The Rug Library

Bhujodi weavers of Kutch traditionally wove coarse handspun woollen blankets for Rabari herders and farmers, often exchanging them for fleece, milk products and grain.

A handloom is a loom worked entirely by hand and foot without electrical power; foot treadles raise and lower sets of warp to open a shed through which the weft is passed.

Jawaja weavers prepare their own warps and wind weft bobbins on a charkha, and an average dhurrie of about 4 x 6 feet takes roughly two to three days on the loom.

A shuttle-pit loom, built from ropes, wooden beams and poles, is common in Indian handloom weaving, with the shuttle thrown by hand from side to side.

Kani weaving in Kashmir, like Kashmiri carpet knotting, relies on a graph-paper design and a talim of coded instructions, woven on a four-pedal loom.

Lepcha weavers of Sikkim combine a cotton ground with multicoloured motifs woven in wool.

India's handloom sector is estimated to involve several million weavers; one Handloom Export Promotion Council figure puts it at about 4.33 million.

Among Navalgund's durrie weavers, the craft has traditionally passed within families, with women who marry into weaving households learning it from their in-laws.

Monpa carpet makers in Tawang traditionally spin wool from local Himalayan sheep by hand, and girls learn to weave from an early age.