Over the last three centuries, and more broadly over a millennium, there has been a remarkable surge in the number of artisans and their specialised craft in Banaras city, and their colonies have sprung up at Kotwa, Jalalipur, Alaipur, Lallapura, Rewari Talab, Madanpura and Bazardiha, and in the adjoining areas of the Lohta village. All these areas still continue to be central to the artisans and weavers of this fine art. The production of rugs and carpets in Bhadohi, just about 40 km from Varanasi – formerly part of the Banaras district and now a separate district in an adjoining rural area – began relatively late but evolved into a hub for the carpet export business in the eighties and early nineties.
The carpets of Bhadohi were particularly exclusive because of the close-knitted knots that were predominantly done by children, as their small fingers had better dexterity. Bhadohi faced a crisis when the ethical practices of their business were raised in various national and international forums. One of the exporters who spoke to me in the early 1990s, as I recall, who had returned from Germany, after attending a meeting with the International Carpet Classification Organisation, was horrified to find that everywhere at the official venue and even in the town, they had billboards and posters showing a blood-dripping hand of a child, denouncing the employment of small children in the carpet industry in Bhadohi.
Of course, it was another business trick in favour of mechanise.
