The land of five waters gave the world its first cities, its saints and its songs. Broken by every empire that crossed it, it is still ours to remember, and to make whole again.

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PUNJAB WIKIਪੰਜਾਬپنجابMuseum
Punjab WikiMuseumTextiles & crafts
Chiniot woodwork
Marsmux · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia
Textiles & crafts

Chiniot woodwork

The carved furniture, doors and screens of Chiniot, whose carpenters are famous across Pakistan.

The woodworkers of Chiniot carve and inlay furniture and doors with dense floral patterns, often with brass. Chiniot's havelis, above all the Omar Hayat Mahal, show the craft at its richest.

Local tradition says Chiniot's craftsmen worked on the great Mughal buildings; whatever the truth, their workshops still supply homes across Pakistan.

More textiles & crafts

Phulkari and bagh
Phulkari and bagh19th – 20th century

The 'flower work' of Punjabi women: geometric embroidery in golden and crimson silk, worked from the back of the cloth. A bagh, 'garden', covers the whole shawl; brides were given them at their weddings.

Kashmir shawls of the Sikh period
Kashmir shawls of the Sikh period1819 – 1846

After 1819 Kashmir's shawl workshops worked for Lahore, and the Sikh court wore and gave shawls of great richness; some even show maps of Srinagar.

The dastar
The dastarFrom 1699

The turban, required of every Khalsa Sikh to cover the uncut hair, in styles from the Akali bunga to the pagh of the Doaba and the patka of children.

Chamba rumals
Chamba rumals18th – 19th century

Square cloths for covering gifts, embroidered in the hills with scenes from the life of Krishna in the style of Pahari painting.

The Girdlers' Carpet
The Girdlers' Carpet1630s

A carpet woven in the imperial workshops of Lahore for a London merchant, with his arms and those of his guild in the border.

Multan's blue pottery and kashi tiles
Multan's blue pottery and kashi tilesliving craft

The cobalt-and-white glazed pottery and tiles of Multan, the craft that clothed its Sufi tombs and is still practised in the city.

Truck art
Truck art20th century – today

The painted and mirrored trucks of Pakistan, rolling galleries of birds, film stars, poetry and landscapes.

Punjabi jutti
Punjabi juttiliving craft

The flat leather slipper of the Punjab, embroidered in gold thread, with a curled toe for men and a closed back for women.

Sialkot's footballs
Sialkot's footballs20th century – today

Sialkot's workshops have stitched a large share of the world's footballs, including balls used at World Cups.

The brass of Jandiala Guru
The brass of Jandiala GuruLiving craft

The thatheras of Jandiala Guru beat brass and copper into pots, plates and the great kadahs of the langar by hand; their craft was placed on UNESCO's list of intangible heritage in 2014.

Hoshiarpur inlay work19th century – today

Furniture, boxes and doors of dark sheesham wood inlaid with fine floral patterns in ivory, bone and brass, the specialty of Hoshiarpur's craftsmen.

The camel-skin lamps of MultanLiving craft

Lampshades, vases and boxes of thinly scraped camel skin, moulded over clay and painted with gold and coloured designs, called naqashi, by the craftsmen of Multan.

Durrie and khes
Durrie and khesLiving craft

The flat-woven cotton rugs and the checked cotton sheets of the Punjabi village, woven by women on home looms and counted out in dowries.

The parandaLiving craft

The tasselled braid of black or coloured silk woven into a woman's plait and finished with bright pompoms, worn at weddings, at Teeyan and for giddha.

The Patiala salwar
The Patiala salwar19th – 20th century

The full, deeply pleated salwar named after the princely state of Patiala, now worn all over South Asia.

Ralli quilts
Ralli quiltsTraditional

Patchwork quilts stitched by women of Sindh and the southern Punjab in bold geometric patterns, for dowries, beds and gifts.

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