Few time back, Fayaz Ahmad Mir, son of Kashmir’s famous Kani-shawl weaver Farooq Ahmed Mir, who has been awarded the Padma Shri for his craft and its preservation this Republic Day.
The name kani shawl has a great legacy behind it. This shawl derives its name from Kanihama, a small village on Srinagar-Gulmarg road were this variety of popular shawls was first woven.
The technique of Kani Shawl weaving is mesmerizing as it has been termed as the 'twill tapestry weave by Sir John Irwin, keeper at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, and a well known researcher on the subject, because of its similarity to the technique traditionally employed in Western Europe for tapestry weaving.
The Kani shawl has been historically fashioned using fine hand spun Pashmina & Shahtoosh fibres which have further added to its richness and earned it the name of 'ring shawls' meaning that it can pass through a ring. The kani shawls, which are woven pashmina shawls, are also called jamewars and have an all-over pattern originally used in making the jama, the coat worn by men. They are woven on a fame-loom using countless needles called tooji, which have woolen thread colors attached to them. The master weaver and his helper use written instructions known as talim to weave the shawls. The talim indicate the color and the number of warp threads to be covered.
Few years back, Kashmir's Kani Shawl has got the unique Geographical Indication (GI) rank that would legally prohibit people from selling duplicate Kani shawls made at other places, under the same name.
Defnitely Kani Shawl represents heritage and ethos of Kashmir.
