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Gwalior might have been ruled by the Moguls once in the history of time, but the Persian flavor they brought along with them exists in the aesthetic sensibilities of this region even today. Carpet weaving in Gwalior is a much renowned craft, nourished by families of skilled craftsmen.
Other than their traditional use of protecting the floor panels and making it a warm comfortable walking surface, the carpets are now popularly used for décor and furnishings in interiors. The people in the colder regions prefer hanging these carpets over the walls of their timber houses so that they double up as insulating agents.
The designs in the Gwalior carpets are infused by the Persian carpet designs which are an interplay of the permutations of symmetry and geometry. The strong Persian influence still pulsates through the designs, colors and motifs of the Gwalior carpets.
The weavers belong to the Muslim and the Hindu Kori communities. While they are not taking up the seasonal contract work of carpet weaving, they have to find other means of livelihood. Women are mostly confined to the house and are mainly involved in the pre-weaving activities.
the Gwalior carpets are famous for their beautiful floral patterns
two people sitting against each other, as the loom stands tall between them like a wall of ever changing transparencies.The two ensure that the conversations are woven between them in tandem. This becomes increasingly necessary as the designs are inherently symmetrical. The conversations start when one of the weavers looks into the graph paper and announces a term that the person on the other side of the loom repeats as he executes the same step. The terms include words such as Byayi (meaning the color that lies below needs to be repeated on the top) and Bachcha (indicates the knot that comes on the right side of the line below needs to be repeated), Chala (indicates that the thread in front needs to be worked on eg. chala lal, chala neela etc)
The technique of weaving and the design of the looms too are the descendants of the Iranian technique.
Other than their traditional use of protecting the floor panels and making it a warm comfortable walking surface, the carpets are now popularly used for décor and furnishings in interiors. The people in the colder regions prefer hanging these carpets over the walls of their timber houses so that they double up as insulating agents.
The proficiency of the Gwalior carpet weavers has contributed significantly towards making the district one of the prime places of weaving in the country. Most of these designs are original creations of the master craftsmen. Many established designers and furnishing houses get their designs masterfully executed by the weavers in Gwalior. The hand-woven carpets are also exported to the US, Canada and many other places around the world.The master weavers have their looms either at their homes or in another location, where other weavers would come and execute the master weaver’s designs on a contractual basis. These weavers belong to the Muslim and the Hindu Kori communities. While they are not taking up the seasonal contract work of carpet weaving, they have to find other means of livelihood. Women are mostly confined to the house and are mainly involved in the pre-weaving activities.
The earliest form of carpet weaving in India was recorded at around 500 BC in Buddhist texts. The evidence of use of carpets in India also comes from Mongolia and these carpets were found to be very similar to the present day Persian or Anatolian carpets. The Venetian traveler, Marco Polo, too has written about the popularity and widespread use of flooring in many parts of India in his chronicles. It is believed to be a time-tested and long-used method of flooring in Indian villages. The Durrie is a small carpet woven by women in rural areas on two parallel bars for looms. This carpet is found to be commonly used in Indian villages. The carpet weaving craft is believed to have been carried into Gwalior by the Mughals. This craft had flourished strongly in Iran and accompanied the smitten Mughal rulers who established the skill in Gwalior. The Mughals invited many Persian artisans to live in India and practice the craft under their patronage. They also trained the Indian artisans in the art of carpet-weaving. Very soon this craft flourished in Gwalior and the Indian weavers produced carpets as good as or even better than the Persians in terms of quality and variety.During the subsequent years when the Mughal rule declined and other dynasties conquered, the craft of carpet weaving held on strongly. Just like the other arts in Gwalior, It imbibed desired characteristics from every culture that had braced Gwalior.Carpet-weaving had come with the Mughals and so it travelled along with them wherever they went. Therefore this craft is found in India from Jammu and Kashmir in the north to Tamil Nadu in the south and from Rajasthan in the west to Arunachal Pradesh in the east.Some of the major carpet-making areas of India are the following: -¢ Jammu and Kashmir (Persian designs), Ladakh (Tibetan designs)-¢ Delhi (carpets as well as durries)-¢ Rajasthan -“ Durries and Dhadki of Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Ajmer and Barmer-¢ Madhya Pradesh – Gwalior carpets-¢ Uttar Pradesh – Mirzapur and Bhadohi (where 90 per cent of all carpets of country are produced)-¢ North eastern states – Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Manipur (Tibetan designs)-¢ Andhra Pradesh – Warangal and Elluru-¢ Tamil Nadu, Karnataka The British took over Gwalior in 1779 CE and established the East India Company. They were smitten by the richness of this craft and went on to establish the Oriental Carpet Manufacturing company (OCM) in the early 1900s to derive maximum benefits from the carpet weaving industry. The strong Persian influence still pulsates through the designs, colors and motifs of the Gwalior carpets. The technique of weaving and the design of the looms too are the descendants of the Iranian technique.
The designs in the Gwalior carpets are infused by the Persian carpet designs which are an interplay of the permutations of symmetry and geometry. The symmetry helps the pattern to spread out in an organized manner and helps in determining both invariance and change. The basic framework of the design is much similar to its Persian ancestors, with only mild, if any, variations. The rectangular carpet consists of a two thick borders which flank a central medallion. The medallion expands symmetrically in the ‘Field’ and leaves a spandrel or triangular quarter panels in the corners, which touch the inner border. Every gap of this framework is elaborately decorated with motifs of flowers, foliage and others inspired from nature. Designs fall into two different categories: curvilinear and rectilinear. According to a few craftsmen, the Gwalior carpets are famous for their beautiful floral patterns.The fringes of the carpet or the shorter sides have tassels of threads. The designs, patterns and their symmetrical variations occur in two main parts of the carpet – the field and between the borders, which frame the field. The craftsmen of Gwalior have incorporated traditional themes into contemporary designs without diluting their bonds with the vast reserve of the ancestral patterns.
Carpet weaving is skill and labor intensive. Meticulous work and dexterity combined with immense patience is shown by the craftsmen. The larger and intricate the design, the more time it consumes to reel out a carpet of high quality. In spite of this, there is very little value for their labor and the returns are also minimal. Therefore, only a small percentage of craftsmen are able to provide the basic standard of living to their families, which includes education and basic amount of food. Children are believed to pick up the craft very quickly and deftly go about it. However, children below the age of fourteen are not authorized to start working at the family looms and have to attain basic education. It is seen that by the time these children cross this age they have taken the family profession for granted and set their interests elsewhere. There is a marked absence in social security amongst the average and poor weavers, which makes them indebted to the higher income groups such as the master weavers and the traders. The old pit looms situated in dimly lit sheds are facing increasing competitions from mechanized looms have also been largely responsible for a crisis in carpet weaving.
Carpet weaving in Gwalior is done in twos or threes by the skilled craftsmen. The knots made by them on their vertical loom slowly transform into elaborate designs of vibrant colors and strong motifs. As the carpet evolves through different stages, it assumes an admirable number of expressions. The master craftsmen themselves draft all the designs for the carpet. The designs are mostly symmetrical and are deciphered on the loom where they materialize into pixilated patterns through knotting. Warp for at least two to three carpets of a singular design is stretched at a time.
A large percentage of raw material suppliers also double as master weavers who supply these raw materials to other master weavers. They are quite affluent and well versed in their craft and trade. This way, the trader holds about 60-70 percent of shares in his business of yarn supply and production.
Cotton: It is mainly sourced from Haryana. Sources also vary as per the kind of cotton thread required for the warp and weft. For the regular quality, the thread used is 6/6 and is sourced from Rajasthan. The stone washed one, which is 12/20, is bought from Delhi. Mostly both of these are procured from dealers and not produced by the weavers.
Wool: It is the primary raw material used to knot into the weave. Wool is sourced from Bikaner and Amritsar. The two main types of wool are handspun and the mill-spun wool.
I. Handspun: This is pure wool procured from the markets of Bikaner and Jodhpur in Rajasthan. This type of wool is used for durries that are colored using vegetable dyes. This wool is not of uniform gauge as it is handspun.
II. Mill spun: This too is pure wool, procured from Panipat and Bikaner. In durries made with this kind of wool, normally chemical dyes are used. This is cheaper than hand woven wool and is of uniform gauge.
Viscose: This is sometimes used instead of wool. Viscose is sourced from Panipat and Surat.
Taana Machine: The Taana machine is used to spin and organize the threads for the loom. It is made of two basic parts – a big octagonal horizontal cylinder that rotates on its axis and a vertical frame on which a number of thread rolls can be attached.
Loom: A vertical loom is used by the carpet weavers of Gwalior. The loom is believed to have derived its design from the Tabriz loom of Iran. The vertical frame of this loom is made up of two horizontal beams of wood or steel. The first beam is almost two feet above the ground and the second one is about six feet from the ground. The looms are quite simple, unlike the usually complex ones.The beams are fastened using a screw and chain mechanism. The upper beam is movable and the length of the beams changes according to the dimension of the carpet to be woven.A Reed is a horizontal metallic frame through which the warp threads pass. This keeps the threads sturdy, straight and at a uniform distance from each other.The ‘Kamana’ is a V-shaped wooden frame where the ends are bound with a tight piece of rope. Of the two layers of the warp (Taana), one remains on the outside and the other remains inside. The Kamana is used to interchange these positions if needed.The Kamana is attached to the beam, just above the reed, using two pieces of bamboo called ‘Ruchch’.
Panja: It is a comb-like instrument to ensure that the threads are compacted and firmly positioned in the matrix of weaving.
Patti: A flat tool used to beat the carpet so that all the knots and threads settle uniformly.
Dhoori: A locally devised apparatus for cutting off the excess threads which stick out once the weaving is done.
Faavda: A tool used to polish the fully woven carpet so that the surface is evened out.
Designing: The designs are sketched on a graph paper by the craftsmen, with the help of a basic grid as the reference. Colors and shades are also detailed out on this paper. The grid helps in keeping the designs symmetrical as they grow and spread on the paper.
Dyeing: Natural pigments were traditionally used to dye the wool but since it was time consuming, the craftsmen now buy pre-dyed wool for carpet weaving.
Threads for weft: After the yarn is dyed, it is normally delivered in bundles. In this case, the thread needs to be untangled and stretched to make them tighter. A charkha or spinning wheel is used for the reeling. This process is not required if it is dyed in factories since the weavers receive them in rolls.
Warping: The master weaver uses the Taana machine for warp making depending on the requirements of his design. The threads are fed into the vertical frames in the desired pattern and color combination. In this movable frame, the ends of the threads are taken from the rolls and fed through another grid-like frame that guides the thread. This is wound on an octagonal cylinder according to the combination. Once the entire cylinder is covered, it is passed on to the weaver who feeds it into the loom for further work.
Fixing the loom: On the vertical loom, the warp is set such that at least 2-3 copies of the same design can be created. Two or three people work together and knot the threads to the required designs. The knots are called ‘Persian Knots’, named after their birthplace.
Weaving:The two layers of warp which is bound on the two beams pass through the Reed while weaving. There is a small bench before the loom, facing the warp, on which one or two weavers sit and work. The number of weavers depends on the width of the carpets.Since there is more than one person weaving, the communication or mutual instructions become very crucial. They sit together on one side, facing the loom. The graph paper, on which the design is made, is present only with one of the weavers. That weaver takes a look at the graph paper at regular intervals, and voices a particular term to the other weavers. This term means a particular kind of design or knot in the weave, which has to be worked on or replicated by the other weavers. A few examples of the terms are:
Byayi: The color that lies below needs to be repeated on the top.
Bachcha: The knot that comes on the right side of the line below needs to be repeated.
Chala: the thread in front needs to be worked on eg. chala lal, chala neela etc In sequence, these terms are pronounced to get the weaving process done symmetrically. It is almost like a sing song language of codes only the weavers understand.To aid the process, there are markings made on the warp, which guide the weaver about the location of a particular feature in the design. After a row of weft is woven, the weavers beat it and use the ‘Panja’ to comb, so that it gets compacted to the warp. Once this is done, the weaver interchanged the layers of the warp using the Kamana and Ruchch. This locks the weft between the two layers of warp, making the carpet more strong and durable.
Polishing: After weaving, the carpets are immersed in water for 8-10 hours and left to dry. This is done so that the knots settle down uniformly. Later, the fabric is washed and cleaned with chemicals to strengthen it. The ‘Faavda’ is used to polish the surface till it evens out.
Clipping: The carpets are then sent to the Clipper, who clips off the protruding threads and knots using shears to give them a smoother finish. These days, the craftsmen also use electrical cutting machines and tools.
List of craftsmen.
Team Gaatha