Envoy highlights India’s textile heritage at Seoul festival

Indian Ambassador to Korea Gourangalal Das speaks during the Celebrating India Festival in Seoul, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Kim Hyun-bin

Indian Ambassador to Korea Gourangalal Das underscored the timeless artistry and cultural depth of India’s textile traditions during the 21st Celebrating India Festival, held in Seoul on Thursday. The event, organized by the North East Institute of Fashion Technology and hosted by the Embassy of India, showcased the rich heritage, vibrant textiles and contemporary creativity of the Indian subcontinent.

“This evening we are here to celebrate some living stories — stories woven into the threads of India’s textile heritage,” Das said. “They are the stories of artisans, communities and generations who have turned skill into art.”

He traced the origins of India’s textile craftsmanship back nearly 5,000 years, noting that “long before the world spoke of global trade, India’s textiles traveled across the seas, spreading cultural and technical knowledge along with the cloth itself.” Das emphasized that every region of India tells its own story through distinct fabrics, each reflecting centuries of tradition, identity and innovation.

“Behind each intricate weave is the touch of an artisan — often a woman, often anonymous — who turns trade into legacy,” he said. “This is not just fashion, but a symbol of India’s villages, communities and ways of life.”

The ambassador highlighted the festival as both a cultural and economic celebration that honors India’s traditional craftsmanship while spotlighting the small and medium enterprises that are taking these crafts to international markets. “This festival is a tribute not just to heritage but also to the small and medium enterprises who are putting India’s ancient craft onto the global stage — and doing so literally tonight in this beautiful city of Seoul,” he said.

A model walks the runway dressed in Indian fabric during the Celebrating India Festival in Seoul, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Kim Hyun-bin

The event featured a fashion show that presented Indian textiles reimagined through modern design, accompanied by live performances by contemporary musicians from India’s Northeastern states. The fusion of traditional and modern elements, Das said, symbolizes how “heritage and innovation can walk hand in hand — and this is happening in a city and a country that have blended them so beautifully well in so many domains.”

Closing his remarks, the ambassador expressed hope that the festival would strengthen bilateral friendship, saying “May this festival weave a bond of stronger cultural and commercial ties between India and Korea, just as the loom weaves threads into a single beautiful fabric.”