CHIRALA SAREE

Chirala:

• Location: it is a coastal town in Prakasam District in Andhra Pradesh.
  
  
• Nomenclature:
  • It was formally known as ‘Kshirapuri’ (Sea like a Milk).
    
    
  • it has been renamed as Chirala (Chira means saree).
    
    
  • It is commonly known as 'Mini Mumbai' for its textile market.
    
    
  
  
  

Chirala Saree:

• The handloom industry over here centuries old and is famous for producing ‘Chirala silk sarees’ (it was even documented by Italian traveller Marco polo in his travelogue in 13^th century).
  
  
• These weavers are demanding a Geographical Indication (GI) tag to promote the product.
  
  
• The reason for shift towards making Khadi dress material is due to tough competition in the era of global textile, impact of GST and not receiving GI tag.