Pashmina Shawl Weaving Srinagar Kashmir

Pashmina is the ultra-fine undercoat wool fiber combed from Changthangi goats (Capra hircus) herded by Changpa nomadic pastoralists on the Changthang plateau of Ladakh at 4,000 to 5,000 meter elevation, and woven into the world finest natural textile fiber cloth at between 10 and 16 microns diameter, finer than the finest merino wool (18 microns) and approaching the diameter of spider silk. Raw Pashmina fiber is transported from Leh to Srinagar where master Kashmiri weavers called karkhandar hand-spin it on spindles called yinder into two-ply yarn at 70 to 120 grams per kilometer, then weave on handlooms into the characteristic Pashmina shawl with kani (tapestry) or sozni (needle embroidery) decoration. A genuine hand-spun, hand-woven Pashmina shawl requires 70 to 180 hours of weaving and 50 to 100 hours of embroidery for a fully sozni-embroidered piece, retailing at 15,000 to 5 lakh rupees. GI certification for Kashmiri Pashmina was granted in 2008 with mandatory Pashmina Certification Mark for genuineness. The Pashmina market suffers severe adulteration from machine-spun wool-Pashmina blends and acrylic blends labeled Pashmina. The Government of India funds the Wool Research Association Pashmina authentication testing program. Approximately 15,000 weavers and 25,000 embroiderers in Srinagar depend on the Pashmina value chain.