To celebrate Indira Gandhi’s birth centenary on Nov.19, Vayu, a Delhi-based design house, commissioned sarees inspired by those worn by the late Prime Minister. This design challenge was given to Vimor Sarees, a handloom house in Bengaluru since 1970s.

Vimor was started by Jimmy Nanjappa in 1967 and is now run by her daughter Pavithra Muddaya, who is a textile designer.

“I already had 6 designs of Mrs. Gandhi’s sarees as she had bought sarees from us. Then I got a few more designs from her personal collection and created 14 patterns in various colour palettes,” said Pavithra Muddaya, who created a total of 112 sarees which were exhibited at Vayu Design Store in Bikaner House, New Delhi and were later sold.

These sarees that range from Rs. 7,000 to Rs. 50,000 comes wrapped in a piece of mulmul (a fine, soft cotton muslin) with a Vyjayanthimala (rosary) in a black box.

“It’s all sold out in Delhi, but I have the rights to recreate it so they will be available in our Vimor Store in Victoria Layout, Bengaluru, soon,” said Pavithra Muddaya.

When asked what the Gandhis thought of her work she says, “Priyanka Gandhi visited us to see what we had created and said that we had  truly done justice to her grandmother’s taste in sarees, so I’m glad.”

It turns out that most of the elite of Delhi have been sourcing their handlooms from Vimor, since the 1970s. Appaneravanda Pavithra Muddaya lives in Bengaluru and is married to Dr. Kongera Muddaya. She continues to manage the family handloom business with the help of her daughter Vipra and son Arup.