Chinese weavers eye Satya Sai Baba's saffron robe

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Chinese weavers eye Satya Sai Baba's saffron robe

 

Bharattextile.com (India), Sep. 28, 2004

http://www.bharattextile.com

 

KATHMANDU: After dragons, exotic flora and images of the Buddha,

Chinese weavers have turned to a new design for textile exports -

Satya Sai Baba, one of India's spiritual gurus.

 

China has entered the lucrative market of making memorabilia of the

78-year-old Baba, who has millions of followers all over the world,

by churning out polyester silk with busts of the godman in orange,

yellow and black.

 

Chinese silks and polyesters are exported to Kathmandu where they

are in high demand for garments for tourists as well as the Tibetan

diaspora living in the Himalayan kingdom.

 

Amidst bales of bright coloured cloth in traditional design, there

is also the face of the Baba, smiling enigmatically against a white

background.

 

"The Chinese have a quick eye for profit," says Mahendra Shrestha,

who has been selling strips containing four images of the Baba for

Nepali Rs.100 per strip. "From the traditional designs, they are

venturing into any new design they think will have a market."

 

There are at least two Sai Baba centres in Kathmandu alone. However,

there are none in mainland China, the nearest being in Hong Kong.

 

The Baba, born Satyanarayana Raju, has a sprawling ashram at

Puttaparthi, in Andhra Pradesh (India).

 

The Baba is known by his trademark halo of shoulder-long frizzy

hair, saffron robe and hand raised in the posture of conferring

blessings.

 

Photographs, posters and calendars of the Baba are a familiar sight

in India and even neighbouring Nepal where senior politicians, army

chiefs and even members of the royal family are followers of the

miracle man who materialises objects out of thin air and whose

photographs are said to produce 'vibhuti' or sacred ash.

 

There have been cases of enterprising designers trying to cash in on

the exotic and then running into trouble with devotees, like when

they used images of Hindu gods on bikinis.

 

However, it is unlikely that the Chinese design on the Baba will

create a similar uproar.

 

Mahendra Shrestha says: "The cloth with the Baba is thicker than

that used to make dresses. It is intended to make wall hangings or,

at the most, bags."

 

Source: Agencies

http://www.bharattextile.com/newsitems/1991956