Executive Summary
Union Minister of Textiles Shri Giriraj Singh will inaugurate "Handloom Haat: The Handloom Experience Centre" at Janpath, New Delhi, on 14 August 2026. This re-envisioned center aims to preserve and promote India’s handloom heritage by integrating traditional knowledge with contemporary design, enterprise, and retail. The facility serves as a significant step toward providing weavers and handloom brands with enhanced market visibility and a platform for sustainable textile innovation.
Key Points / Main Content
Inaugural Exhibitions and Showcases
Award-Winning Weavers: The launch features an exhibition of 24 award-winning weavers organized by the National Handloom Development Corporation (NHDC).
Weave The Future 5.0: Over 30 curated brands will participate in this showcase to promote sustainable, circular, and craft-led approaches to textiles.
Regional Focus: A temporary ground-floor exhibition titled “Reimagining Odisha Weaves” by Vriksh Designs will highlight the revival of forgotten traditions such as Ganjam Bomkai and Dhalapathar Tapestry.
Facility Structure and Experience
Ground Floor: Focuses on contemporary products, regenerative materials, and the relationship between ecology and textile production.
First Floor (Visvakarma Gallery): A permanent gallery featuring rare textiles from the 1981–1991 Visvakarma series and tributes to Sant Kabir and Padma Shri awardees.
Second Floor: Houses a Design Conclave and an immersive sensory journey inspired by Indian forests and natural motifs.
Strategic Objectives
Market Access: The center is designed to extend beyond conventional shopping to create greater visibility and market access for handloom enterprises.
Knowledge Preservation: The hub acts as a space where traditional techniques are practiced, interpreted, and presented to contemporary audiences.
Material Innovation: A strong emphasis is placed on indigenous fibers and responsible textile practices to advance the handloom ecosystem.
Impact Analysis
Weavers and Handloom EnterprisesImpact
They gain a prominent platform for showcasing their skills and products, leading to strengthened visibility and improved market presence.
Action Required
Utilize the center to display products, engage with curated brands, and leverage the retail space to reach contemporary audiences.
Designers and ResearchersImpact
These stakeholders are provided with a collaborative environment to explore sustainable materials, regional traditions, and contemporary design revitalisation.
Action Required
Participate in the Design Conclave and "Weave The Future" initiatives to advance innovation in regenerative materials and craft-led textiles.
General Public and VisitorsImpact
Visitors receive an educational and sensory experience that allows them to understand the materials, processes, and history behind India's handwoven textiles.
Action Required
Engage with the center’s three-floor curated journey and retail offerings starting from the inauguration on 14 August 2026.
Key Entities Referenced
Handloom Haat (The Handloom Experience Centre): A re-envisioned public destination at Janpath, New Delhi, established to showcase India’s handloom ecosystem, traditional knowledge, and contemporary textile design.
Ministry of Textiles: The primary central ministry responsible for the conceptualization and inauguration of the Handloom Experience Centre.
National Handloom Development Corporation (NHDC): The agency responsible for organizing the inaugural exhibition of award-winning weavers and curated handloom brands.
Weave The Future 5.0: A specific initiative and exhibition within Handloom Haat focused on advancing sustainable, circular, and craft-led approaches to textiles.
Shri Giriraj Singh: The Union Minister of Textiles who is leading the inauguration and the strategic vision for the re-envisioned center.
Ministry of Textiles
Union Minister of Textiles to inaugurate
Handloom Haat: The Handloom Experience
Centre at Janpath on 14 August
प्रव तथ: 13 AUG 2026 7:07PM by PIB Delhi
Union Minister of Textiles Shri Giriraj Singh will inaugurate Handloom Haat: The Handloom Experience
Centre at Janpath, New Delhi, on 14 August 2026, marking a significant step towards creating a
distinctive public destination for experiencing, understanding and engaging with India’s rich handloom
heritage. The re-envisioned Handloom Haat will bring together heritage, knowledge, contemporary
design, enterprise and retail under one roof.
The Handloom Experience Centre has been envisioned as a showcase of India’s handloom ecosystem,
where traditional knowledge is not only preserved and interpreted, but actively practised, experienced and
taken forward. Visitors will be able to explore the materials, processes, techniques and stories behind
handwoven textiles, encounter contemporary expressions of handloom and discover products from
weavers and handloom brands.
From Heritage to Contemporary Design
The inaugural showcase will feature 24 award-winning weavers through an exhibition organised by the
National Handloom Development Corporation (NHDC), alongside 30+ curated brands participating
through Weave The Future 5.0.
The fifth edition of ‘Weave The Future’ showcased in the ground and first floor will bring together
weavers, designers, brands, researchers and other stakeholders to advance sustainable, circular and craft-
led approaches to textiles. Its showcase at Handloom Haat will feature contemporary products developed
through handloom and regenerative materials, with a focus on indigenous fibres, material innovation and
responsible textile practices. It will also feature installations exploring India’s indigenous fibre landscape
and the relationship between geography, agriculture, ecology and textile production.
The retail experience at Handloom Haat will therefore extend beyond conventional shopping, offering
visitors an opportunity to discover the diversity, quality and contemporary relevance of Indian handlooms
while creating greater visibility and market access for weavers and handloom enterprises.
A Multi-Layered Handloom Experience
The inauguration will offer guests a curated journey across the three floors of Handloom Haat,
highlighting different dimensions of India’s handloom ecosystem.
As part of the inaugural experience, a temporary exhibition, on the ground floor, titled “Reimagining
Odisha Weaves — Cloth | Craft | Creativity | Community” by Vriksh Designs will showcase how
contemporary design can revitalise regional textile traditions through collaboration between designers andmaster weavers. The exhibition will highlight the revival of lesser-known and forgotten Odisha traditions
such as Ganjam Bomkai and Dhalapathar Tapestry, alongside innovations in Ikat, Jaala and Phoda
weaving, natural dyes, new colourways, textures, motifs and product forms.
The first floor will centre on the Visvakarma Gallery, a permanent gallery, bringing together rare textiles
from the landmark Visvakarma exhibition series (1981–1991), which brought together weavers,
designers, scholars and cultural patrons in an exploration of India’s diverse handloom traditions.
Produced through Weavers’ Service Centres in close collaboration with weaving communities, these
textiles demonstrate the coming together of technical skill, creative imagination and contemporary
inquiry in Post-independent India. This gallery will also pay a tribute to Sant Kabir awardees and Padma
Shri awardees, recognising individual practitioners whose exceptional contributions have expanded the
practice, understanding and visibility of Indian handlooms.
The second floor will feature Design Conclave and an immersive experience that will take visitors on a
visual and sensory journey inspired by India’s forests and the rich repertoire of animal, bird, floral and
natural motifs found across diverse handloom traditions.
A New Destination for Handloom Excellence, Experience and Enterprise
The re-envisioned Handloom Haat aims to strengthen the visibility and market presence of Indian
handlooms while creating opportunities for weavers, designers and handloom enterprises. By bringing
together heritage, contemporary practice, retail and public engagement, it seeks to create a closer
connection between India’s handloom communities and contemporary audiences.
With its integrated approach to Handloom Excellence, Experience and Enterprise, Handloom Haat at
Janpath is envisioned as a prominent destination where visitors can encounter the many dimensions of
India’s handloom traditions- from the people and processes behind the cloth to its contemporary
possibilities.
The inauguration on 14 August 2026 will mark the beginning of this new chapter for Handloom Haat,
envisioned as “The Handloom Experience Centre”, a space where India’s living textile heritage can be
seen, understood, experienced and taken forward.
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