Sikkimese Carpet & Woollen Craft
Tibetan-knot wool carpets with dragons and the eight lucky signs, and hand-woven woollen cloth of the eastern Himalaya.
Sikkim's carpet and woollen craft is organised largely around the state's Directorate of Handicrafts and Handloom in Gangtok, set up in the 1950s, and around Tibetan-refugee and local weaver communities. Hand-knotted wool carpets are made in Tibetan designs — dragons, snow lions, the eight auspicious symbols, floral medallions, geometric borders — for the floor and the wall, and woollen weaving produces blankets, shawls, jackets, bags and the striped cloth of Lepcha and Bhutia dress. Choktse folding tables, thangka painting and mask-making are taught alongside.
Craft at a Glance
Origin
Gangtok, Sikkim
Also Known As
Sikkim carpet, Gangtok handicraft-centre carpets, Lepcha and Bhutia weaving
Craft Type
Tibetan-knot wool carpet weaving and woollen weaving
Practising Community
Bhutia, Lepcha and Nepali artisans and Tibetan-refugee weavers, largely trained and organised through the state handicrafts centre
Materials
Sheep and yak wool, and acrylic yarn; natural and chemical dyes; cotton warp for the carpets; and, for the folding tables and thangka frames, wood and canvas.
Known For
Hand-knotted wool carpets in Tibetan designs, woven woollen blankets, shawls and jackets, and thangka-related craft
Where It's Made
Gangtok — the Directorate of Handicrafts and Handloom centre — and villages across Sikkim; related to Kalimpong and Darjeeling
Time to Create
Weeks to months per carpet; days to weeks per woven piece
GI Status
Not GI-registered as a group; Sikkim's crafts are promoted through the state handicrafts directorate
Process Steps
Preparing the wool
Wool is cleaned, spun or wound, and dyed to the colours the carpet or cloth design needs.
Graphing the carpet design
A Tibetan design — dragon, lucky signs, medallion — is drawn on graph paper, each square a knot.
Warping the carpet loom
Cotton warp is stretched tight on an upright loom at the density the design requires.
Knotting the pile
Dyed wool is looped over a gauge rod across the warp and the loops are cut to form the pile, row by row from the graph.
Beating and building the field
Weft threads are passed and beaten down hard between knot rows to lock the carpet.
Finishing the carpet
The carpet is washed, sheared level, and carved along the pattern edges to give a raised relief.
Weaving the woollens
Blankets, shawls and jackets are woven on frame or backstrap looms with striped and geometric patterns, and blankets are fulled.
Technique Glossary
Tibetan (cut-loop) knot
A carpet knot made by looping yarn over a gauge rod and cutting the loops to make pile.
Eight auspicious symbols
The set of Buddhist lucky signs — parasol, fish, vase, lotus, conch, endless knot, banner, wheel — used in the carpets.
Choktse
A carved and painted Tibetan folding table, taught and made at the Gangtok centre.
Thangka
A Buddhist scroll painting on cloth, part of the state craft centre's teaching.
Gauge rod
The rod over which carpet pile yarn is looped so a whole row of knots is the same height.
Fulling
Washing and working woven wool so the fibres mat slightly, making the cloth denser and warmer.
Backstrap loom
A portable loom tensioned by the weaver's body, used for Lepcha and Bhutia cloth.
A Craft Through Time
Pre-modern
Household weaving and monastery carpets
Lepcha, Bhutia and Nepali communities weave wool for clothing, and carpet knotting enters with Buddhist monasteries.
1950s
The cottage-industries institute
The Chogyal's government sets up an institute that becomes the state handicrafts and handloom directorate.
1959 onward
Tibetan refugee weavers
Refugees add carpet-knotting skill and design to the state's craft sector.
Late 20th century
Training and marketing
The Gangtok centre trains artisans and markets carpets, woodwork, thangka and woollens.
21st century
Tourism craft
Carpets and woollens are sold to visitors and through emporia as the state's craft economy leans on tourism.
Present
A centre-led craft sector
Sikkim's organised carpet and woollen craft continues to run largely through the state handicrafts directorate and village units.
Did You Know?
Sikkim's organised craft sector was started by the last Chogyal's government as a cottage-industries institute in the 1950s, and the state handicrafts centre in Gangtok still trains and markets carpet weavers, woodworkers and thangka painters.
Every craft has a story. Every story begins with tradition.