Story of Beautiful Carpets from North Bengal

Textiles from India formed the majority of products the British traded in, during the colonial era. Malgaon, a small village in the Kaliaganj Block in North Dinajpur in West Bengal, is 400 km away from Kolkata, and light-years away from the development that the city has seen, is now a model village where weavers have been stitching Banarasi-style carpets with little recognition. About 400 weavers weave carpets in this village at present under the Malgaon Handloom Cluster Development Society. The village has earned the nickname, ‘Carpet Gram’ (meaning ‘carpet village).

In 1978, a resident of Malgaon, took an interest in carpet weaving after visiting Varanasi that same year. He brought the technical knowledge back to the village. He passed down the vital knowledge of weaving to the next generation. Later on, different self-help groups gained valuable training in this art and formed Malgaon Handloom Cluster Development Society for better marketing and strategy planning with direct assistance from the state government.

The Bengal Government set up a mega cluster for Banarasi carpet weavers. State Government’s Directorate of Textiles is helping the weavers in this regard. The District Industries Centre now makes arrangements to send these carpets to various handicraft fairs across the country fetching modest income for the weavers sometimes. Each weaver will feel gratified, if the product of his/her toiling, fetches a decent sum upon sale.