Around 60 artisans in Tangmarg village of north Kashmir have completed Asia’s biggest ever handmade carpet in more than 8 years, measuring 72 feet by 40 feet (2880 sq. feet).
The work on the carpet unit was started in 2016 in Wail Kralpora of Tangmarg and following unfavorable circumstances the work was delayed. At present 70 percent work of the project has been completed. The cost of the carpet is worth crores and it will likely be exported to foreign countries.
While taking to Rising Kashmir, Srinagar based businessman Fayaz Ahmad Shah who is associated with the carpet business for decades says they are manufacturing Asia’s longest carpet in Kashmir which is 72 feet and 40 feet (2880 sq. feet).
“World’s largest carpet is 400 square meters long and has 17 notches (289 inches). It was manufactured in Iran while our carpet has 30 notches”, he revealed.
Shah who heads his own firm Shah Qadir and Sons is a resident of Safa Kadal and his father was also associated with Pashmina work. However, Shah had more inclination towards the carpet industry and started working on it.
“Kashmir has never manufactured the biggest carpet like this. It was a challenge and initially the contract of completion was seven years. We had assured them it would be completed within three years by working from dawn to dusk,” he said.
“Around 25 laborers were working on the project, and for the past two months, they worked round the clock. After completing this biggest carpet, we will hand it over to our Indian agent. As for its final destination, we do not deal further,” he said.
Shah believes that every work has its own value but if it is being done with honesty and dedication. He said Kashmiri carpets are famous across the globe and it still draws a demand in the international market.
He said despite industrialization, they got this biggest order from a foreign country and the cost is worth crores of rupees.
“Kashmiri’s have great potential and we can make the world’s largest carpet as well. We can be the biggest competitors to Iran and Afghanistan in the international market but the need of the hour is that the government should take initiatives”, he said.
Fayaz said that two expert brothers, Habibullah and Abdul Gaffar Shiekh, supervised the making of the carpet very carefully. They made sure that the work on the carpet was completed even when things were tough.
Shaha urged the government to lend help to the carpet industry as it was a source of livelihood for many young people, especially in far-off places.
Shah said in 1986, Kashmir Arts Emporium, a regular rate list was announced for carpet rates and carpet dealers were getting good prices within the gap of 7-8 days. However the arts emporium has become defunct now and reopens on special occasions,” he said.
One of the artisans who works in the carpet loom, wishing anonymity said it was a profitable business in Kashmir but the government neglected it.
“We are around 60 artisans and some of us are educated as uneducated. During the Covid19 pandemic we stopped our work for some time as the pandemic affected the whole world,” he said.
He said there is a lot of potential in Kashmir and our handicraft products are famous across the world while there has been a good demand in the markets of Middle East, Gulf and European countries.
Habibullah Sheikh, Abdul Gaffar Shiekh’s brother, led a group of about 25 workers in Wail Kralpora in north Kashmir’s Tangmarg. They said that in 2015, a company from Srinagar asked them to make a carpet because their family has been making carpets for 45 years.
“We talked a lot about this project, and it took almost a year to start. Then, we put 25 workers to work, and after a long wait, we finally finished it. It’s done now. They are working on another big project that will take about two years,” he said.
Mohammad Akbar Dar, a worker from Mohanpora, who helped finish this big carpet, said it was ordered from abroad. They got the chance to work on it through a dealer in Srinagar. Mohammad Ashraf Parray, Nisar Ahmed Parray, Firdous Ahmed Dar, and Mohammad Maqbool Paray worked tirelessly for many hours to bring this dream to life.
Despite the difficulties, the artisans are proud to have worked on this record-breaking carpet and hope it will improve their lives. They are hopeful that the government, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, will take special steps to support this industry.
Kashmiri carpets often sell well in Western countries because Iranian carpets dominate the Gulf markets, leaving little room for carpets from Kashmir. This large carpet could be a chance for traders to break into the Gulf market, according to artisans.
As per Guinness’s book of world records the world’s largest hand-woven carpet measures 5,630 m² (60,600.81 ft²) and was manufactured by the Iran Carpet Company (Iran). It was created for the Abu Dhabi mosque and was measured in Abu Dhabi, UAE, in 2007.
The carpet was created in nine parts and assembled in the mosque. The carpet would have been around 6,000 square meters originally, but parts of it had to be taken away in order to fit it onto the floor in the mosque, it said.
Pertinent to mention, hand-knotted carpets are manufactured in Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, India, China, and also the Caucasus. In Kashmir also around 3 lakh people, who are associated with handicrafts including carpets, paper-mache, shawls, wood carving are finding it difficult to feed their families.
