Indian Rugs

Traditional Indian Dhurrie rugs had been overshadowed by luxuriant Mughal pile carpets for too long. In the twentieth century these antique flat-woven Indian rugs began to be recognized and lauded as a significant art form of the Indian subcontinent. Transcending social boundaries, the Dhurrie rugs were used by both commoner and royalty. As versatile and welcome in a dirt-floor hut as it is in the most palatial home. At its simplest, it was a multi-purpose textile used as a floor covering, or for bedding or packaging, while the most elaborate were woven with the finest fibers and enhanced by gold-wrapped thread and graced the palaces of royalty. Dhurrie rugs have been made by the people of India for thousands of years. By definition, a dhurrie (the word is sometimes spelled "dari" or "durrie") is a flat-woven rug indigenous to India and the surrounding regions -- Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Burma. Dhurries are always weft-faced, which means that the warp, or lengthwise threads of the rug, are never visible except at the fringes. Indian Dhurrie rugs can be coarsely or finely woven and, best of all, they are reversible and easy to clean. Cotton, flat-woven dhurries are light so they can be folded and moved without a slightest effort.