FICCI FLO, under the leadership of its 43rd National President, Ms. Puja Garg, hosted a spiritual webinar titled “Dressing the Divine Ramm Lalla,” with Mr. Manish Tripathi, Indian fashion designer and NIFT alumus. The virtual session highlighted the sacred tradition of dressing Prabhu Shri Ram Lalla idol in Ayodhya for different occassions, festivals, and seasons.
Mr. Tripathi shared his journey of designing the special and bespoke attires for Divine Ram Lalla using traditional Indian textiles and handlooms; special fabrics and colors are selected for different days of the week based on the religious traditions. He has been designing special attires for the idol of a five-year-old Ram Lalla since Pran Pratishta ceremony at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir in Ayodhya.
There is a 40 day design process behind creating the special attires of Shri Ram Lalla which includes extensive research into motifs, and traditional patterns. Some prominent designs included the lotus fiber and Vaishnav motifs from the Padmashali weaving community. Mr. Tripathi also presented his work, “Tribi Sevahe” which combines design with cultural preservation and community service.
Key Highlights
- Mr. Manish Tripathi started this sacred work in 2021 during COVID-19 outbreak.
- He showcased how to combine right choice of traditional Indian textiles, and intricate craftsmanship for Shri Ram Lalla’s attires.
- The reowned designer works with women artisans from rural communities to create sustainable livelihood opportunities for them along with reviving traditional crafts.
- Mr. Tripathi’s broader design portfolio includes work for Rashtrapati Bhawan, Parliament, Indian Army, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s International day of Yoga merchandise, and space mission patch that orbited Earth 320 times.
- The session emphasized the need to connect handloom heritage with religious practices to revive traditional crafts.
Impact & Outcome
Over 90 FLO members participated in a spiritually enriching webinar celebrating India’s religious traditions, cultural sentiments, and rich handloom and textile heritage. The virtual session ended with a Q/A and the guest speaker, Mr. Manish Tripathi expressed his interest in working with weavers and incorporating regional textiles from different states to preserve and revitalize traditional techniques.
The webinar is a part of FICCI FLO’s efforts towards empowering women through entrepreneurship and preserve India’s rich handloom, textile, and craft traditions. Dressing the Divine Ramm Lalla webinar is a part of FLO National Textile, Handlooms, and Handicrafts initiative, led by Ms. Varuna Anand (Initiative Lead), and Ms. Ambar Pariddi Sahai (Co-Lead) along with team members, Ms. Anju Narain and Arti Chowdhary.