Durries in rajasthan

Durries in rajasthan
The Durrie is kind of thin and simple woven carpets which were earlier used as a supporting material under big and thick carpets in the royal houses. Common people used them under their beds to keep them warm during the winter. For big gathering as in the villages and small town, whole community is invited at occasion of birth, death or any family festival and it would not be possible to have such big carpets as this would be very expensive for normal people, so they used Durries (or darris). There has been revival of this art as more people can afford it and this has resulted in a large colorful varieties.In many villages of Rajasthan you may find a large number of Houses where the durrie are woven on the loom in vibrant designs and motifs. A Durrie can be as simple as in a single colour only with a contrasting border. On the other hand due to demand there are some durries with geometric motifs and floral patterns in a mix of contrasting colours.

Durries are also available in different sizes. In places such as Bikaner and Jaisalmer, where in winters the temperatures can dip very low, woolen durries are also woeven. In Bikaner camel hairs are also used to make Durries which under the mattress keep your bed warm in the chilling winters of the desert.

Rajasthan Carpets

Rajasthan Carpets
Rajasthan is traditionally well-known for fine-quality hand-knotted woollen carpets. Jaipur, Ajmer, and Bikaner are main centres for this craft. It is also found in smaller towns like Tonk, Chaksu, Manaharpura, and Barmer. Some of the motifs used are little rosettes of Indo-Heratic origin; the colours found are blue, red, and purplish-tints in combination. The other combination is light green and deep blue. The border motifs include bold flowers and long serrated leaves.

There is a move to revive traditional designs like dushala, charkona, mehrab and shikar. Otherwise the designs are slanted towards the Indo-Persian. The carpet in Indo-Kerman design has ivory or cream as the background colour with floral design all over or in the centre. Complex carpets, requiring 400 to 600 knots per inch, are not woven any more; simple carpets with counts of 16 to 36 knots are being woven. Rajasthan has a strong wool base as it controls 50 per cent of total wool production in India and there is enormous scope for disseminating this craft in rural areas.