Jajarkot, Feb 25
Once upon a time Hari Shahi of Jiri in Barekot rural municipality used to manufacture up to six woollen traditional rugs in a month. He used to get so many orders that he could not take them all. It took him at least 10 days to manufacture one such rug.
But times have changed. These days Shahi cannot even sell a single rug that he manufactures by handloom.
Shahi is but the only one representative of the traditional rug manufacturers in the district who used to make decent earnings by selling the rugs which were in vogue in the past.
This traditional craft is now in crisis as the new generation people are not adopting it and as people have opted for factory-made blankets and rugs that are readily available in the market.
The traditional woollen rugs, blankets and apparels that used to be manufactured by handloom are fast disappearing as people have abandoned using and buying them.
The current price of a rug is between Rs 4,000 to Rs 6,000 in the local market.
Barekot rural municipality, Junichande rural municipality and Nalgad municipality used to be the manufacturing centres of woollen traditional rug and blankets in the district.
