Assam start-up Marvella Associates has won a National Handloom Award for its innovative “Soil-to-Silk” model, bringing national recognition to Sualkuchi’s rich silk-weaving heritage. The award was presented by President Droupadi Murmu on National Handloom Day 2026, highlighting the growing role of entrepreneurship and innovation in preserving Assam’s traditional textile sector.
Assam start-up puts Sualkuchi on national stage
Marvella Associates, co-founded by Pakumoni Das and Jugal Bharali, received the honour in the start-up venture category at an event held on August 7. The recognition was part of 22 national handloom honours presented this year, comprising three Sant Kabir Handloom Awards and 19 National Handloom Awards.
The awards recognise excellence across areas including weaving, innovation, design development, marketing, start-up ventures and producer companies. They are presented under the Handloom Marketing Assistance component of the National Handloom Development Programme.
For Marvella, the award places Sualkuchi, one of Assam’s best-known silk-weaving centres, in the national spotlight. It also reflects an effort to connect traditional craft with newer approaches to tourism, education and livelihood development.
How the Soil-to-Silk model works
The Assam start-up has developed a model that allows visitors to understand the complete journey of silk production rather than seeing only the finished handloom product.
The experience begins with the cultivation of host plants such as castor and som. Visitors can then learn about the rearing of eri and muga silkworms, cocoon production, yarn reeling, dyeing, weaving and finishing.
This integrated approach creates a direct link between the natural resources required for silk production, the skills of artisans and the final textile. It also gives visitors a closer look at the work carried out by farmers, silk rearers, spinners, dyers and weavers.
According to the venture, the model has also been introduced to students. The educational component is aimed at creating greater awareness about Assam’s weaving traditions and the communities whose livelihoods depend on them.
Linking handloom with rural livelihoods
The award-winning approach goes beyond promoting handloom products. The Assam start-up is seeking to create a broader livelihood ecosystem in which different stages of production contribute to the local economy.
Sualkuchi has long been associated with Assam’s silk tradition, particularly muga and other indigenous textiles. By presenting the production process as an interconnected value chain, Marvella is attempting to show how traditional skills can remain economically relevant in a changing market.
The company has described its wider vision as developing a self-sustaining Assamese village economy rooted in traditional practices. Alongside handloom weaving, the vision includes agriculture, local plants and herbs, folk music, rituals and other elements of community life.
Such an approach also places greater emphasis on the cultural experience surrounding handloom. Instead of treating textiles simply as commercial products, the model presents them as part of a living ecosystem involving land, people, skills and traditions.
National recognition for innovation
The latest honour adds to Marvella Associates’ growing recognition. The Assam start-up also received an award from the Ministry of Tourism in the craft category in 2025.
The National Handloom Award comes at a time when the government is placing greater emphasis on innovation while protecting traditional weaving practices. National Handloom Day is observed every August 7 to commemorate the Swadeshi Movement of 1905 and recognise the contribution of India’s handloom communities.
This year’s awards also highlighted the diversity of India’s textile traditions. Awardees represented 13 states and Union Territories, with honours covering products and practices ranging from Muga silk and Kanchipuram silk to Ikat, Kani shawls, Khadi Muslin and traditional regional sarees.
Assam also received the prestigious Sant Kabir Handloom Award through Runima Chetiya Choudhury for her Muga silk saree, further strengthening the state’s presence among this year’s national awardees.
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A new path for Assam’s handloom sector
For the Assam start-up, the National Handloom Award is more than recognition for a business model. It underlines how traditional knowledge can be combined with education, tourism and entrepreneurship to create new opportunities around handloom.
The Soil-to-Silk approach could also help younger generations understand the work behind Assam’s famous textiles, from cultivation and silkworm rearing to weaving and finishing. By connecting visitors and students with artisans and rural producers, the model seeks to keep the value of traditional skills within local communities.
As Assam continues to promote its silk and handloom heritage, Marvella Associates’ national recognition offers another example of how innovation can support cultural preservation while creating new economic possibilities. The award gives further visibility to Sualkuchi and reinforces the potential of Assam’s traditional textile ecosystem to find new audiences without losing its roots.