Three hours. The dye house and the yarn store first, then the warping frame where a thousand threads are counted by hand, and then an hour sitting at a loom with the weaver who works it - you will manage perhaps ten centimetres and see exactly why the cloth costs what it does.

The society sells at its own counter at the price the weaver sets, with no commission to anybody. Bedlinen, towels and the dhoti cloth that Kerala actually wears; if you want silk this is the wrong place.

September to March, mornings, weekdays. The sheds close on Sundays and the monsoon makes the dye house impossible.