Kotpad Handloom (no established local name — tradition identified by place)
Kotpad handloom is a cotton handloom weaving tradition from Kotpad block, Koraput district, Odisha — on the Chhattisgarh border — practiced by the Mirgan community for the Bondo, Kondh, and Gadaba tribal communities. Its defining feature is a natural dye process using exclusively aal (Indian madder, Morinda citrifolia) root for a distinctive brick-red to deep burgundy range, combined with a cotton warp-stripe structure and traditional tribal motifs. Unlike the elaborate supplementary-weft traditions of other regions, Kotpad's strength is in the warp-stripe architecture and the quality of its natural dye — which produces a color range unavailable in synthetic chemistry. GI Tag was granted in 2005. With fewer than 300 active weavers, the tradition is precarious.
Risk level: Critically Endangered · Not inscribed; GI Tag 2005
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