The controversy surrounding the ownership of 'Maa Saree' design seems to be turning murkier in Odisha with some demanding a high-level inquiry into the same.
Biswanath Meher of Sonepur district claims that he brought the 'Maa Saree' design from one Prafulla Meher in 2014 and later, it was woven by him. In 2015, he even won a National Award for the same.
However, another businessman from the district, Rajesh Meher is now claiming to be the brain behind the saree design. He claims that such a saree was woven by him last year for marketing purpose and it costs around Rs 17000 to Rs 20000.
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Reacting to the claims of Rajesh, Biswanath said, "It's unfortunate that he (Rajesh) is making such claims. Had he told that the saree was designed by his weavers and he did the marketing part, I would have been happy. But he doing business out of my art and design has left me disappointed."
After the claims over the saree snowballed into a controversy, Rajesh said he might not be the only one to have designed the saree with 'Maa' crafted on it in different languages.
"I had never heard of such a saree before. If he (Biswanath) has woven such a saree and received an award, it's definitely a proud moment for the people of Sonepur," he said.
Meanwhile, a high-level inquiry into the claims of both Biswanath and Rajesh has been sought by many.Sonepur has been in the limelight ever since sarees from the district were woven for Bollywood stars like Aishwarya Rai and Vidya Balan.