Valley Brick Kallan Anantnag

Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir

Chain Stitch - Natively known as "Jalakdozi", chain stitch rugs are the speciality of Kashmir. These rugs are made on "hessain cloth" or hand made cotton cloth, in continued stitch with superior woolen or silken yarn, with the help of a hook type tool natively called "Aurah".The designs range from floral patterns to animal and human forms traced by a designer, while the craftsman embroiders in two-ply or three ply woollensilken yarn. The rug looks like a carpet in which the pile is substituted by the texture. Chainstitch rugs is used both as floor covering and wall hanging.The rug is supported with cloth-lining to add to the durability. It comes in sizes 2x3, 3x5, 6x4, 6x9 and 9x12 feet.

Women dominance is widely felt in weaving of the carpets. A vertical wooden loom, light in weight is the sole basis on which it is made. It requires simple wedges to tighten and tied the wrap thread which are looped to the beams and tied together. The usual size of the carpet is 3x6 ft known as Khalidan. These carpets are woven by the method of looping knots, known as "Khabdan" in local parlance.

The designs woven into the carpet are generally derived from the religious myths. The motifs are inspired by the Mahayana Budhist symbolism. Dragon motif is quite common. A few more designs like Guanakchagri (Chinese, wall), Khorlo (three wheels), Tashi stak gyat (eight lucky signs), Mentok (flower) and Cha (birds) are also used. The eight lucky signs of symbols are those of lotus, wheel of religion, conch-shell, banner of victory, holy-vase endless knot, pair of golden fish and umbrella in Buddism.

There is one more type of the carpet woven in Ladakh. This is a peculiar type of the carpet, the wrap and weft of the rug used are both of woollen yarn. This is called TSUKDAN in local dialect.

The designs range from floral patterns to animal and human forms traced by a designer, while the craftsman embroiders in two-ply or three ply woollensilken yarn. The rug looks like a carpet in which the pile is substituted by the texture. Chainstitch rugs is used both as floor covering and wall hanging.

The origin of hand knotted carpets locally known as "Kal baffi" dates back to 15th century after which it progressively attained the high degree of perfection. It is said that Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin brought carpet weavers from Persia and central Asia in to Kashmir to train the local inhabitants.Carpets from 200 knots to 900 knotssq. inch both in wool & silk yarn have attained such excellence that they rank amongst the finest in the world. The loom used in Kashmir carpet weaving is composed of two horizontal wooden beams between which the wrap threads are stretched, one beam in front of the weaver and the second behind the first. The difference between a carpet and other hand woven rugs lies in the fact that short lengths of the thread or yarn are tied to wrap chains to form the pile of the carpet. These are commonly called knots though it is a loop rather than an actual knot.There are different types of knots and in Kashmir the Farsi baff and the Persian system known as Sehna, or Sinneh, knot is originally used. Very simple tools are used to thread these knots, a wood or Metal comb to push knots and weft tightly together and pair of short scissors to cut the pile of the carpet to an even form once it is finished.

The origin of hand knotted carpets locally known as "Kal baffi" dates back to 15th century after which it progressively attained the high degree of perfection. It is said that Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin brought carpet weavers from Persia and central Asia in to Kashmir to train the local inhabitants.There are different types of knots and in Kashmir the Farsi baff and the Persian system known as Sehna, or Sinneh, knot is originally used. Very simple tools are used to thread these knots, a wood or Metal comb to push knots and weft tightly together and pair of short scissors to cut the pile of the carpet to an even form once it is finished.