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Kashmir is known throughout the world
as much for its arts and crafts as for its scenic beauty and bracing climate.
The diverse articles range from woolen textiles of fleecy soft texture and
matchless excellence in weaving, hand-woven carpets of finest warp and weft,
to the exquisite designs worked on papier-mâché, wood work, silverware,
etc are the products of unique craftsmanship.
Shawls
A unique position among Kashmir
textiles is held by the celebrated shawl.
The process of shawl-making is
fascinating from the start. Assiduously, women sort out of the lustrous, rough
substance from the smooth fleecy wool of the Kel goat, and they ply it over a
charkha (handloom) of the indigenous type, while chanting folk-songs. This
fabric, called pashimina, takes two forms of the loom: the loom shawl
(entirely woven on the loom ) and the embroidered shawl, which is woven
with an embroidered pattern. The celebrated 'ring shawl' has been given
in the popular name, because it can actually pass through a ring. Rare and
different from the others is the Jamavar shawl. In this case, the threads
of the warp and weft are dyed before weaving. The peculiar charm of this famous
shawl is derived from the symphony of colour schemes depicting architectural and
mythological figures interwoven with landscape designs.
A high-class shawl is expected to
have the designs worked evenly on both sides. The price of a pashmina shawl may
range anywhere from a few hundred rupees to thousands of rupees, depending upon
the craftsmanship and the time factor involved in its creation.
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