During the 12th National Handloom Day celebrations, the President conferred the 3 Sant Kabir Handloom Awards and 19 National Handloom Awards 2025. Four awards went to Assam, including the country’s highest handloom honour.

About the Awards

• The Sant Kabir Handloom Award is the country’s highest honour for handloom weavers. 
  • It recognises extraordinary craftsmanship, lifelong dedication and sustained contribution towards preserving and promoting India’s weaving traditions.
  • The award carries ₹3.5 lakh, a mounted gold coin, tamrapatra, shawl and certificate.
• The National Handloom Awards are given under the Handloom Marketing Assistance component of the National Handloom Development Programme. 
  • The awards recognise outstanding achievements in weaving, innovation, design development, marketing initiatives, start-up ventures and producer companies associated with the handloom sector.
  • The awards include ₹2 lakh, a tamrapatra, shawl and certificate.

Assam’s Major Achievements

• Runima Chetiya Choudhury of Kamrup (Metropolitan) received the Sant Kabir Handloom Award – Women Weavers category for her Muga Silk Saree.
• Assam was among only three States to receive the Sant Kabir Handloom Award, along with Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.
• Jyoti Bhuyan of Guwahati received a National Handloom Award in the Women Weavers category for her Natural Dyed Eri Silk Saree.
• Riti Doley of Majuli received the award in the Divyang Weaver category for her Silk Gero.
• Marvella Associates of Sualkuchi received the National Award for Start-up Ventures/Producer Company.

These recognitions underline Assam’s distinctive position in India’s handloom economy, particularly through its Muga and Eri silk traditions.

Marvella Associates

• It was co-founded by Pakumoni Das and Jugal Bharali in Sualkuchi. 
• It won the National Handloom Award for its work in integrating silk production, traditional weaving and rural livelihoods.
• It has developed a ‘Soil-to-Silk’ model, covering the entire silk-making process from cultivating host plants, rearing silkworms, cocoon production, yarn reeling, dyeing, weaving and finishing.
• The start-up has also introduced the model to students as a way of building awareness about the state’s weaving heritage and the communities dependent on it.
• Marvella has also received an award from the Ministry of Tourism in the craft category in 2025.

Exam Hook: Prelims

Q. Consider the following statements:

1. The Sant Kabir Handloom Award recognises outstanding contributions to India’s handloom tradition.
2. Muga and Eri silk are important traditional silk varieties associated with Assam.
3. National Handloom Day is observed every year on 7 August.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

Answer: 1, 2 and 3.

One-Line Wrap

Assam’s handloom awards highlight how traditional Muga and Eri silk craftsmanship can be strengthened through recognition, innovation, entrepreneurship and better market access.