Navalgund, where the hand-made Navalgund Durries are made, is located within the geographical coordinates of.
History
Navalgund Durries, also known as gymkhanas or "jamkhanas" in local Kannada language, were initially made by a group of weavers of Bijapur who were living on the Jamkhan Gali during the reign of Ali Adil Shah. During the war between the Adil Shahs and the Vijayanagar empire, the Jamkhan weavers seeking a safe place to pursue their trade, migrated to Navalgund, initially to trade in pearls but instead settled down in the town, established looms and weaved durries. These durries are exclusively made by women of the community who operate the looms at home. At one stage, there were 75 women working on this handicraft, but due to lack of facilities and poor returns, now only 35 women are engaged in weaving the rugs. Traditional Muslim women of the Sheikh Sayeed community had to be confined to their homes, and hence this craft became their exclusive work culture at home to make a living. This type of durrie is not made at any other place. The artisans are quite secretive about their art of weaving these durries, and the skill is taught only to their daughters–in-law, and not to their daughters as after marriage they would go away to another family.
Manufacturing details
With the legacy of several generations of manufacturing the Navalgund durries, their specifications and procedure of manufacture are well documented. In the process of manufacture the raw cotton is procured by the weavers from the Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation. Cotton 3/10s, an unbleached yarn, is used for the warp and cotton 10s of 6-ply is used for weft. The yarns could also be purchased from the market in Hubli. After procurement of the required material, pre-weaving process is started. This is a four-stage process. The first step being preparation of warp, which is a set of threads which runs through the length of the durries and which is covered by the weft. The decision on the length of the durrie is dictated by the 3/10s cotton converted into balls. While warp of the small durries are made in the open yard of the house, in the case of larger size durries of say size, the warps are made in large open grounds in the town. Then a detailed work procedure is followed with sticks to warp the required number of threads. This warp is then shifted to the loom inside the house and weaving is done in a set pattern using warp beams of the looms, sticks and threads. The yarn of the weft 10s cotton is then dyed with dyes of black, yellow, red, brown, blue and green colours, mixed with water, and the hanks are kept in the dye solution for 20 minutes before removal and drying. The warp is fixed on the loom and adequately stretched to obtain the required tension. The weaving is then started by two weavers facing each other. Patterns are introduced in the warp at the appropriate stage of weaving. Vertical and diagonal lines are marked and weaved suitably. Weft is then covered over the warp, and this covering decides the quality of the durries. Weft is layered over the warp and pressed properly by beating and tamping. The cloth beam is used to wind the cloth as the durrie gets made. The designs are decided by the weavers intuitively. The progress achieved on each loom is about . Following completion of the weaving process, the durries are removed from the loom, and the over-hanging threads are all trimmed. Tassels, in the form of knots, are made at the end of the warps. The decorative threads of white and other colours are threaded to the edges. A particular feature of these durries is that no two durries are alike in colour and size. These durries are marketed under three categories as: Jamkhana in sizes of,, and 9 ft; Navagund-ja-Namaz of, which is a prayer mat which is exclusively used by the Muslim community and *which they carry with them) for offering worship in the mosque or at any other place; and Guddar of used as a floor covering and for storing grains, and this type is not manufactured by the Navalgund weavers but by a different set of weavers. Inspection of the durries is carried out by a body of officials from the Development Commissioner, Director of the Textile Committee of the Ministry of Textiles, and a leading Master Artisan representing the Producer Associations.
