An early morning ride on long boats from our hotel, Shwe Inn Thar Floating Resort, on Inle Lake brought us to the village of Inpawkhon, a community of highly skilled textile artisans. Here one on the rarest fabrics in the world is produced – silk made from the lotus flowers that grow in the lake. Lotus weaving was begun nearly a century ago. An extremely labor intensive process, the silk produced from the lotus is one of the most expensive textiles in the world. A small scarf requires about 4,000 lotus stems, a large scarf – about 40,000 stems, and a full set of monk’s robes requires about 220,000 lotus stems (and about 60 weavers 10 days to complete.) As Myanmar develops and the fabric is being used in high fashion garments around the world, it is no longer possible to gather enough lotus from the lake.The artisans are now importing lotus from other parts of the country and the need is arising to create sustainability for the micro industry and the environment in which the lotus grows.
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