Kashmir's Lost Loom

Kashmir once earned through its hands even when snow sealed the roads. That economy is thinning, and its ending remains undecided.

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Kashmir's craft economies once sustained communities through harsh winters, with snow climbing three or four feet high and activity outside slowing sharply. Work remained rooted inside homes, inherited and dependable, supporting families through the season.

During the 1980s and 1990s, especially beyond Srinagar, most rural families worked where they lived, turning their homes into centres of production and skill.

Carpets grew knot by knot on looms, shawls filled with embroidery, crewel and aari patterns took form, chain stitch moved through practiced hands, and handicrafts transformed small rooms into working workshops.

Snow blocked roads, transport stopped, markets felt distant, and still work arrived at the doorstep. Traders brought yarn, frames, designs, and promises.

The kaarigar worked near the bukhari or kangari as traders shipped finished pieces from village homes to Srinagar, Delhi, and external markets.

Advance money flowed into homes before the work even began. A marriage, a repair, daily needs all found support in that system.

One hundred rupees a day thirty years ago offered respect, certainty, and pride, shaping lives driven by constant work and clear purpose. Medicine shops remained limited, stress stayed contained, and fatigue came from hours spent producing value and meeting daily needs.

That life order faded, turn by turn, thread by thread. And today, the same worker who once received advance payments struggles to earn even two hundred rupees a day, with long stretches of no work at all.

The craft still holds beauty, skill, and history, though the structure that sustained it has cracked.

Machine-made carpets and shawls entered from other regions and countries at faster speeds and lower prices. As markets chased scale, handwork moved from household use to rare purchase.