India Capet Culture

Indian carpet weaving culture is as old as the carpet history itself. It is something which is considered as the symbol of great interest in handicrafts specially in weaving. Piled carpet weaving & its usage is still not very common in the Indian region because of the hot weather & humidity. It is seen as both rural & domestic handicraft done majorly for export purposes.

Carpeting was introduced to India by the Akbar, the great Mughal Emperor, in the 16th century. India boasts of some of the most exclusively woven carpets during this era where each surpassed the other in terms of unique crafting chosen to define the carpet's beauty. They, however, were infused with a common magic of colors & design.

With the introduction of Iranian carpet weaving style to the country, India developed her own unique style. Besides the presence of high quality Cashmere wool & Iranian designs, Indian carpets flourished in a full fledged manner. It is today one of the most vital countries in silk carpet exports.

Carpet & Culture
In India, weavers still follow the age old tradition of giving a proper definition to carpets by sitting customarily on the floor. Flourishing from a small scale industry to big scale business, it still includes a strong local tinge while preserving the highly stylized & idealistic Persian standard till date. They are an economically important as well a minuscule part of the popular floor covering practice.


Carpet weaver has gradually evolved from being a simple weaver to an artist, a creator who posses the capacity to actually weave poetry & an entire story into his designs where his every knot gives a touch of aesthetic beauty to his creations. Transforming a creation into a masterpiece is what proves the weaver's talent. Applying fine materials & designs derived from varied inspirations are utilized in every creation.

The Indian weaver ties his every knot with great dexterity, on upright wooden looms of traditional design. Often making use of vertical looms available in varied sizes, weavers finely knot the the carpet which ultimately determines the fitness of any carpet. It is the firmness, thickness & appearance on which more importance is paid.

Weavers pay maximum attention on the usage of exquisite designs, subtle elegance, attractive colors which result in fine workmanship. It is the patience of the weaver that eventually pays off. Intricate designs & unique patterns of these carpets add to the USP factor of Indian carpets which has helped it to place it prominently in the international carpet map.

Indian carpet weavers freed the very designing aspect of carpet weaving from the limitation of space, repeated intricate & infinite patterns in an ordered symmetry & wove abstract symbols into dense ornamentation. With the application of the loom, they gave way to his creative expressions. Generally, the weavers make use of the asymmetrical or Persian knot.

Indian carpets are found in distinct dimensions which differ as per the customer's preference. The most common sizes found are :

• Carpet : 2.74X1.83 to 4.57X3.66
• Rug : 1.83X0.92 to 2.14X1.22

Weavers make use of a combination of world class designs to produce carpets of general design of hand-mode carpets. The major collection includes Iranian, Chinese, Moroccan, French & Turkmen patterns which the weavers beautifully incorporate in their carpet designs. 65% of designs are Iranian, like Sarough, Hamadan, Tabriz, Kashan, Isfahan, Khorasan etc.

Commonly found Indian carpets are :

• Agra produces carpet of thick variety woven using wool & cotton in blue, green & brown colors.
• Assam manufactures small prayer-rug using white wool used for worship and prayer used in India & Pakistan.
• Punjab produces Dilara, a hand-made kilim, which is woven of poor quality cotton.
• Darmi is an ancient type woven like a mat.
• Harami are range of carpets woven for mosques.