KHARAL WEAVING

It is encouraging to see the tradition of kharal weaving continue in Kutch. There are a handful of weavers currently weave these rugs in Kuran, which is the last village before the Indo-Pakistan border and on the outskirts of Bhujodi village on the outskirts of Bhuj. In the past, apart from the kharal floor rugs, these weavers also woven khurjani, used as storage and saddle bags.

A very basic, horizontal loom is used by these, once nomadic weavers as it was easy to set up and dismantle the loom once the piece was woven. These rugs continue to be woven on the same basic loom which consists of two rods pegged securely to the ground on opposite sides. The distance between the two rods is determined by the size of the rug to be woven. This creates the basic frame on which very strong, highly twisted strong cotton threads are stretched to create a taut warp for weaving. The threads used for the warp need to be strong as well as flexible to be able to manipulate the threads for weaving.

In the past, the warp was made from yarn obtained from the stems of the aakda or milkweed plant (calotropis) which grew in the wild. The bush would be cut and dried for a couple of days. The dried stems were then beaten to extract the fibre which was then spun into yarn. The plied yarn was very strong and could withstand the tight warping and the heavy beating of the wool weft while weaving. Today a six-plied, strong cotton thread is used to make the warp.

For weaving, alternate threads are lifted by hand to create a shed to insert the woollen weft to weave the piece. Patterns can be created by changing the order of picking up the warp threads. In this tightly woven piece, the weft threads completely covers the warp. Motifs are also created by interlacing the weft threads.

Simple geometric patterns are created by interlacing multiple weft threads. The rugs are woven using natural shades of goat and sheep wool or camel hair. The process of creating a rug of 3’ x 5’ could take almost 20 days.

The process of making a kharal floor rug is a time consuming, which needs skill and a lot of patience. Like all traditional crafts, if there is a regular demand, artisans would continue practising the craft.