A cluster is defined as a geographic concentration (a city/town/few adjacent village and their adjoining areas) of units producing near similar products and facing common opportunities and threats. An artisan cluster is defined as geographically concentrated (mostly in villages/townships) household units producing handicraft/handloom products. In a typical cluster, such producers often belong to a traditional community, producing the long-established products for generations. Indeed, many artisan clusters are centuries old Artisan.

About Saheed Bhagat Singh Nagar Cluster:-

Saheed Bhagat Singh Nagar Cluster falls under Punjab State in Rupnagar district.

The Saheed Bhagat Singh Nagar cluster is able to form 350 plus Artisans & 25 SHGs supporting the strong work force. The mobilization gains momentum day by day.

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Carpet:-

Punjab durries are flat woven rugs, quite like carpets and are widely used traditionally in India to seat on floors, especially to seat large mass of people assembled for social, religious or political gathering. The rugged ethnic look adds charm to the ambience of Indian rooms. They are certainly a fave item when it comes to shopping in Punjab.

Punjabi durries are made mainly in two distinct ways. Striped multicolored durries to be used on beds are manufactured by pit loom. On the other hand, durries for use on floors are usually in two contrasting colors and are made on adda where three weaves are used simultaneously. Mani Majra, on the outskirts of the city of Chandigarh, makes durries in unique designs with distinctive textures, very different from the typical Punjabi durries and carpets. Amritsar is one of the oldest centers of carpet weaving in the country.

Carpet weaving calls for a high degree of skill and dexterity and is generally done by the Monpa women in West Kameng and the tribes of North Siang district. Carpets are woven in bright colors with predominantly Tibetan motifs such as the dragon or geometric and floral designs, reflecting the Tibetan-Buddhist influence in the area. Wool colors were originally obtained using vegetable and other natural dye sources, although synthetic dyes and chemicals are now commonly used.

Raw Materials:-

Carpet consists of dyed pile yarns; a primary backing in which the yarns are sewn; a secondary backing that adds strength to the carpet; adhesive that binds the primary and secondary backings; and, in most cases, a cushion laid underneath the carpet to give it a softer, more luxurious feel. Both the primary and secondary backing are largely made of woven or no woven polypropylene, though some secondary backing may still be made of jute, a natural fiber that, when woven, looks like burlap. The adhesive used to bind the backings together is almost universally synthetic rubber latex. The most common padding is rebounds (bonded urethane), though various forms of synthetic latex, polyurethane, or vinyl might be used instead. Rebound is recycled scrap urethane that is chopped into uniformly sized pieces and pressed into layers. Although rare, some carpet cushioning is made up of horse hair or jute. A plastic top sheet is usually added to the top to insure a smooth surface against the carpet.

Process:-

Bunch of loose strands of fibers called staples are used to make carpets initially. The staples are put into a hopper where they're heated, lubricated and formed into slivers, which are wound into a long spool of fiber. From there, the carpet-making process is ready to begin.

A needle pushes the carpet fibers through the underside of a piece of fabric called the carpet backing. A hook called a looper holds the fibers in place as the needle goes back down into the backing, forming the loop. It sounds a bit tedious, and it must have been before the advent of automated tufting machines. If the carpet is supposed to be tufted, then the actual creation process ends here. If cut pile carpet is being manufactured, however, then the tufted carpet goes through an additional step where the loopers holding the individual pile strands are pulled over sharp knives. This cuts the loops into the individual strands that make up a cut pile carpet. The coloring process may take place at different stages in production, depending on the desired visual effect.  Another method, continuous dyeing, rolls and sprays dyes onto finished carpet. Still another, pre-dyeing, takes place before the carpet is processed. Once the carpet is finished, it's washed, dried and vacuumed. Errant piles are trimmed and then it's sent on a conveyor belt past a final employee who uses a pile gun to fill in any overlooked bare areas. The carpet is now finished.

Techniques:-

Vertical plain colored threads, stretched from loom beam to loom beam on which knots are tied. Horizontal plain colored thread, which runs across the width of the rug, over and under the warp strings and between each row of knots. Weft helps hold rows of knots in place and strengthen the structure.Different colors are used in knotting in accordance with the pattern. Throughout the world there are many different knotting techniques, the double or gordes or symmetrical knotting is used by the Turks and is also known as the Turkish knot. In this technique each knot is looped around two different warps, both ends are pulled down and cut. The other common knotting technique is used in Iran, China and Afghanistan and is called the non-symmetrical or single knot or Persian knot, where one end of the knot is looped around one warp and the other end comes straight, both ends are pulled and cut.

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How to Reach:-

Nearest airport is Chandigarh which is 100 Kms from Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar. Very Frequent bus service from Chandigarh to Bhagat Singh Nagar is available. Nearest railway station on the main Amritsar-Delhi railway line is Phagwara, which is 40 Kms from Bhagat Singh Nagar.