Ehsan Fazili/Srinagar

A narrow lane in the Eidgah area in Srinagar leads to the house of a master artisan of Kashmir carpets. Rafiq Ahmed Sofi’s three-storey house, which itself is a heritage house, is filled with vibes of softness and warmth. Its rooms are lined with racks and rolled carpets, raw materials, carpet ‘taleem’ (codes for design) and walls filled with framed photographs of honours.

Rafiq Ahmed Sofi was named to receive the National Award 2025 in the hand-knotted carpet category by the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, last month. The award is likely to be conferred on him by the year-end.

He is the sole awardee from Jammu and Kashmir in this category, and his award is for a carpet featuring intricate floral motifs, traditional patterns and calligraphic elements.

Rafiq Ahmed Sofi

He has been awarded for his “exceptional craftsmanship and contribution to the traditional art of hand-knotted carpet weaving”.

“I have learnt the traditional art of carpet weaving from my father. I have been in this field for 47 years”, Rafiq Ahmed Sofi, the carpet weaver, told The Voice at his residence in Rathpora locality in Eidgah.

The family has been associated with the carpet weaving handicraft, commonly known as ‘Qalbaafi’(carpet weaving), providing sustenance for over seven decades since 1955, he revealed.

“My father learnt the craft of carpet weaving at Khanqah-e-Moalla”. This downtown place is the centre of the 14th-century missionary from Persia, Mir Syed Ali Hamadani, who spread Islam in Kashmir.

Rafiq Ahmed Sofi

Often referred to as Shah-e-Hamadan, he is known for introducing many handicrafts in Kashmir and influencing its culture, traditions and economy.

“There have been ups and downs in our work over the decades”, Sofi told Awaz-The Voice. He said that more than 70 per cent of artisans have quit and taken to other trades or taken up government jobs. “Our family did not leave it as I love it and consider it a gift from our ancestors”, he commented.

Rafiq Ahmed Sofi

The family is engaged in back-breaking work “round the clock” to keep the traditional art alive. “It is continuous hard work, and the designs we put in the carpets are our own”, Sofi said.

He said that during his father's time, their ancestral house was turned into a centre of learning. Hundreds of young people got trained in carpet weaving there.

Sofi recalled that his father, Gul Mohammad Sofi, also an acclaimed carpet weaver, was one among his seven siblings, who opted for different trades, while only one of them got educated.

“Amongst my siblings, I am the eldest son.” While his youngest brother, Shahnawaz Ahmed Sofi, got educated, the two brothers, Rafiq and Shahnawaz, are associated with carpet weaving.

He also credits the officials of the J&K Handicrafts and Handloom Department for facilitating the registration of artisans, and providing production units and training centres, for helping Sofi reach the place where he has bagged the national award

Rafiq Ahmed Sofi

It was not a mere chance, Sofi believes, as the concerned officials, during one of their routine inspections, remarked that “our products were eye-catching” and there was scope for a rewarding carpet piece.

This turned out to be a motivation to think and devise an innovative work of art. Thus, beginning in 2024, “it took us more than six months to make a distinctive design of the carpet” that was submitted to the authorities. With the design compiled by his younger brother, Shahnawaz Ahmed Sofi, a graduate in Fine Arts, work on the carpet consumed another year before it was submitted.”

The only National Award 2025 in the hand-knotted carpet category was announced by the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India on October 15, 2026. It was announced in favour of Rafiq Ahmed Sofi of “SS Carpets---Creativity of Art”, owner of the house of carpets in Eidgah area, a short distance from “Cement bridge”, the last bridge over the river Jhelum before it flows out of Srinagar city.

Rafiq Ahmed Sofi’s younger brother, Shahnawaz Ahmed, graduated in Fine Arts from the Institute of Music and Fine Arts, University of Kashmir in 2003 and has been part of the unit in producing carpets with fascinating colours and designs.

“We gave it 3D dimensions combining Mughal flowers, Kashmir flowers, lotus, and birds and Zari with embossed carpet calligraphy and cutworks in 3D work”, Shahnawaz told Awaz. That design, he said, was different from the old manual working and the computerised designs.

“We have merged Kashmir ‘Qaleenbafi taleem’ with traditional designs that earned my father the national award”, he said.

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Rafiq Ahmed Sofi had won the State award in 2013 for “creating an artefact par excellence in Carpet and securing Ist prize”. The National award has come as a legacy for the family as Rafiq’s father, Gul Mohammad Sofi, was also the recipient of a State award in 2012.