Prayer Rugs
Prayer
rugs have been around at least as long as the Muslim religion and the idea
of artistic, woven ground covers for devotional practices have been in
use for millennia. The prayer rug that is most commonly referred to in
the world of oriental weaving is a smallish ( 3' x 5' or less ) hand-woven
wool or silk piece that is laid upon the ground, or floor, during Muslim
devotional prayers. Not all small rugs are prayer rugs and the design used
in
a prayer rug invariably  has
an arch or niche at one end of the piece in order that the devotee may
kneel on the rug and pray in the direction of the holy city of Mecca.
In
most tribal and village weavings the arch is more angular in nature while
the formal or city prayer rugs can be very ornate and flowing in design.
In the last 100
years is has become more common to see larger size rugs woven using the
directional prayer rug motifs but these are generally not made for actual
use as a prayer rug but made for export to western countries where the
prayer rug styles have become popular as a decorative floor covering. The
only larger sized ones that are made for actual devotional use is the 'saf'
or 'family prayer rug'. These weavings can be quite long in comparison
to the width and appear s any chosen number of arches laid side to side.
All
of the pieces on this website are hand-woven but not all prayer rugs are
hand made. As only some Muslims have access to a weaver or the funds needed
to purchase a rug woven by another, machine made examples are readily available.
Although they serve a purpose in providing the surface on which to pray
the required 5 times daily, they do not have any collectable value or monetary
value other than a nominal amount.
Please
take a few moments to examine the other fine products, carpets and tapestries
available on the web pages at your finger tips..... Just click away on
the links below.... and "Thank-You" for visiting!
Prayer
Rug Catalog
Read and Post comments on our new
Blog http://prayerrugs.blogspot.com/
E-mail: silkroad@mind.net
Call: 1-541-482-4553
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