Bhanu Bhakta Acharya

Hetauda, March 21:

Traditional khes textile produced by Gopalis of Chitlang VDC in the northern parts of the Makawanpur district is losing its popularity. Locals said weavers have almost stopped producing the traditional textile. According to them, the young generation does not like it because the threads are prepared in hand spinning wheel and its texture is thin and coarse.

Akshya Kumar Gopali, resident of Chitlang-6, said the Gopalis of Newar community are now opting for vegetable farming.

He added people preferred machine woven cloths to traditional hand-woven ones. Gopali said machines could produce finer and thinner clothes and they are also cheaper and moer easily available. Stressing on the need for conservation and promotion of the technique, a local teacher, Karna Bahadur Gopali said weavers should be encouraged to replace khes with other varieties of threads and modern looms. He added even Gopalis have stopped using such textiles, contributing towards the extinction of such weaving skills.