While in Rajasthan early this year we went to visit the weaver’s village of Salawas, where the craftsmen make traditional Durries (woven rugs). There we saw the master rugmaker Roopraj Prajapati at the Roopraj Durry Udhyog Cooperative.
The Durry (or Durrie) is woven in such a way as to make it fully reversible. They are commonly woven in cotton but the craftsmen also use silk, wool, goat hair and camel hair. The weavers work on a flat loom and only use a blade and a pick as tools. A wide range of traditional designs are produced, most patterns deriving from the Marwar culture to which the villagers belong.
-
- Roopraj Prajapati
-
- Cotton yarns are bought in pre-dyed to the required colours
-
- Roopraj Prajapati demonstrating the working of his loom
-
- Roopraj Prajapati at work
-
- Weaving tools
-
- We saw a beautiful range of designs
-
- Durrie
-
- Durries in a range of traditional designs
-
- Packing durries for shipment
Pingback: Crafts of India – Hand Embroidery | Wai-Yuk Kennedy Textile Art