. I love sustainable wear and have been doing my bit to promote handloom and handcrafted work of Indian artisans,” she said.
The Western Odisha Development Council (WODC), the Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts Department, the district administration in Bargarh, a significant hub for handloom products, and others are organizing the two-day summit together. “A Weave of Culture and Legacy” is the summit’s theme this year. The event honoring the legacy of handlooms is bringing together thousands of participants from across the nation, including exhibitors from 20 states.
The summit’s primary goal is to popularize new, creative designs by weavers and to introduce handloom goods like Ikat, Bomkai, Pashapali, Habaspuri, Sonpuri, Sambalpuri Bandha, and Habaspuri at the national level. The main attraction of the event is Bargarh’s “Bandha Kala” (tie and dye) work. Additionally, it saw a buyer-seller exchange and agreements being signed.
