Kashmiri carpets to adorn new Parliament building

Kashmiri weavers hope to get more work to boost traditional art

The famed traditional hand-made Kashmiri carpets are all set to adorn the new Parliament building in the national capital as artists in a remote village in Budgam district are in the final stages of completing the work.

A group of 50 weavers and artisans in Khag in this central Kashmir district have been working for the last about a year to complete the project which was assigned to them by a New Delhi-based company.

The government has maintained that the Winter Session of Parliament will be held in the new building being built under the Narendra Modi government's ambitious Central Vista redevelopment project.

“We had received the order for 12 carpets from the company in October last year for carpets for the new Parliament building after we submitted the samples,” Qamar Ali Khan of Tahiri Carpets told PTI.

Mr. Khan, whose family has been running the unit involved in making and exporting carpets for 32 years, said making carpets for the Parliament was an honour and a matter of immense happiness.

“This art of ours – the hand-made carpets – was famous the world over. But, unfortunately, there has been a decline due to many reasons. Now, we hope it gets revived and this project helps in that,” he said.

The carpets to adorn the new Parliament building will be 11 feet long and up to 8 feet wide.