Textile Crafts of Kashmir

Tag : ring pashmina
The beautiful territory of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) situated in theHimalayan mountains is rightly known as �Heaven on Earth�.Srinagar is the summer capital of this state, while Jammu is itswinter capital. This state has Kashmiri and Urdu as its majorlanguages. The state can be divided into three major parts: Jammu,the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh. The state of Kashmir is not onlyfamous for its wonderful climate and natural beauty but also forits exquisite textile crafts. This article aims at studying themajor textile crafts that have been prevalent in Kashmir sincelong, such as Kashmiri carpets, shawls, tweed, silk as well asembroidery.

The Kashmir carpet industry is famous the world over. Kashmiricarpets are loved not only by the people of India but also bypeople in other countries. It is believed that the art of weavingKashmiri carpets originated in Persia. Usually either silk or woolis used in making carpets. Sometimes a combination of silk and woolis used. Mercerized cotton is also sometimes used in makingcarpets. Mercerized cotton is a man-made fibre with sheen similarto that of silk. It is costlier than wool, but it is cheaper ascompared to silk.

The base of these carpets is either made of cotton or silk. The�tree of life� is a design that is very commonly found onKashmiri carpets. Though the carpets made in Kashmir are expensiveon account of their uniqueness and exquisite weaving, they areconsidered to be an investment.

Kashmiri shawls

Like Kashmiri carpets, shawls made in Kashmir are adored both inIndia and internationally. The Shahtoosh and Pashmina shawls madein Kashmir are world famous.

Shahtoosh shawls are made from the wool of the Tibetan antelope.These shawls are very light and soft. These shawls are extremelyexpensive because the wool used in making these shawls is scarce.The soft hair from the throat of the antelope is used for makingthese shawls. A few of these hairs fall off naturally when theantelopes graze. These hairs are collected and are then used inweaving shawls. Shahtoosh shawls may either be pure or mixed withPashmina in order to reduce the cost. Shahtoosh shawls are sofinely woven that the entire shawl can pass through a ring. It isfor this reason that such shawls are known as �Ring shawls�.These shawls are usually not dyed and are used in their naturalcolor i.e. light brown.

Pashmina shawls are made from the wool of the Kel sheep found inthe Himalayan mountains. Such shawls are extremely soft and do nothurt the skin of the wearer. Pashmina scarves and stoles are alsomade. Pashmina shawls are less expensive as compared to Shahtooshshawls.

Pashmina shawls usually have beautiful and heavy embroidery onthem, while Shahtoosh shawls do not.

Kashmiri tweed

The tweed material woven in Kashmir is well known the world over.It is considered to be one of the best materials in the world. Theraw material that is used in producing tweed is obtained fromoutside Kashmir; however, Kashmiri tweed is woven using importedtechniques and is of extremely good quality. The production oftweed is a job undertaken by a majority of the people of Kashmir.

View Full Article

Copyright © 2007

Article Source : http://www.myarticlepub.com - Free Reprint Articles

Fibre2Fashion.com - Leading B2B Portal and Marketplace of Fashion Industry, ApparelFashion & Retail Industry, Provides information of Garment Marketplace and garment jobs.