Alappuzha Coir Craft
Coconut husk retted in the backwaters, spun to yarn and woven into floor.
Alappuzha, long the capital of India's coir industry, turns the fibrous husk of the coconut into rope, matting, rugs, carpets, mattresses and geo-textiles. Products range from plain bristle and fibre door mats to jacquard-patterned corridor mattings, hand-tufted and hand-knotted pile carpets, and engineered coir netting used to hold soil on slopes and riverbanks. The town's grid of canals and its rows of tall spinning and warehouse sheds grew up entirely around the trade, and 'Alleppey' remains a recognised quality mark in the world floor-covering market.
Craft at a Glance
Origin
Alappuzha, Kerala
Also Known As
Alleppey coir, Kerala coir, coconut-fibre craft
Craft Type
Coir fibre retting, spinning and weaving
Practising Community
Coastal fishing and agricultural communities; historically women spinners organised through cooperative societies and the Kerala Coir Corporation
Materials
Coconut husk fibre (white fibre from green husks, brown from mature); natural and dyed coir yarn; cotton or jute warp for certain weaves; natural rubber latex for mat backing; and, for tufted rugs, a woven base cloth.
Known For
Coir yarn, mats, mattings, rugs, carpets and geo-textiles from Kerala's backwater belt
Where It's Made
Alappuzha (Alleppey), Cherthala, Kayamkulam and the Vaikom belt of coastal Kerala; allied work in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu
Time to Create
One to three days to weave a standard mat; several weeks for a large jacquard or tufted carpet
GI Status
Alleppey Coir is a registered GI of Kerala
Process Steps
Retting the husks
Bundled coconut husks are weighted down in slow-moving brackish backwater for months while microbes rot away the soft pith that binds the fibre.
Beating and cleaning
Retted husks are pounded with wooden mallets to free the long fibre, which is washed, dried and combed clean of remaining pith.
Grading the fibre
Fibre is sorted by length, colour and stiffness — long yarn fibre, short mattress fibre, stiff bristle — for its different end uses.
Spinning the yarn
Fibre is drawn and twisted into two-ply yarn on a ratt spinning wheel, historically by two women working as a pair.
Dyeing (where patterned)
Hanks of yarn are dyed in the colours the design needs before they go to the loom.
Weaving or tufting
Yarn is woven into matting on wide looms, sometimes with a jacquard for figured patterns, or knotted and tufted into pile carpets.
Backing and finishing
Mats are sheared level, coated with latex or rubber where a firm backing is wanted, bound at the edges and cut to size.
Technique Glossary
Retting
Controlled rotting of coconut husk in water to free the fibre; the defining first step of coir craft.
Ratt
The coir spinning wheel, turned by hand or motor to twist fibre into two-ply yarn.
White vs brown fibre
White fibre comes from unripe green husks and is softer; brown fibre from mature husks is stiffer and stronger.
Bristle fibre
The longest, stiffest coir, combed out and used for brushes and coarse door mats.
Anjengo / Aspinwall weaves
Named matting constructions in the coir trade, distinguished by warp count and pattern.
Coir geo-textile
Open coir netting laid on slopes and banks to hold soil while vegetation establishes, then biodegrading.
Latex backing
A coat of natural rubber applied to the underside of a mat to lock the weave and stop it slipping.
A Craft Through Time
Pre-colonial
Rope for the coast
Kerala's coastal households spin coir by hand for fishing nets, cordage and mats.
1859
The first factory
James Darragh opens a mechanised coir factory at Alappuzha, launching organised production and export from the port.
Late 19th–early 20th century
An export industry
European and Indian firms build spinning and warehouse sheds along the canals, and Alleppey matting reaches Western markets.
Post-1947
Cooperatives and the Coir Corporation
Spinning and defibring are reorganised into cooperative societies and a state corporation to protect worker incomes.
Late 20th century
Synthetic competition
Man-made floor coverings and cheaper mechanised rivals cut into the market, forcing a move upmarket.
Present
Green products and GI
Coir geo-textiles and designed floor coverings find new markets, and Alleppey Coir gains GI protection.
Did You Know?
Retting a batch of husks in the backwaters can take up to ten months, so the fibre in a mat bought today may have been steeping in a Kerala canal since the previous year.
Every craft has a story. Every story begins with tradition.