The Weaver’s Lineage: How Carpet-Making Skills Travel Across Generations
Anything and everything that is passed on to the younger generation is an heirloom. Be it something materialistic, a skill, or traditions, what your forefathers have blessed you with is something valuable. Little did we know that someone else’s heirloom would become ours. Ours in a way that it will not only bless us but also make us one of the biggest entities in the decor industry. Here, we are talking about the art of weaving carpets by hand. If we dive into the history of hand-knotting rugs, it will be the early 1300s. Nomads during the Turkish empire used to handmake the roofs of their tents to decorate the space. Soon, this art caught the emperor's eye. It was then that these designs were brought onto the carpet canvas. This was followed by the establishment of a production unit, which led to the introduction of handmade carpets into the global trade.
In our country, it was the Mughals. Emperor Akbar was a fanatic about art and architecture. To adorn his palaces in India, he called Persian craftsmen who mastered the art of carpet weaving. It was they who not only taught the Indian weavers this craft but also embedded something deep and meaningful within our country. This is not a mere art but something that has been running the livelihood of an entire community for generations.
We at Obeetee have been in the business for more than a century now. At present, we have a family of 25000 weavers crafting rugs for us. It is the only segment where three to four generations are working together. Apart from adding life to homes across the world through our rugs, our mission was to keep the art of hand-making alive. In the modern world, everything is mechanised. But what people say is the truth: ‘time flows in a circle’. Today, if anyone wants something unique and one of a kind, they prefer handmade articles. The precision, the finesse, and the intricacy that can be achieved by hand can never be matched by a machine. Even the flaws in the article are embraced by the customer happily.
Bhadohi has always been the hub of carpet making. In our production unit, we have families in our weaving community who have been a part of the Obeetee journey for generations. Every weaver today is proud of the art that he/she is blessed with. This art is as ours as it is theirs. A priceless heirloom.
The lineage of a weaver is not written in books, not mentioned on the internet, but knotted precisely on every canvas that has and will roll out from our house. Each knot carries a story. Story of the weaver’s family. Something that can never be taught through an instruction manual but can only be inherited. When children watch their entire family weave, they embrace the sense of belonging. The subtle transfer of knowledge is what has kept carpets alive for centuries.
Every handmade rug from Obeetee is crafted at the homes of the weavers. A knotted carpet can take a few months to a few years to be ready. During this time, lifeless threads become a part of the weaver’s family. From being with them through all their ups and downs, every knot ties that experience within. As a customer, when you roll out any of our rugs in your space, you are blessing your space with a timeless article. Irrespective of the day it was finished, designed, or purchased, it has been made using weaving techniques that go beyond time.
For more information, visit our e-commerce platform https://www.obeetee.in/ or any of our stores spread across the major cities of the country.
