Hand-Knotted Harham Carpets

Hand-Knotted Harham Carpets

Carpet making is a very tedious process which requires lot of skill and patience, until the desired output is gained. Carpets have always been a great element of attraction and there are many carpet making clusters in our country that have been producing carpets of export quality. Most of these are in North India, while some of them are in South India too.

Eluru, a prominent city and the district headquarters of West Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh is famous all over the world for its natural color carpets. The carpets are available in colors like white, black, and brown and semi-black or grey. These are woven with low density knots, and hence it is also widely exported. These were earlier known as Harham carpets and have been gradually replaced with multiple colours by designers.

It is believed that Carpet weavers from Iran and Arab countries introduced the art of carpet weaving to the town of Machilipatnam and later it was adopted by the skilled workers of Eluru due to the luxuriant supply of a shrub called Tangellamudi, a natural source of yellow dye. It is believed to be the reason why the carpet industry has flourished here. The designs are therefore of Indo-Persian origin.

The carpets of Eluru are often named after the carpet makers who create them. There are varieties called Hussain Khani, Amar khani, Ramachandra khani, Reddy khani, and Gopalraokhani etc. Dillikhani features boats (kishti) and floral motifs, while Thottikhani is a design-composition based on flower-pots.

The patterns of these carpets are named after fruits and flowers like ambarcha, guava, babul, and jampal. The designs of Eluru carpets are mostly floral or geometrical while the combination of shades is marked by a mixture of blue and green with soft yellow and pastels. There are manycomplicated designs woven too, using the traditional talim technique with half-white background followed by deep-green and orange designs.

Eluru town is well known for its Carpet industry where a wide variety of hand knotted carpets are manufactured. The doormats created here are quite famous for their artistic finish, appearance and the quality of knots used. There are even attractive doormats where alternating patterns involving two shades of same color are knit, to give a unique appearance and artistic look. The carpet makers of Eluru are known for their mastery of this art.

The Doormat is one such brilliant example of multi colored patterns which are used to create these items. The carpet industry of Eluru produces many items and the Circle is one such exclusive piece, produced here. The natural shade carpet with its uniform geometrical design is one such unique form of carpet created by the skilled workers of Eluru. The luxuriant supply of a shrub called Tangellamudi has led to the strong foundations of this industry here.