2. Handicrafts in Jammu and Kashmir present a fascinating spectrum of creative
imagination
It is a cottage-based industry, which does not require heavy capital
investment and infrastructure
Being labor intensive in nature, the handicraft sector has high employment
potential.
As per official estimates handicraft sector provides employment to about
3.78 lakh workers engaged in different types of handicraft activities
From the production point of view, this sector occupies a prominent place in
the industrial scene of the state. The handicraft production has gone up to
an amount of Rs. 1650.30 crores at the end of the year 2012-13
the handicraft sector of Jammu and Kashmir is important from the export
point of view as well. During 2012-13 handicraft goods worth Rs. 1080.80
crore were exported
3. A shawl (persian): , Shāl, from (Sanskrit): śāṭī) is a
simple item of clothin , loosely worn over the shoulders,
upper body and arms, and sometimes also over the head
However, the founder of the cashmere wool industry is
traditionally held to be the 15th century ruler of
Kashmir, Zayn-ul-Abidin, who introduced weavers
from central asia
4. Pashmina
The majority of the woollen fabrics of Kashmir, and particularly the
best quality shawls, were and are still made of Pashmina, which is
the wool of capra hircus,a species of the wild Asian mountain goat
The embroidery stitch employed is rather like the parallel
darning stitch and is rarely allowed to penetrate the entire
fabric.
5. The Emperor Akbar was a great admirer of the shawls of Kashmir. It was he
who began the fashion of wearing them in duplicate, sewn back to back, so
that the under surfaces of the shawls were never seen.
During that time the most desired shawls were those worked in gold and
silver thread or shawls with border ornamented with fringes of gold, silver
and silk thread.
The Do-shala, as the name designates ("two-shawl"), are always sold in
pairs, there being many varieties of them.
6. Shahtoosh, the legendary ‘ring shawl’ is
incredible for its lightness, softness and warmth. The astronomical
price it commands in the market is due to the scarcity of raw-
material.
Yarn is spun either from shahtoosh alone, or with pashmina,
bringing down the cost somewhat. In the case of pure shahtoosh
too, there are many qualities-the yarn can be spun so skillfully as to
resemble a strand of silk
7. It is said that the shawls were famous from Kashmir even in
the times of emperor Ashok (3rd C BC) but many writers
credited Sultan Zain-Ul-Abidin (1420-1470 A.D) as the
initiator of Shawl industry in Kashmir.
Jamawar or grown piece, is a special type of shawl made in
Kashmir. "Jama" means robe and "war" is yard.
Today, the best and the most expensive Jamawar is woven in
Kashmir.
8. Three districts of Kashmir valley, viz.
Srinagar,Budgam and Ganderbal where shawl
making is more prevalent were selected for the
study. Artisans including both spinners and
weavers were selected for the study
As per the information gathered from the
artisans, the traditional method of shawl
making/processing in Kashmir is divided into
four broad heads
A) Pre-spinning
B) Spinning
C) Weaving
D) Finishing
9. Harvesting: The Shawl is harvested during spring season,
when animal naturally shed their under coat. On the basis of
weather conditions and season, the goat starts moulting over
a period from mid March to late May. It is done manually by
combing (Fig. 2). As pashmina fibers (Fig. 3)are intermingled
with coarse outer coat called guard hairs, so the process of
combing is followed by manual de hairing.
10. Sorting/dehairing means separation of undercoat/ pashmina from
guard hair. The sorting of pashmina is done manually, mostly by
women folk (Fig. 4). Now-a-days, at some places the process of
manual dehairing is being replaced by machine dehairing.
11. Glueing means application of glueing material to pashmina.
This is done by applying pounded rice. The pashmina is placed
in a container over which pounded powdered rice (kharioat) is
sprinkled and left on pashmina for a night or two (Fig. 5).
The purpose of glueing is to provide extra strength, moisture
and softness to the fiber.
12. Spinning converts continuous untwisted strand of
fibers into required yarn count and twist suitable
for further processing
Traditionally, spinning is being carried out on a
spinning wheel termed yander or charkha
In this method, a small tuft/thumb of pashmina
is held between the second and third finger of
the left hand supported by the thumb.
As the spinner turns the wheel with her right
hand, she raises and lowers the hand holding the
fiber in a perfect harmony to the rhythm of
turning wheel. This is a skillful operation.
13. Weaving is started with opening of the hanks (Fig. 10) on the large
wooden stand locally called thanjoor (Fig. 11) and is mounted on a
wooden spindle termed as prech (Fig. 12
This process is called yarun (Fig. 13). About 1200 threads are
stretched in this manner to form warp locally called yaen which is
enough for 4 to 6 shawls.
14. The washed fabric is now sent to the purzgar.
Here the fabric is tweezed, clipped or
brushed out to rid it of any superficial flaw on
the surface
15. The fabric is now washed by washer man or
dhobi who washes the fabric in running water,
by repeatedly striking it against a hard smooth
surface or stone
16. If the fabric needs to be dyed, it is sent to the
dyer who dyes it as per the demand and
requirement
18. Underdeveloped infrastructure
Lacks global exposure
Lack of customer feedback system.
Less interest among youths.
Confined mostly to rural areas.
Still old techniques prevail.
Low wage structure in handicrafts.
Unorganized sector
19. Huge demand in both domestic as well as international
markets.
Develops Tourism industry of J&K
E-commerce to channelize handicraft products of J&K.
Handicraft products are also preferred by Real Estate players
to add value in their businesses.
Design sensibility
20. Stiff competition ahead.
Deficit balance between supply & demand of J&K handicrafts.
Better technological support and R&D facility in competing
countries.
Translation of skill to next generation.
Huge inflating rates of raw material.
Introducing low skilled labor.
21.
The handicraft sector has a large potential to generate a gainful employment
opportunities to unemployed people and has a great potential for economic
development of a country/region like Kashmir, which is known all world with
its traditional crafts.
But the state of Jammu and Kashmir and in particular the Kashmir Valley has
suffered severe economic setbacks due to turmoil in the region over the past
20 years.
Every sector of economy has been affected, be it handicrafts production, the
horticulture sector, medium and small-scale industrial units, the tourism
sector etc.
Not withstanding the fact that Kashmiri arts and crafts have enjoyed
worldwide fame and name, their production suffered to a large extent with
the broke down of turmoil in the valley in 1989.
From 2003-08 there has been an increasing trend but thereafter it has
declined due to turmoil and unrest during the peak seasons that is, summer
2008, 2009 and 2010 in Kashmir.
Besides exacting extensive damage to the infrastructure of the region, the
violent conflict has discouraged private investment, pushing the economy
over the towards stagnation.
