Eluru, a prominent city and the district headquarters of West Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh is famous all over the world for its natural color carpets. The carpets are available in colors like white, black, and brown and semi-black or grey. These are woven with low density knots, and hence it is also widely exported.
These were earlier known as Harham carpets and have been gradually replaced with multiple colours by designers. It is believed that Carpet weavers from Iran and Arab countries introduced the art of carpet weaving to the town of Machilipatnam and later it was adopted by the skilled workers of Eluru due to the luxuriant supply of a shrub called Tangellamudi, a natural source of yellow dye. It is believed to be the reason why the carpet industry has flourished here. The designs are therefore of Indo-Persian origin.
The carpets of Eluru are often named after the carpet makers who create them. There are varieties called HussainKhani, Amarkhani, Ramachandra khani, Reddy khani, and Gopalraokhani etc. Dillikhani features boats (kishti) and floral motifs, while Thottikhani is a design-composition based on flower-pots. The patterns of these carpets are named after fruits and flowers like ambarcha, guava, babul, and jampal. The designs of Eluru carpets are mostly floral or geometrical while the combination of shades is marked by a mixture of blue and green with soft yellow and pastels. There are many complicated designs woven using the traditional talim technique with half-white background followed by deep-green and orange designs.
Kalamkari Prints