A dhurrie is a thick flat-woven rug or carpet

Carpet

A carpet is a textile floor covering consisting of an upper layer of "pile" attached to a backing. The pile is generally either made from wool or a manmade fibre such as polypropylene,nylon or polyester and usually consists of twisted tufts which are often heat-treated to maintain their...

  used traditionally in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 as floor-coverings.

The concept of dhurrie is different from a rug or carpet, but since the dhurries serve the same purpose as carpet or rugs they can be described as one.

Uses

They have a variety of use depending on size, pattern and material. The smallest one is 12" by 12" and is used as a table cover for telephone stands and flower vases. They are also made in sizes that are ideal for doing meditation 24” by 24”, known as an Aasan.

Dhurries used in large political or social gatherings may be as large as 20 feet by 20 feet. Dhurries are easily portable being light weight and foldable. They come in variety of color combinations and patterns catering to the needs of any taste or occasion.

Dhurrries have a low maintenance cost as they do not get infected by Silverfish

Silverfish

Lepisma saccharina, frequently called silverfish, fishmoths, carpet sharks or paramites, are small, wingless insects in the order Thysanura...

 or other insects responsible for destroying
carpets.

Dhurries can be used year round. The cotton dhurrie is warm in winters and cool in summers.

Material

Dhurries are made by four types of materials:

1. Cotton
   Cotton
   Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
   
   
2. Wool
   Wool
   Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
   
   
3. Jute
   Jute
   Jute is a long, soft, shiny vegetable fibre that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from plants in the genus Corchorus, which has been classified in the family Tiliaceae, or more recently in Malvaceae....
   
   
4. Silk
   Silk
   Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
   
   

And in variety of combination of all these materials. This material is first converted into thread and then woven into dhurries.

Manufacturing

Dhurries are made manually by skilled artisans on a traditional horizontal loom

Loom

A loom is a device used to weave cloth. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads...

 or vertical

Vertical direction

In astronomy, geography, geometry and related sciences and contexts, a direction passing by a given point is said to be vertical if it is locally aligned with the gradient of the gravity field, i.e., with the direction of the gravitational force at that point...

 loom.

In Rajasthan

Rajasthan

Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...

 pit looms are also used for weaving in which weaver sits in a pit and feet are used in weaving. The maximum breadth is 24".

Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....

 dhurries are known for their sturdy character and delightful colours. Rajasthan

Rajasthan

Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...

, Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...

, Punjab

Punjab region

The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...

 and Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...

,make distinctive type of dhurries. In some part of these states the dhurries make a part of dowry

Dowry

A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings forth to the marriage. It contrasts with bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both...

 given at the time of a daughter's marriage.

Dhurries made in Rajasthan

Rajasthan

Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...

 at Salawas

Salawas

Salawas is a small village 22 km from Jodhpur and is famous for durries made by the local craftsmen.*Dhani and villages*Durries...

are known as Panja dhurries and are exported on large scale. Khairabad in Uttar Pradesh is a major dhurrie making centre. Citapore Rugs (Sitapur dhurries) made here are based on flat weave technique using horizontal looms. Besides cotton, jute, rayon and chennile dhurries are also made here and exported all over the world. Ikea and Agocha have been sourcing dhurries for their stores from this area.

External links

• http://www.indiaprofile.com/art-crafts/durries.htm
• http://www.mapsofindia.com/gujarat/arts-and-crafts/carpets-and-durries.html