Panipat Khes

The need for covering the floors of the houses with cotton rather than woollen spreads popular in Persia, brought in the durree and the khes. The hangings in the colourful tents led to the invention of the floral designs on rough cloth. The textiles for use in ceremonials became even more variegated under the Mughals; the animated bright colours of Haryana fabrics are likely to spread more and more to the entire world, as the drabness of the 'technology-run-mad' syndrome demands richness for the eyes. Panipat, a historical town of India, presently known as a city of Handloom was once famous for its khes weaving. These were woven in a double-cloth weave with cotton yarn, making it thick enough to be used as a shawl or a wrap. It was more popularly used as a bedding material. With the advent of the power-loom, the handloom sector of Panipat suffered a setback. However, while the carpet and durree weaving industries survived, khes weaving died out owing to its time consuming complex weaving.