How Kashmir is emerging as the home of the world’s largest handmade silk carpets

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. SRINAGAR : After years of being eroded by machine-made imports, political uncertainty and the slow exit of skilled artisans, Kashmir’s carpet industry is repositioning itself at the very top of the global luxury market, betting on scale, rarity and exquisite craftsmanship. In the ongoing bone-chilling cold, inside workshops tucked into the Valley’s hamlets, master carpet makers move the loom forward inch by inch, knot by knot.

In one such modest workshop in Vailoo-Kunzar hamlet of Baramulla district, 30 kilometres from Srinagar, young and old artisans sit cross-legged on a packed-earth floor beneath a loom bolted together to carry an impossible weight. Silk threads fall in disciplined rows, catching the winter light, as their fingers move in quiet unison, knot by knot, shaping a carpet so vast it cannot be seen all at once. These artisans are nearing completion of what is expected to become the world’s second-largest handmade silk carpet, measuring 30 by 72 feet.

After more than eight years at the loom, the carpet—destined for the Gulf—will carry more than 25 crore knots, a staggering figure that reveals the painstaking labour behind its creation. “These carpets are not just products but business statements, proof that Kashmir can still command the world’s most demanding buyers," said Habibullah Sheikh, a master weaver involved in producing some of the world’s largest handmade carpets. “They show that Kashmir can still compete globally, and that patience has a place in a world driven by speed." Sheikh is not new to record-breaking projects.