lorises
A mat from Pattamadai and a girl who can't stand still...!
There are perhaps very few Tamilians who have not heard or used a Pattamadai pai for sleeping or sitting on the floor! This mat is a wall hanging from famous Pattamdai, a village on the bank of Tamraparni river in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. Tamraparni starts amidst the ran forests in the Agasthyar range of the Western Ghats mountains and flows through the plains of southern Tamil Nadu.
Tirunelveli district is my second or third home since 1993. Pattamadai pai (Tamil for mat) is made of dried sedge (type of plant very similar to grass) that grows along the bank of Tamraparni river in that area. The community that make the mats are predominantly muslim and have been in that region for a long time. Traditionally women weave these mats in hand looms and depending on the length or fineness one mat can take up to couple of months. This is the only place where they make the silk mat (pattu pai) with very fine grass bunch and silk threads. Those mats are painstakingly weaved over a long time mainly for weddings. I have made friends with the local crafts persons to go see how they make them from the collection of raw materials to finished products. There are few individuals that sale their crafts directly to public. There is also a cooperative and a store at the bus stop of Pattamadai village where you can buy.
Nowadays, of course you can buy a silk one in Madras or any other fancy boutiques in Bangalore and may cost up to few hundred US$. In recent years, local craftsmen such as Mr. A.S. Peer Mahummad has been diversitfying in making not only just simple mats for sleeping but also wall hangings, table mats, runners etc. Here is more info... www.thehinduimages.com/hindu/photoDetail.do?photoId=2449509
A mat from Pattamadai and a girl who can't stand still...!
There are perhaps very few Tamilians who have not heard or used a Pattamadai pai for sleeping or sitting on the floor! This mat is a wall hanging from famous Pattamdai, a village on the bank of Tamraparni river in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. Tamraparni starts amidst the ran forests in the Agasthyar range of the Western Ghats mountains and flows through the plains of southern Tamil Nadu.
Tirunelveli district is my second or third home since 1993. Pattamadai pai (Tamil for mat) is made of dried sedge (type of plant very similar to grass) that grows along the bank of Tamraparni river in that area. The community that make the mats are predominantly muslim and have been in that region for a long time. Traditionally women weave these mats in hand looms and depending on the length or fineness one mat can take up to couple of months. This is the only place where they make the silk mat (pattu pai) with very fine grass bunch and silk threads. Those mats are painstakingly weaved over a long time mainly for weddings. I have made friends with the local crafts persons to go see how they make them from the collection of raw materials to finished products. There are few individuals that sale their crafts directly to public. There is also a cooperative and a store at the bus stop of Pattamadai village where you can buy.
Nowadays, of course you can buy a silk one in Madras or any other fancy boutiques in Bangalore and may cost up to few hundred US$. In recent years, local craftsmen such as Mr. A.S. Peer Mahummad has been diversitfying in making not only just simple mats for sleeping but also wall hangings, table mats, runners etc. Here is more info... www.thehinduimages.com/hindu/photoDetail.do?photoId=2449509