Prayer Carpets

Prayer carpets or prayer rugs, as the name suggest are meant for prayers. These carpets are especially designed for Muslims who use these carpets to offer prayers to God five times a day. As this carpet is meant for prayers, hence the design and lay out followed, is simple. Prayer carpets are woven almost in all the Islamic countries. There are two variants of these carpets- one that is meant for the individual devotee and other that is kept in the mosque where mass offer their prayers. The carpets in the mosques are long to accommodate maximum number of devotees.


The styles in which these prayer carpets are available differ from region to region. Prayer carpets woven in cities are more refined as compared to those woven in the tribal areas or the villages. One of the finest variant of the prayer carpets come from Turkey (Hereke region). The carpets woven in this region are in pure silk. The pieces woven in the tribal areas are all wool and consist of three mihrab-like feature at one end.

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Prayer-Carpet Design
The prayer carpet are small and are carried by the individuals for the purpose of prayer. The design on these carpet consists of the "mihrab" or niche found in the wall of a mosque which defines the direction of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Turkoman ensi is one of the unique type of prayer carpet that is known for its unique design and weave. Ensi is known by the name of Hatchli or Katchli in Iran and Turkey, Purduh in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In this carpet, the center fields are subdivided into four panels which are filled with a repeating pattern of "candelabra" design. The top of Ensi carpet consists of mihrab design- sometimes a horn shaped motif.

Recognizing a Prayer Carpet
In the prayer carpets, generally the lower field is level, whereas, the upper portion comes together in the shape of an niche. The popular motifs of these carpets are columns along the side, and a lamp hanging from the ceiling of the niche. The ceiling of the nomadic prayer carpets is in the shape of a tent. In every mosque, there is one wall, the one facing towards Mecca. The mihrab in the mosque contains lamp that is symbolic of light of revelation. The whole concept of the prayer carpet revolves around the concept of mihrab.

Features of Prayer Carpets
Some of the common features of the prayer carpets can be summarized as follows:

• Produced virtually everywhere where Muslim population exists
• The most popular design of the prayer carpet is the tree design. Trees or tree like like plants surrounded by flowers, animals and birds are the common motif
• Prayer carpets are available both in standard and the custom designs
• Some of the prayer carpets are also available with compass to locate the exact direction of the holy Kaaba
• These carpets are mostly handwoven
• Field of the carpet is usually undecorated