Sumita Sikka

1. S U M I T A S I K K A
A S S I S T A N T P R O F E S S O R
U N I V E R S I T Y I N S T I T U T E O F F A S H I O N
T E C H N O L O G Y
P A N J A B U N I V E R S I T Y
C H A N D I G A R H
E - M A I L - S U M I T A S I K K A @ G M A I L . C O M
P H O N E N O : 9 9 1 4 0 3 0 3 0 5
Bridal durries from Punjab- An
opportunity to empower rural women

2. Introduction to punja durries
 Punja durries are lightly woven rugs mostly used for
beds and floor coverings.
 Rural women of Punjab had been contributing
magnificently to continue this traditional textiles.
 They produce durries for their daughter’s wedding as
a part of bedding collection.

3. Punja-a metallic tool
 Punja weaving gets its name from a metallic claw‐like tool
called punja in the local dialect, used to beat and set the
threads in the warp.

4. Weaving
 Weaving is done on very simple horizontal ground
loom . Two heddle bars are used to create a shed.
Instead of shuttles ,weft is wounded into guttian and
is inserted with hands. Dyed cotton or wool are the
raw material for weaving .

5. Objectives of the study
 To study the traditional and contemporary motifs of
punja durries.
 To study the present status of the weavers in the
Village Khuda Ali Sher, Punjab.
 To find out the Punjab govt. schemes for upliftment
of durrie cottage industry.
 To find out the scope in increasing skilled work force
in durrie weaving.

6. Hypotheses
 The weavers might not be aware of design demands
of market.
 Entrepreneurs might not be finding durrie weaving
as a lucrative opportunity.
 The numbers of beneficiaries are very less as
compared to the government schemes for the revival
of traditional crafts.
 Women are interested in adoption of weaving at
home as a source of income generation.

7. Limitations
 The study is limited to one village of Punjab.
 The study is limited to Punja Durrie Weaving only.
 The study is limited to women presently involve in
weaving.

8. Research Design
 The village has been selected on the basis of
systematic study done on bridal durries of Punjab by
Ann Shanker and Jenny Housego.
 Survey method has been adopted for the research.
 Interview schedule has been prepared.
 Random Sampling has been done for the sample size
of 20 families.
Bridal durrie villages
249 in 32 districts
In 94 villages
1365 durries
1 village
102durries

9. TYPES OF MOTIFS USED FOR
TRADITIONAL DURRIES
 PICTORIAL DESIGNS - Employ a clearly defined scene
drawn from nature, mythology or life rather than just
containing naturalistic forms (eg. Garlands of flowers,
human figures, etc). The scene may be highly stylised
or abstract.
 ANIMAL DESIGNS – Feature fairly realistic
representations of an animal or group of animals
(usually lions, peacocks, parrots, etc).
 FLORAL DESIGNS – Employ a variety of leaf and floral
motifs either in all over or repeating schemes, or set
against an open or sparsely decorated field.
 GEOMETRIC DESIGNS – A number of geometric
motifs, which cannot be traced directly to either
religious symbols or natural forms are also used in
durrie designs. They are known by a variety of names
in different parts of the weaving region.

10. MEMSAHIBSMEMAN
GORE
HEER RANJHA
JAGO
PICTORIAL DESIGNS

11. ANIMAL DESIGNS
HARE EATING COTTON
PARAKEETS
PEACOCK
DOG
GILHERLI/SQUIRRELS
CENTRAL FIGURE BETWEEN
CONFRONTED HORSES
LION AND PAIR OF CUCKOOS
COCK
BARASINGHA/SWAMP DEER
MACHLI/FISH

12. GEOMETRIC DESIGNS
RHOMBOIDSSTEPPED
LOZENGES
KISHTI/BOATGADVATEASETCOMB AND DRUM
LOZENGES
NAGINI

13. Present status
 There are still many women weaving similar durries for
the dowry of their daughters and on order from their
friends and relatives.
 The motifs created by women of Punjab shows their self
assurance and clear headed approach toward life.
 The are quick and welcoming to the changes and can
copy from contemporary cross stitch manuals.
 For the colour they mostly rely on the availability and
suggestions by family and friends.
 Durries have never been sold in the market and are
considered as priced possession .

14. Important Finding
 Weavers in Khuda Ali Sher village have never comes
across an opportunity to adopt it as source of income
generation.
 It was found that 8 out of 20 women are interested
in adopting weaving as source of income generation.
 They are not aware of the likings of urban families
but all of the women who agreed to produce
commercially are affirmative in weaving as per order.

15. Various initiatives by Government for
empowering women in Punjab
 An artisan cluster for producing handicraft/handloom
products have been promoted by various schemes like
 Ambedkar Hastashilp Vikas Yojana (AHVY)
 MAI BHAGO ISTRI SHAKTI SCHEME
 Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional
Industries-SFURTI Clusters for Khadi & Village
Industries


16. Clusters in Punjab
S.No. Cluster Name Total Artisans SHGs
1 Malout 200 15
2 Pathankot 136 11
3 Faridkot 250 20
4 Dera baba Nanak 0 0
5 Block Mukerian 120 10
6 Gurdaspur 0 0
7 Handiya 3336 25
8 Rangilpur 500 50
9 Jaintiur 500 50
10 Pakhpur 500 50
11 Saheed Bhagat Singh Nagar 350 25
5892 256
Source-Ministry of textiles

17. Durries available under cluster development for
trade enquire
Cluster Name Total no. of
artisans
Total no. of
products
Total no. of
durries
Saheed Bhagat
Singh Nagar cluster
350 84 14

18. Successful model of Fab India
 Making supplier a share holder is two way process of
providing him retail platform and building
community
 The COC (community owned companies) model
consists of value adding intermediaries, between
rural producers and Fabindia.
 These are owned by the communities, they operate
from; a minimum 26% shareholding is that of craft
persons.

19. Growth of handloom sector by community
owned company
 Design innovations by Fab India has made
handloom products favorite and sought after by the
urban people in India as well as abroad.
 Fab India works closely with artisans by providing
various inputs including design, quality control,
access to raw materials and production coordination.
 Punja durries are one of the well sought after
products in Fab India .

20. Contemporary durries

21.  Today the Panipat-Ambala durrie belt is famous all
over the country and has various outlets, at home
and abroad.
 Researcher has still not been successful in coming
across any entrepreneur dealing with manufacturing
of Punja Durries in Punjab.

22. Conclusion
 The durries are woven in a variety of pattern and
designs that are unique to different places
of Punjab.
 They are easy to maintain as they are lighter than
normal carpets and so are easy to move and
clean. Durries are available in various sizes and
style as per need.
• They are usually made in rough, bold and
pronounced folk designs with animal figures,
flowers and other folk motifs. They are
fantastically colorful and beautiful.

23.  This part time activity in rural areas, has now been
transformed into a flourishing economic activity
due to significant market demand in so many
states.
 Designers like Shyam Ahuja and Neeru Kumar and
Anand Sagar Khera have contributed in changing
the product as per demand of urban consumers.
 There is a need to encourage young
entrepreneur for adopting weaving as business
opportunity .

24.  Community owned company model is safest and
reliable for the future success of an organization .
 But the original potential of women craft weavers
has not been utilized in increasing the skilled
workforce.
 Lack of education, poor exposure to new
technologies, absence of market intelligence and
poor institutional framework has deterred the
success of govt. schemes for development of
handloom sector.

25. References
 Chattopadhyaya, K.-Carpets and floor coverings of India by Taraporevala
 Gandotra.V,Shukul .M,Jaiswal.N- Introduction to Interior design and decoration
 www.craftclustersofindia by Ministry of textiles.
 Prahalad, C.K.-The Fortune at the bottom of the pyramid , Dorling Kindersley India
Pvt. Ltd. 2010.
 Shankar ,A. and Housego, J.- Bridal Durries of India Mapin Publishing Pvt. Ltd.
1997
 Singh, R- The fabric of our lives ,The story of Fab India 2011
 http://www.craftrevival.org/CraftArtDetails.asp?CountryCode=India&CraftCode=0
03723
 Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine Fabindia Weaves in Artisan Shareholders
By Manjeet Kripalani on March 11, 2009



26. http://chandigarh.gov.in/pdf/anganwadi-
centres.pdf
 9 Chandigarh ICDSProject-II Village C.No.1 Khuda
Ali Sher Village (Nature)Rural 1979 Neelam W/o
Daljeet Singh Sangeeta W/o Harjeet Singh
9417694704 50 Chandigarh ICDSProject-II Village
C.No.2 Khuda Ali Sher Village Rural 1996 Nirmal
Kaur W/o Raja Ram Ranbir Kaur W/o Dharam
Singh 9878311060 51 Chandigarh ICDSProject-II
Village C.No.3 Khuda Ali Sher Village Rural 1979
Urmila W/o Krishan Kumar Daljeet Kaur W/o
Gurjeet Singh 9888703802
 AWC Number with the ICDS Project