Pochampally is a small town in the Nalgonda District of Telangana, an hour and a half drive from the state capital of Hyderabad. Its handloom cluster is internationally famous for handwoven silks, cottons, and ikat tie and dye.

The textiles are woven in traditional pit looms. The Pochampally art is largely in the hands of the famous "Padmasali" weavers community. According to the villagers, ten years ago the number of looms within the village stood at around 3000 with every Padmasali household having at least one loom. Today the number of practising weavers has gone down so rapidly that the most put the number as low as 450-500.

Pochampally Ikat tie and dye designs, woven with century old designs, are unrivalled in their refinement and thus have won the coveted Intellectual Property Rights Protection. It is the first traditional Indian craft to receive this status of geographical branding. The design won protection in the "Geographical Indications category," protecting the Pochampally handloom saree from unfair competition and power loom counterfeits. Nevertheless, the weavers are suffering from economic hardship, and many younger members of the community leave for better opportunities elsewhere.

ITRHD was commissioned by the Telangana government to conduct a study analysing Pochampallys potential as a rural tourism site. Our team prepared a socio-economic survey of the village and made a documentary film which highlighted its tourism potential. We also completed a detailed study on its cultural and weaving traditions, vernacular arts and crafts, local cuisine, vernacular architecture, temples, natural backdrop and existing tourist centre and infrastructure development. See LINK to access the complete study.

The conclusion was that Pochampally has unique potential for rural tourism. It has a multi-faceted set of attractions for various demographic and age-based target groups. It offers a wide range of activities along with enough interest-based trails to make an ideal weekend getaway. The main assets identified by our team were:

1. A globally acclaimed intangible heritage;
2. A vibrant and culturally active community; festivities and celebrations year-round;
3. Seven temples in and around the village: 3 of which are historic;
4. Numerous tanks and water bodies, one big tank just in front of the Tourist Centre.
5. Strong vernacular village identity through its built environment: chatrashaala houses and a "House of 101 Doors;"
6. Other crafts: basket/mat making and pottery;
7. Extensive agricultural land, suitable for agritourism;
8. Pochampally is resplendent in hillocks, forest areas and rock formations, and is thus ideal for adventure tourism and nature tourism.
9. Shopping;
10. Neera extractors and tody tappers; rural local cuisine.

We hope that these suggestions will be given serious consideration by the current Government.