Botiya Hand Knits
Following the pilgrimage route up to Gangotri in Uttrakhand, North India, you start to see small villages adorned with prayer flags and traders selling traditional sheep’s wool hand knits and Handloomed blankets to passing pilgrims. These villages are home to the Botiya Tribe, an indigenous semi nomadic community living on the Tibetan border. The Botiyas are predominantly shepherds: whilst the men tend their flocks high up in the mountains, the women stay home and can be seen spinning and knitting in small groups along the pathways through the villages and on the balconies of their traditional wooden homes.
Traditional and sustainable
The Botiyas continue to follow traditional methods of sustainable farming and production, moving their sheep through the mountains in search of fresh grazing land, bringing their flock down to the riverside twice a year to be shared by hand. The fleece is washed by hand in the crystal clear mountain water and the women take the bundles of fleece to their homes to begin the time consuming process of deburring and carding by hand. In some areas vegetable dyeing has been introduced, but traditionally only the white and black wool will be carded to create shades of grey. The term ‘slow fashion’ could not be more relevant: after washing, deburring and carding the wool is then spun by hand using either a wheel or a drop spindle.
Hand Knitted hats, socks, gloves and sweaters
Hand knitting is a skill passed down from mother to daughter as to provide a much needed income to supplement the shepherds’ livelihoods in this remote part of India. The traditional designs depict geometric patterns more familiar to the Kullu region of Himachal Pradesh where many of the Botiyas in this area have migrated from. Increasingly, flowers and hearts are being introduced into the designs. The pilgrimage route of the Char Dham Yatra passes close by the village and has for many years provided sales opportunities for their hand knitted socks, hats, gloves and sweaters.
Hand loom blankets and shawls
As well as hand knitted products, the Botiyas are also skilled at producing thick and heavy blankets and incredibly warm hand loomed shawls. Some of these hand loomed shawls are still being made on a pit loom, and Dilli Devi, one of the village elders, continues to work daily in this way, often introducing a Kullu designed border into her shawls to indicate from where her family migrated. But the majority of the weaving is done by the men on traditional foot-powered looms. Inevitably as the younger generation benefits from access to education and communications technology, fewer and fewer will continue to live in these remote villages where life can be extremely harsh and isolating, particularly during the winter months.
Since 2012, ‘Door to the Himalayas’ has been celebrating the work of these talented artisans by maintaining a steady and sustainable route to market for these authentic, traditional, hand spun, hand-knitted and hand-loomed textiles.
Note: The name Botiya derives from the word ‘Bod’, a classical Tibetan word for Tibet. The written language of the Botiyas is similar to Tibetan, and they practice a combination of Buddhism and Hinduism.
Following the pilgrimage route up to Gangotri in Uttrakhand, North India, you start to see small villages adorned with prayer flags and traders selling traditional sheep’s wool hand knits and Handloomed blankets to passing pilgrims. These villages are home to the Botiya Tribe, an indigenous semi nomadic community living on the Tibetan border. The Botiyas are predominantly shepherds: whilst the men tend their flocks high up in the mountains, the women stay home and can be seen spinning and knitting in small groups along the pathways through the villages and on the balconies of their traditional wooden homes.
Traditional and sustainable
The Botiyas continue to follow traditional methods of sustainable farming and production, moving their sheep through the mountains in search of fresh grazing land, bringing their flock down to the riverside twice a year to be shared by hand. The fleece is washed by hand in the crystal clear mountain water and the women take the bundles of fleece to their homes to begin the time consuming process of deburring and carding by hand. In some areas vegetable dyeing has been introduced, but traditionally only the white and black wool will be carded to create shades of grey. The term ‘slow fashion’ could not be more relevant: after washing, deburring and carding the wool is then spun by hand using either a wheel or a drop spindle.
Hand Knitted hats, socks, gloves and sweaters
Hand knitting is a skill passed down from mother to daughter as to provide a much needed income to supplement the shepherds’ livelihoods in this remote part of India. The traditional designs depict geometric patterns more familiar to the Kullu region of Himachal Pradesh where many of the Botiyas in this area have migrated from. Increasingly, flowers and hearts are being introduced into the designs. The pilgrimage route of the Char Dham Yatra passes close by the village and has for many years provided sales opportunities for their hand knitted socks, hats, gloves and sweaters.
Hand loom blankets and shawls
As well as hand knitted products, the Botiyas are also skilled at producing thick and heavy blankets and incredibly warm hand loomed shawls. Some of these hand loomed shawls are still being made on a pit loom, and Dilli Devi, one of the village elders, continues to work daily in this way, often introducing a Kullu designed border into her shawls to indicate from where her family migrated. But the majority of the weaving is done by the men on traditional foot-powered looms. Inevitably as the younger generation benefits from access to education and communications technology, fewer and fewer will continue to live in these remote villages where life can be extremely harsh and isolating, particularly during the winter months.
Since 2012, ‘Door to the Himalayas’ has been celebrating the work of these talented artisans by maintaining a steady and sustainable route to market for these authentic, traditional, hand spun, hand-knitted and hand-loomed textiles.
Note: The name Botiya derives from the word ‘Bod’, a classical Tibetan word for Tibet. The written language of the Botiyas is similar to Tibetan, and they practice a combination of Buddhism and Hinduism.
Door to the Himalayas 