KORA MAT WEAVING Production Clusters Palakkad district: Chittur, Malampuzha Thrissur district: Kilimangalam Products Sleeping mats, prayer mats, table mats Panthi mats - floor seating for meals Bags, Runners Tools Knife, Machete Wooden mallet
Sedge grass, known as kora, gorws in profusion in Kerala`s marshy regions and along its banks and rivers and is collected by the Kurava, the community who have traditionally woven mats of this material on a low beam floor loom in the ribbed plain weave. These mats serve as floor coverings, mattresses and prayer mats and are made accordingly in a range of sizes. For instance, long narrow mats known as the panthi are used to seat guests during meals on the floor. The mats that are currently being produced have begun to sport motifs such as elehpants, palm trees, the Taj Mahal, lamps and the lotus. The weavers have also begun to create a wider range of products that include table mats, runners and bags of various sizes.
Floor loom Thandu - bamboo rollers Pegs, Shuttle, Scissors Wooden tripod
Dyed black and natural coloured kora grass mats with its edge finishing which differentiates it from grass mats of Tamil Nadu.
Mat woven with finely split kora grass, Killimangalam, Thrissur district. The kora grass has been tie dyed leaving the central portion in which the pattern is picked up.
Polishing stone Long hooded needle
SCREW PINE CRAFT Production Clusters Thrissur district: Lokamaneswaram Malapuram district: Malapuram Products Leaf fibre products: Thazhapaya traditional mats Methapaya - two sided mats Fishing nets Cordage Hut coverings Bags Root fibre products: Coarse paintbrushes Tools Arivaltoti - scythes Needles Dyes: Sappangam - made from brazilwood Kasavu - made from leaves of the ironwood tree Chemical dyes
Screw pine, the plant that grows along the banks of the rivers ans streams of the region, caters to one of the most important cottage industies in the region. The fleshy green plant is peeled into thin strips that are dried in the sun and then diagonally plaited to create mats or thazhapaya. The quality of the paya is determined by the size of the strips and the closeness of the weaves achieved. The two ply screw pine mat is used for sleeping on; it has a coarse base and a fine upper layer and is stitched at edge with a dyed strip of screw pine. The finest mats are made of very thin leaf splits, with about 22 splits per inch. The mettapaya, a recent variation of the thazhapaya, is coloured red and is made of two layers that are stitched together.
1. A coarse screw pine basket being used at a vegetable vendor`s stall. 2. When the leaves have been cleaned and split but are still green and moist they are wound into a tharamadi, or wheel, in the direction opposite to that of the spine of the leaf. The wheel is later opened and rewound in the opposite direction; this procedure is followed to ensure that on drying, the leaves are flat instead of curving in a specific direction 3. A detail showing the texture of the traditional thazhapaya. 4. The craftsmen have extended their skills to the making bags; these may be further embellished with carefully detailed embroidery.