Cumilla khadi

The story

Cumilla was weaving fine cotton long before the word khadi arrived; records from the colonial period describe saris, dhotis and gamchhas woven here from locally spun yarn. The khadi tradition proper grew from the non-cooperation and swadeshi movement of the early 1920s, when the call to boycott British mill cloth made hand-spun, hand-woven cotton a political statement. Gandhi is reported to have visited the area in 1921. Abhay Ashram, an institution founded in Cumilla in 1910 and given its name around that time, sold spinning wheels, organised village weavers and marketed their cloth. One popular explanation of the name is that weavers worked at looms set over a pit, or khad, in the ground.

After 1947 the trade weakened, and later Akhtar Hameed Khan, founder of what is now the Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD), helped organise khadi weavers into cooperatives, with Chandina as a centre. Weaving households of the Debnath (Jugi) community and others in Chandina, Debidwar, Muradnagar and Burichang kept the craft going. Today khadi is sold in hundreds of shops in Cumilla city, many along the stretch from Kandirpar to Rajganj, as fabric by the yard, panjabis, kurtas, three-pieces, sarees, shawls and bedcovers.

In April 2025 Cumilla khadi received its GI registration certificate. The cloth is valued for its rough, nubby texture and the way it breathes in heat, and many local designers now dye, block-print and embroider it for modern clothing.

How to spot the real Cumilla khadi

In the strict sense khadi is cloth both hand-spun and hand-woven. Hand-spun yarn is uneven, so true khadi shows slubs, thick and thin threads, and a slightly irregular weave when held to the light. Much of what is sold as Cumilla khadi today is woven by hand or on simple looms from mill-spun yarn, which gives a more even surface; and some "khadi-look" fabric is fully machine-made, printed to imitate texture, or blended with polyester. Feel the cloth: genuine cotton khadi is soft yet slightly coarse, absorbs water quickly and creases easily, whereas a polyester blend feels slick, resists wrinkling and may melt if a loose thread is burned.

Buying tips

Ask the seller three things: whether the yarn is hand-spun or mill-spun, whether the cloth was hand-woven, and whether it is pure cotton. Ask also where it was woven, as Chandina and Debidwar are the traditional centres. Price varies with yarn type, cloth weight, dye quality and any embroidery or block printing; hand-spun khadi is slower to make and costs more.

Each shop on Midmart is independent and sets its own delivery charge, so a panjabi from one shop and fabric from another means two charges. Midmart never collects payment or handles delivery: the seller agrees both with you directly. Before paying, confirm the measurements for ready-made clothing and the exchange terms, as khadi can shrink on its first wash.

Keeping it fresh

Expect some shrinkage: soak new khadi fabric in cold water before cutting or tailoring. Wash in cold water with a mild detergent, separately at first because dyes may run, and avoid bleach. Dry in the shade so colours do not fade, and iron while slightly damp on a high cotton setting. Khadi is sturdy, but store it clean and fully dry, folded in a cupboard with good air; damp cotton develops mildew in the monsoon. Keep naphthalene in paper away from the cloth.

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Questions about Cumilla khadi

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