With over 1,000 artisans under its wing in 150 workshops around the globe today, it’s hard to believe that Mahaguthi’s Craft With a Conscience began with one man’s determination to help those in need.
Born to a middle class family in Nepal in 1896, Tulsi Mehar was never afraid to speak his mind, openly protesting the oppression of the caste system. The Rana Prime Minister considered these sentiments anti-national and banished Mehar from Nepal for life.
Discouraged but never defeated, he traveled to India, where he joined Mahatma Gandhi in the quest for social reform. Touched by Mehar’s devotion to his beliefs, Gandhi personally wrote to the Rana Prime Minister on his behalf. Granted permission to return, Mehar immediately began the spinning and weaving project known today as Mahaguthi. Current artisans craft anything from lamps to singing bowls to shawls to earrings.