Carpet weaving has strong traditions in India. In the early stages, the motifs used in the Indian carpets were purely Persian. Later, various other designs were introduced from China, Afghanistan, Turkey, Morocco and Iran. Gradually, the pile carpet industry was Indianised and assumed a character of its own. The Moghals imported weavers from Persian countries which were famous for carpet manufacturing. Under royal patronage, the artisans made beautiful carpets with aesthetically perfect designs and colours. This ancient craft is still practiced in different parts of India with the same enthusiasm and artistic perfection.

India offers a wide variety of floor coverings that have evolved over the centuries to suit all tastes, climates and budgets. The woollen and silk carpets are famous for their intricate designs. Each region developed a distinct style of carpet weaving. In the hilly and mountainous regions of India, from Ladakh through Darjeeling and Sikkim to Manipur, carpets are made of pure wool in glowing colours. The predominant motifs are those of the dragon, lion and lotus. Patterns are also taken from Buddhist stupas with flag, the kalash water-vessel and the twin fish.These carpets are essentially Central Asian in character.

Carpet weaving in Kashmir have Persian influence. Till to day, most designs are distinctly Persian with local variations. Kashmiri carpets are more subtle and muted than else where in the country where only chemical dyes are used. Kashmir is famous for its fine quality carpets, an average piece being made with about 324 knots per square inch. Kashmir has developed some of its own distinct designs based on shawl patterns, the traditional paisley, leaves and flowers. Fine quality carpets are also produced in places like Amritsar, Agra, Jaipur and Eluru and Warangal. The Mirzapur-Bhadohi belt in Uttar Pradesh represents the most important area of carpet weaving in the country as it has the largest number of carpet weavers. This area specialises in the lower, medium and low-fine qualities and accounts for nearly 90 per cent of the total production of carpets in India. The fineness of a carpet is judged from the number of knots per unit area, and the design, colours and quality of yarn. The firmness, thickness and appearance of the back of a carpet are the important considerations in determining the quality of the carpet.

Woollen Carpets
The wool used in carpets varies greatly. The finest grades of Indian wool are used for medium quality carpets while imported wool blended with Indian high-grade wool is used for superior quality carpets. For fine quality carpets, such as Kashmiri carpets worsted yarn is used. The best quality carpets made with high-grade wool develop a beautiful lustre after use. Rajasthan is a traditional producer of fine quality hand-knotted woollen carpets. Jaipur was highly renowned for its carpets. Some of the finest samples of the old Moghal carpets are today in the city palace museum, the prized possession of the Maharaja of Jaipur. The Indo-Heretic designs consist of smaller angular motifs enclosing little rosettes are manufactured. The Jaipur carpets are remarkable for the boldness of the carving stems and the soft cool harmony of the colours. A broad band for border has outlines of bold flowers alternating with long serrated leaves swinging gracefully from undulating stems.

Piled Carpets
The Indian pile carpet is believed to have originated during the rule of Mughals. The pile carpet began to be manufactured only after the industry was established and encouraged by Akbar and began to spread to all parts of the country. It is claimed that during the reign of Sher Shah, a nawab by the name of Dandi came to this region bringing with him some pile carpet weavers. These carpets were patronised by the rulers, maharajas, rajas, nawabs, jagirdars and all classes of aristocracy and naturally the industry grew and flourished.The Persians introduced the art of pile carpet weaving in silk and wool. Akbar`s successor, Jahangir and later Shah Jahan further encouraged the development of this craft.

Though its origin may have been Persian, once the Indian weavers picked up the craft, they made it their own. Thus a new Indian tradition in carpets grew up. But as royal patronage played a dominant role in its evolution, it reflected largely the tastes of its patrons. As a result of their preoccupation with gardens, flowers, fruits, hunting, such themes naturally found their way into the weaves. As life grew more sophisticated, the pictorial representation, became more stylized, and the formalism and high decoration of the Persian product was replaced by the realism of the Indian.

Handknotted Carpets of Kashmir
The hand knotted carpets made its appearance in India during the 15th century. In Kashmir, it attained a high degree of perfection especially under the Mughal emperors. Wool and Silk both are used not only for the pile but also for the warp and weft. Sometimes silk or cotton is used for the warp with quality wool pile for weft. The appearance and number of knots on the back of the carpet indicates the quality. Among the hand knotted ones the Bokhara Carpets are one of the finest with about 125-500 knots in a square inch.

Namdhas
The namdha is a speciality of Kashmir, which is so named because of the embroidery with woollen thread that completely covers the base of hessian. A namdha is prepared by spreading wool with certain quantities of cotton evenly either or mats, as in Kashmir, or on sackcloth, as in Rajasthan. This is moistened with a special solution, which is pressed into the felt either by treading upon it or by applying pressure by hand. Namdhas are either embroidered or appliquéd.

Fine Art of Carpets
Generally traditional and strong influence of Tibetan Art is seen in the designs prevalent in hily regions of UP. The images of the Hindu gods and deities, natural scenarios of the hills etc. are also included.

High quality carpets are available mostly in three varieties Persian (Isfahan and Kashan), Turkoman and Aubusson (French). Designs in the Persian Isfahan variety are long leaf and floral. Persian Kashan variety is small with floral arrangement are common. In the Persian designs, seven to eleven shades are generally used. The Turkoman has only the Mohru Bukhara variety. The French Aubussan accounts for more than half the carpets manufactured in Agra. They generally have wine-red, green or cream colours for the round, with large floral designs in the centre and smaller repetitions of the central motif in the corners. The pile is given an embossed effect by clipping away wool around the patterns, aking them appear to stand out.

The method of weaving,the decorative motifs and colour schemes complement each other. The patterns are mainly, geometrical, using blocks of colour to build them up.

The design cover a wide range from medallions and vases to hunting and animals scenes. The popular ones are the scenic or pictorial with finely drawn scrolling stems, leaves, giant flower heads, flowering trees. The exquisite trellis designs, the elegant hallmark of the Moghal tradition, are divided up into quarter foils and stars, each with a blossoming plant, or with large blossoms at the intersections. The medallions are especially done on borders. Integrated designs are wrought with combinations of little cartouches and attractive palmettos, while rosettes are caught by pendulous raceme leaves or isolated flowering plants in rows.

Obra in Bihar is famous for carpet weaving, It produces the old designs based on the Indo-Persian style, and floral and geometrical patterns.

Himachali carpets are brilliant in colours and traditional motifs. You will be spell bound by their appearance.

The Bhutias are the traditional weavers who make small bedside carpets (duns) and asans. The old alpana designs drawn on the floor on festive occasion are used. The geometrical pattern with floral motifs, like the two mythical Tibetan birds called the Dak and the jira, the dragon, the lion and the god of lighting- the zip zag lines.

The geometric motifs representing birds, flowers, mountains, stems, leaves and stars are woven by introducing dyes yarn as weft at intervals dictated by the design.

Kashmiri carpets are world renowned for two things- they are hand made, never machine made. And they are always knotted, never tuffed. The weft threads are passed through, the talim or design and colour specification are then worked out. A strand of yarn is looped through the warp and weft, knotted and then cut. The yarn used normally is silk, wool or silk and wool. The talim consists of the line of numericals starting with a circle which connotes the stitch and is continued to indicate the number of knots to be woven. Along with it is the colour card which carries actually dyed pieces of thread to indicate the colours to be used as well as the different symbols for them. Over each talim a circle or sign will be marked to symbolise a specific colour. Thus the talim and the shade card have to go together for the weaving operation. The talim when ready is tucked into the warp threads and one weave calls out the talim i.e. the different colour in which the knots are to be tied.