About Owner
Have you ever tried to understand what lies beneath in the production of Tibetan rugs in Nepal? No worry, just have a small conversation with Chandra Acharya, a person who has transformed himself as a synonym of Nepal Looms rooted in Sitapaila, Kathmandu. Translate the costumer’s thinking and feelings into the language of dying masters and finally to master wavers has always been the crucial point in rug making process, says Chandra.
Born in a middle class farmer family of Dangbang, Pyuthan as the eldest of six siblings, Chandra moved to capital city of Nepal, Kathmandu in 1986 to pursue college study. University classes with commerce major and run a fancy shop (Bishal Bazar- GG 261) at a time had no option to stay alive at that particular scenario of his life. Nostalgic Chandra remembers the time during late 80s and early 90s when he used to visit HongKong, Singapore and Thailand frequently for the procurement of fashionable apparels and constant visit of big icons, celebrities and even royal family to his shop GG-261.
The creativity stuffs in his blood was still suffocating inside him, thinking to pour it in different area, he ended up in the field of carpet industry in 1991 as a senior accountant. Technical work of accounting was the loophole for him to explore various aspects of carpet industry, he was diverted into production planning and product development within next 5 years. By that time his MBA and experience of this field compelled him to search the bigger arena to work in.
Sky is the limit. It was not sufficient to blast his sense of creativity into the field of industry. He started his own company Tibetan Rugs (P) Ltd. with the bunch of friends in 1997 and worked with more than 100 individual designers from 28 different countries till 2009.
Finally, 23 years of research and experiences of textures and ideas with different materials, dying and weaving, Nepal Looms has born. Amilee Crafts has been a part of Nepal Looms owned by Chandra. From start to finish, he is still involved in every stages of the process at Nepal Looms. Being the designs or translation into the medium of carpet and finally woven using ancient methods, Chandra has cherished his passion with immense dedication and determination with his sense of creativity.
The man behind Nepal Looms, Chandra! Reflects his passion in carpets from the country of Himalayas.
- From Tibetan sheep herders to the loom: First, we start by selecting the finest wool from Tibet. We can maintain the high quality of our wool by completing the entire process by hand. To produce a hand-knotted Tibetan rug there are many intricate steps involved, each requiring a high level of technical expertise, precision and inspiration. We ensure quality hand-carding, hand-spinning, hand-dyeing, and hand-knotting. We use the same style of hand-knotting that was used hundreds of years ago in ancient Tibet. Using these traditional methods results in the creation one of the finest rugs in the world and it will last you and your family for several generations.
- Wool: Nepal Looms Rugs guarantees that our wool comes only from Tibetan sheep that are raised in the high mountains of the Himalayas and are known for producing the finest quality wool. It is lustrous, naturally resilient and rich in lanolin that naturally protects it from damage caused by typical wear and tear.
- Carding & Spinning: After the wool is sorted, it is hand-carded to align the fibers and to remove any short fibers or remaining debris. The carded wool is then hand spun into a yarn
- Dyeing: Once the wool is spun into a yarn, it is hand-dyed in small batches in large pots. The process of pot dyeing creates a natural variation of color shade in the yarn. This process produces rugs that are naturally, beautifully irregular.
- Weaving: The next step is to weave the rug by following the patterns shown on a full-size graph. Depending on the size of the rug, there could be four to five weavers working on one rug knot-by-knot for hundreds of hours. The more intricate the design the more knots per square inch. The more knots per square inch the more time it takes to produce your rug.
- Carving: Once the rug is woven, it is trimmed and detailed by light carving that can accentuate the design.
- Washing & Drying: The final step is to wash the rug and let it dry naturally in the sun before it is shipped to our facility in Sitapaila, or directly to you—the customer, or to a retailer near you.