kashmiri shawls from india

kashmiri shawls from india
The cool climate of India’s mountainous Kashmir region has led to a tradition of elaborate embroidery

on woolen textiles.Kashmir is well known for its hand embroidered shawls and designs.A shawl

is a simple item of clothing, loosely worn over the shoulders, upper body and arms, and sometimes

also over the head.There are three fibers from which Kashmiri Shawls are made – wool, pashmina and

shahtoosh.Kashmiri wool, known as raffel, is 100 percent pure and the embroidery done is quite unique

to the valley. The woolen shawls of Kashmir have beautiful embroidery work done on them. The price

of the woolen shawls depends upon the type of wool used and the fineness of the embroidery.Kashmiri

Pashmina shawl is one of the most popular shopping items of the state.Pashmina is a fine variant

of Cashmere Wool obtained from a special type of goat found in the Himalayas. The name Pashmina

is derived from Persian word “Pashm” meaning wool. Pashmina Shawls from Kashmir are world famous

as they are hand woven/loomed and hand embroidered. The main types of embroidery done on the Pashmina

shawls are sozni, papier-mache and aari.Aari is hook embroidery that makes use of flower design

for its motifs. Shahtoosh shawls are made from the hair of the Tibetan antelope (Pantholops Hodgsoni).

It is found in the plateau of Tibet and the eastern part of Ladakh, at an altitude of above 5,000 m.

Shahtoosh shawls are extremely light, soft and warm.These shawls are awfully expensive, because of

the scarcity of the raw material.Shahtoosh shawls are rarely dyed and have little embroidery on them.