The story
Sungudi is a tie-and-dye cotton saree made by the Saurashtrian (Patnulkarar) weavers and dyers who migrated to Madurai under the Nayak rulers. Tiny dots are tied on the cloth before dyeing to create patterns. Madurai also grew into a garment and trading centre for southern Tamil Nadu, and its jasmine flower trade is GI-tagged as Madurai Malli. A gold jewellery cluster in the city has a common facility centre.
In numbers
Madurai Sungudi (application 21, certificate 16) and Madurai Malli (application 238, certificate 181) are registered GIs.
GI Registry — Madurai Sungudi, application 21A Gold Jewellery Cluster common facility centre at Madurai is listed as completed under MSE-CDP.
Completed Common Facility Centres under MSE-CDP (as on 22 Mar 2024), Office of DC-MSME · 2024
GI tag
- Madurai SungudiApplication no. GI Application No. 21 (Certificate No. 16)GI Registry, Intellectual Property India — application 21
- Madurai MalliApplication no. GI Application No. 238 (Certificate No. 181)GI Registry, Intellectual Property India — application 238
Ways in for a newcomer
- Online retail of genuine sungudi sarees and dress material
- Tie-dye job-work and natural-dye units
- Jasmine trading, cold-chain and jasmine-based perfume oils
- Garment stitching units for local brands
Problems the cluster faces
- Screen-printed imitations of sungudi
- GST increase hurt small weavers
- Few young people take up tie-dye work
- Jasmine prices crash in peak season
Businesses to start here
Saree Dyeing and Printing →Dupatta Colouring and Dyeing Unit →Hand Block Printing Unit (Printed Suits) →Readymade Garments Unit (Baby Rompers) →Mogra (Jasmine) Essential Oil Unit →