Nearly two million artisans in Bhadohi district in Uttar Pradesh make up the country’s largest carpet weaving cluster. A majority of them are women. Carpet-making gathered momentum in this region during the reign of the Mughal emperor, Akbar.

According to folklore, it was Iranian weaver Sheikh Madar Ullah who taught the villagers of Mirzapur carpet-weaving as a show of gratitude. The story goes that he and his group of weavers from Iran were attacked by a band of robbers, and they were rescued by the villagers of Mirzapur. These very same carpets today are exported to the United States, United Kingdom and Germany.

The floors of the new Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha buildings in New Delhi, inaugurated in May 2023, are laid with hand-knotted carpets of Bhadohi. The carpets of the Lok Sabha carry motifs of the peacock, the national bird of India. Those in the Rajya Sabha draw inspiration from the lotus, the national flower. According to media reports, it took 900 skilled artisans and 10.80 lakh man hours to make these carpets, in shades ranging from Indian agave green to kokum red. In 2010, Bhadohi carpets received the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.