Tibetan Carpet Art in Chhattisgarh

The Tibetan carpet art is a well-known art form in Chhattisgarh. It was in the year 1959 that many refugees from Tibet migrated to India and that led to the introduction of Tibetan carpet art in Chhattisgarh. Especially, the Mainpat village of Sarguja district of the state has become the centre of this carpet art.

Key Points

• The Tibetan refugees brought with them carpet art, taho, and potato farming to the state which was then part of Madhya Pradesh.
• Due to the refugees, people in the state also started learning the art of carpet weaving.
• The government also formed training centres for this art form in the year 1995 but after the partition of Madhya Pradesh, the training centres were neglected.
• The Gramodyog department of the state is presently running a production centre in Mainpat and two training centres in Darima and Raghunathpur for training the people.
• These centres are giving employment to around 60 people.
• At present, people are being trained as per their skills and currently, it is a 3-month course.
• The carpets made in these centres are sold by the Gramodyog department through handloom stores and online portals.

Tibet Carpet art includes weaving motifs of flowers, phoenix, dragon, and other traditional Tibetan symbols in bright colors on the carpet.