Carpets/ Durries/ Floor Coverings

Traditionally, the northeastern belt weaves hand-knotted woollen carpets with bold colourful designs on upright wooden frame looms. The method of weaving and the motifs and colour schemes are similar in the entire belt.

The warp of the carpet is cotton and is mounted on the upper beams while the woven fabric is wound on the lower beam. Knotting is done, with great skill and dexterity, by looping the woollen thread around the warp. The rod used for looping is placed along the warp. When a motif or a new colour is introduced, the ground colour is cut and the new colour thread is inserted by twisting into a single warp thread and looping. The loops are finally cut with a knife and a pile is created. The number of knots per square inch could vary from 40 to 100.

Screw pine weaving of mats is one of the traditional crafts practiced by women in Kerala. The leaves for this mat are taken from the sword-shaped thorny screw-pine plant. The process is tough as the leaf has sharp thorns growing in both directions. Two different types of pines are used in the making of mats. The short variety is used for a large number of items as it can be both faded and painted. The finer varieties of mats need narrower splits and as they need to be extra silk therefore they are boiled in the pure milk.

Are available in beautiful patterns which are highlted with bright colours and sometimes single plain colours are also available.The patterns are of traditional and modern types. Craftmen are more keen on working on geomatric designs as their favourite. The patterns are complimented with deautiful borders having all the possible colours. Block printing is also seen on the borders which is an anient art. These dhurries are most commonly used item in ones living room to bedrooms and very important use is seen in the prayer rooms.Rest is dependent on ones wish.

A unique craft of Manipur is the double-weave mat known as the kaunaphak reed mat. Known as phak in Meithei, a Manipuri tribal language, the reed used to weave the mat is called kauna. The mat is made by the local people for their own use, as well as for commercial purposes.

A reed is a firm-stemmed grass, with a hollow stem that looks like bamboo. It is a sturdy material and reed mats are used as walls for structures and roofs. The reed is first split and shaved before it is woven in a twill weave into mats. They are made starting at one corner and plaiting or weaving is done diagonally. Long strips are folded at the middle and another strip is inserted crosswise, which is in turn folded and the next strip is again inserted crosswise and so on. The creases of the crosswise strips form the edges of the mat. Reeds are also used to make very sturdy baskets.

Mahishyas , the weavers of Midnapore in the southern corner of West Bengal are skilled at weaving the most popular mats Madur. Weavers weave this on an uncomplicated frame loom made out of bamboo. Warp is of cotton thread and the weft is a thin soft reed known as madur kathi.

Midnapore craftsmen design three types of madur mats. These are ek- rokha,do- rakha ?as they are light madur kathi weft. Do- rakha is thicker than the ek- rakha and is more suitable and comfortable when compared to ek- rakha. These mats can be carried anywhere. Masland is a textured mat on which the craftsperson designs geometrical designs on both the borders. These designs are self in colour but sometimes they are painted in the shade of magenta.