India’s hand-made artistry is globally known. Recently, the country’s craftsmanship shined when over a thousand artisans from India’s Bhadohi, Uttar Pradesh set the Guinness World Records for creating the largest hand-tufted carpet ever made under the aegis of 140-year old luxury carpet brand, Hands Carpets.
Spanning an awe-inspiring 12,464.29 square metres, the monumental carpet adorns the Astana Grand Mosque, Kazakhstan which is the largest mosque in Central Asia and second largest mosque outside of Middle East with a capacity to hold more than 2 lakh people at a time.
The carpet installed here was brought to life with the hand-work of 1,000 skilled artisans dedicatedly working for six months in spite of the challenges of the pandemic to create the intricate designs followed by an intensive 50-day installation on-site at Astana Grand Mosque.
Design of World’s Largest Carpet
The massive carpet features a medallion with a diameter of 70 meters. It radiates across eight symmetrical axes within the mosque’s central courtyard with design inspiration rooted in the harmony and geometry of Islamic gardens.
The design inspiration came directly from the mosque’s architecture that features the main door with a diameter of 62 m and height of 83 m along with four minutes of 130 m tall adorned with Arabic calligraphy, Kazakh golden patterns, carvings and mosaics.
“The Astana Grand Mosque features richly ornamented walls, domes, and pillars, all designed in traditional Arabic style. Our carpet was created to mirror and complement these elements perfectly. It follows a 100% Arabic pattern featuring floral palettes and geometric motifs, reminiscent of Mughal jali work that itself draws heavily from Arabic design sensibilities. The Persian-style colour palette, blues, greens, and indigos reflect the hues commonly found in Iranian and Arabic mosques. Together, these motifs and colours create a seamless visual harmony between the carpet and the mosque’s interiors, making it an authentic extension of Islamic art and architecture,” Ravi Patodia, Founder, Patodia Exports, the parent company of Hands Carpets tells Outlook Luxe.
Carpet Capital of India shines
Now permanently housed in the Astana Grand Mosque, this extraordinary carpet stands not only as a Guinness World Record-holder but also as a symbol of Indian craftsmanship and global collaboration putting a spotlight on Bhadohi, the Carpet Capital of India. The region is where carpet weaving is not just a livelihood but a living tradition passed down through generations where carpets are designed, dyed, woven and finished by hand.
Patodia shares about the artistry of skilled weavers, artisans, embossers, and finishers from the region. “Bhadohi’s craftsmen are globally recognised for their precision and skill; their work holds a Geographical Indication (GI) tag, affirming its uniqueness. What’s remarkable is that this record-breaking carpet was created using only three basic tools, a tufting gun, scissors, and a metal frame. The result was a carpet so refined that it appears almost like a painting, a reflection of the unmatched expertise and dedication of Bhadohi’s artisan community,” he tells.
