Founded in 1978 to bring Maheshwar's weaving back from near extinction, Rehwa Society is where you can watch Maheshwari cloth come off the loom.
Maheshwar has been a weaving town for centuries. The tradition traces back to Ahilya Bai Holkar, who brought weavers to Maheshwar, and the cloth they developed takes its name from the town: Maheshwari. Its defining technical feature is the combination of silk in the warp with cotton in the weft, which gives the fabric its characteristic weight, drape and surface.
By the second half of the twentieth century the craft had declined badly. Rehwa Society was founded at Maheshwar in 1978 to revive it, working with local weavers on handlooms rather than power looms. The society operates from the fort area and visitors can see weaving in progress, which makes it the most direct way to understand what the town actually produces.
Weavers work at handlooms on the premises and visitors can watch the process. Seeing the silk warp and cotton weft being combined explains the cloth far better than any description of it, and the pace of the work is itself worth a few minutes.
Maheshwari saris and fabric are produced and shown here. The borders and the reversible edges are the features to look at, since those are what distinguish Maheshwari weaving from other handloom traditions in the region.
The society works from the fort area in Maheshwar and is visited on weekdays during working hours, when the looms are actually running.
Weekday mornings during working hours, when weaving is in progress. October to March is the comfortable season in Maheshwar generally. Avoid public holidays, when the looms are likely to be idle and there is little to see.
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